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The haunted hayride is the one Halloween attraction that does not really have a substitute. You are outside, in the dark, on a moving wagon, and you cannot leave. New Jersey does them well, and there are more of them within an hour of Morris County than most people realize.
Here is where to go, starting with the one in our own backyard.
Conklin Farm, Montville
10 Vreeland Avenue, Montville. This is the Morris County haunted hayride, and it is the one to know if you do not want to drive halfway down the state.
The ride runs through the abandoned back lot of the pumpkin patch, with costumed characters playing early 1900s farm residents, plus the sirens and chainsaws you would expect. Tickets are $15 per person for adults and children alike, sold in person at the farm only, and they take cash, credit and Apple Pay. Parking is free and there is no entrance fee for the farm itself.
The season runs late September through late October, Fridays in the late afternoon and Saturdays and Sundays through the day. Because tickets are in person only, weekend timing matters more here than at the bigger ticketed attractions.
The bigger statewide hayrides
If you are willing to make a night of it and drive, these are the names that come up every year.
Field of Terror in East Windsor is the largest of them, built around four separate attractions on a working farm off Windsor-Perrineville Road. Night of Terror at Creamy Acres Farm in Mullica Hill and C. Casola Farms in Marlboro are the two other long running South and Central Jersey farm haunts with real followings.
All three are genuinely scary and ticketed in advance, which is the practical difference from Conklin.
If you want the scares without the wagon
13th Hour at 105 West Dewey Avenue in Wharton is the biggest haunted attraction in Morris County and it is not a hayride at all. It runs three separate haunted houses, House of Nightmares, The Attic and The Darkside, alongside ten escape rooms and a hatchet throwing setup. The haunt season runs from late September into the first weekend of November, generally 7pm to 11pm on operating nights, and the escape rooms stay open year round.
Brighton Asylum in Passaic is the other North Jersey name worth knowing, and it is one of the more intense ones in the state.
Not everything has to be terrifying
Plenty of Morris County farms run ordinary daytime hayrides with no jump scares at all, which is the right call with younger kids. Ort Farms in Long Valley, Wightman’s Farms in Morristown, Union Hill Farms in Denville, Riamede Farm and Stony Hill in Chester and Sun High Orchards in Randolph all run fall farm operations, and most pair the wagon ride with pumpkins and a corn maze.
Worth knowing: a farm can run a friendly hayride by day and a scary one at night on the same weekend, so check which one you are buying.
How to plan it
- Buy ahead where you can. The big ticketed haunts sell timed entry and the late October weekends go first.
- Ask the age question honestly. Most of these have a recommended minimum age, and the farm staff will tell you straight if you call.
- The weekend before Halloween is the worst night to go. If you have any flexibility, an early October weeknight or a Sunday is a completely different experience.
- Dress for standing outside. The wait in line is longer than the ride, and October nights in North Jersey get cold fast.
- Check the rain policy. Outdoor attractions cancel, and policies vary on whether you get a refund or a rain date.
More fall in Morris County
For the rest of the season, see our guides to Halloween in Morris County, corn mazes in Morris County, apple and pumpkin picking and the most haunted places in Morris County.
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