Farms Near Merced, CA

Merced

Merced Fruit Barn is a family-owned roadside market on Highway 140, the main route into Yosemite from Merced, selling local produce, dried fruit and nuts, ice cream, and deli sandwiches. The property also keeps barnyard animals and exotic birds for visitors to walk through, plus picnic tables for anyone stopping mid-drive. It functions as much as a rest stop for park-bound travelers as it does a farm market for locals.

Merced

Bear Creek Pumpkin Patch runs each fall on Fox Creek Ranch along Highway 140 outside Merced, the Central Valley route most travelers take toward Yosemite. No verified specifics on varieties, activities, or hours turned up online this session — call ahead for current season details.

Planada

Vista Ranch and Cellars farms 20 acres on Highway 140 between Merced and Yosemite, with five acres planted to Cabernet, Primitivo, and Pinot Noir. The tasting room sits inside a 1910 farmhouse, and the grounds also host an event center and picnic area. It's a working stop on the road to the park rather than a standalone winery.

Merced

Happy Organics runs a 10-acre farm on Merced's southside, where 34 hives pollinate rows of lavender, rosemary, citrus, and fig trees planted by three generations of beekeepers. Founder Jessica Gonzalez traces the craft to her grandfather's apiaries in Michoacán, Mexico, and turned it into beeswax candles poured into molds of real fruits and vegetables. The farm also produces raw honey and dried herbs sold online and through her Los Angeles studio.

Merced

Frightmare Farms is a Halloween haunted-attraction operation on Gillette Avenue in Merced, part of the Central Valley's seasonal fright-night circuit that turns farmland into a walk-through scare each October. No verified specifics on this year's attractions, hours, or ticket prices turned up online this session.

Merced

Merced

Merced Original County Farmers' Market sets up at the corner of 19th and N Streets in downtown Merced, in the San Joaquin Valley farm belt. As one of the county's longer-running markets, it connects Central Valley growers directly with Merced shoppers.

Chowchilla

The Nunes Family Pumpkin Patch is a seasonal u-pick operation in Chowchilla, in Madera County's stretch of California's Central Valley. Fall agritourism is common through this stretch of farm country, with pumpkin fields and corn mazes popping up each October. Beyond its address on Avenue 25, little independent detail about hours or contact is published online — worth a call ahead before visiting.

Mariposa

A seasonal pumpkin patch has operated along Highway 140 in Mariposa County, offering a child-sized hay-bale maze, pony rides, and a snack stand during past pumpkin seasons. Recent listings suggest it may no longer be running — confirm before planning a visit.

Atwater

Hunter Farms Pumpkin Patch runs each fall in Atwater, amid Merced County's Central Valley farm belt. No hours, activities, or pricing are published online for this listing; call ahead before visiting.

Atwater

Winton

Located in Winton, CA, Arnold Farms is a family owned farm that was established in 1909. Current partners are father/son duo, William “Bill” Arnold (3rd generation farmer) and Craig Arnold (4th generation farmer). Bill previously farmed the ranch with his brother, Glenn, who passed away in 2019. Craig was born and raised on the farm and has stepped up as partner alongside his dad. Together they are a truly dynamic duo. They are active in the Atwater, Winton and Merced communities and are excited

Atwater

Valenta Farms is on Bert Crane Road in Atwater, Merced County, in the San Joaquin Valley's dairy and almond belt. Atwater sits between Merced and Turlock in farmland shaped by irrigation canals off the Merced River.

Atwater

Winton

Livingston

Toms Poms grows pomegranates — "poms" is Central Valley shorthand for the fruit — on Arena Way outside Livingston, in Merced County farm country better known for almonds and sweet potatoes. No public website or hours are listed online yet.

Riverdance Farms is a certified organic farm along the Merced River in Livingston, growing fruit, nuts and vegetables. Customers order through the farm's online store for pickup or get local delivery to Merced, Atwater, Turlock, Modesto and Mariposa. The farm also hosts seasonal Pick and Gather days, school field trips and riverside camping.

Riverdance Farms grows certified organic blueberries, cherries, apricots, blackberries, elderberries, apples, persimmons, pomegranates, almonds, and walnuts on family land in Livingston, California. The farm gate sits about a half mile northeast of its Livingston-Cressey Road address, and the farm is known locally for hosting its annual Riverdance Farms Festival.

Madera

Home Grown Cellars presses its own pomegranates into 100% juice on-site in Madera, then sells it alongside local wines and other artisanal goods in a small retail shop. The pomegranate juice is the anchor product — no additives, straight from locally grown fruit. It's a small operation built around one crop rather than a full winery, and the shop doubles as a stop for regional gift items.

Denair

Burroughs Family Farms in Denair, California is a family farming operation producing regenerative organic foods, including certified regenerative organic olive oil sold through its online farm store and shipped nationwide.

Mariposa

Mariposa Farmers' Market sets up on 6th Street in the small Sierra foothill town of Mariposa, the gateway to Yosemite National Park. It's a small mountain-town market for local growers and residents rather than a tourist draw.

Turlock

Macedo's Mini Acre is a ten-acre alpaca and llama ranch run by full-time ranchers Larry and Maureen Macedo, raising fiber animals for over 20 years in the San Joaquin Valley north of Modesto. The farm mills its own yarn, rugs, hats, and dryer balls on-site and welcomes visitors for tours, birthday parties, school groups, and photo shoots among the herd.

Turlock

Turlock

Hilmar

Hilmar Cheese Company's visitor center sits next to a plant that turns out more than a million pounds of cheese a day from roughly 200 dairy trucks of milk. Free tours walk visitors past the production line, including the packaging of 640-pound cheese blocks, and end with complimentary tastings and a gift shop stop. The on-site deli-cafe serves cheese chowder and sandwiches, and the center runs school field trips and hands-on ice cream-making sessions for groups.

Turlock

Hi, my name is Alexandria! I am a first generation farmer, even though I have always had a deep connection to our land and animals and was raised to respect and care for both. I was raised on the back of a horse, riding through mountains and beaches alike with my mom, and spent days camping and hiking through valleys of oaks and manzanita with my dad. My two older brothers taught me how to fish, catch lizards and ride quads. I always loved learning and exploring my environment was as natural as

Mariposa

Fouch Farms is a small family farm in Mariposa, California — Hannah, Jesse, and their four kids — raising humanely handled, grass-fed beef born and finished on their own ranch. The farm uses holistic management, MIG and mob grazing, no-till planting, and compost, never uses chemicals or GMOs, and sells whole beef at $11.25 per pound with free California delivery via drop points.

Hilmar

Anderson Almonds is a certified-organic almond grower in Hilmar selling farm-direct, unpasteurized raw almonds in 5, 10 and 25-pound bags. The family has farmed organically for more than 40 years, irrigating with Sierra Nevada snowmelt and skipping synthetic chemicals. The farm is a CCOF-certified member and has recently paused online ordering between harvests.

Turlock

Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., March through mid-December — a nonprofit market in Turlock run entirely by a volunteer board of directors. Vendors set up along the market's downtown route, a long season by Central Valley market standards, stretching well past the typical spring-to-fall run most markets keep.