In Snohomish This October, Picking a Pumpkin Patch Means Picking a Road

Between Marsh Road and Highway 9, crews are building a second bridge over the Snohomish River. Pile driving for its foundations started in January. Both directions of SR 9 have been shifted to the east side of the highway while the roadway north of the Marsh Road intersection is widened. Less than a mile down Marsh Road, Stocker Farms and Thomas Family Farm opened their fall seasons this month. A few miles southwest on Elliott Road, Bob's Corn is open next to a county bridge project that, according to its own schedule, finishes this same October.

Snohomish's best-known fall farms didn't move. The roads that reach them are the ones changing. This year, choosing a farm also means choosing which work zone you drive through, and when.

The Marsh Road Corridor Is a $142 Million Construction Site

The Washington State Department of Transportation's SR 9 Marsh Road to 2nd Street project is a three-year, $142 million job. Its parts all sit inside the area farm traffic uses:

• A new bridge west of the existing Snohomish River bridge to carry southbound SR 9
• A new overflow bridge south of the river bridges
• A rebuilt southbound on-ramp from Second Street and a new exit-only lane on northbound SR 9 to Second Street
• Widening between Marsh Road and Second Street
• ADA improvements at the SR 9 and Marsh Road intersection
• Restoring and repainting the existing river bridge

The part most locals felt this summer was Lowell-Snohomish River Road, the route that, as The Herald describes it, connects Everett to downtown Snohomish. It closed completely on Aug. 17. It was supposed to reopen in mid-September, but WSDOT pushed that to Sept. 30 because work on the new bridge's shaft casings took longer than planned. The City of Snohomish's August bulletin routed the detour over South Second Avenue and Lowell-Larimer Road, then onto Marsh Road and Airport Way to Avenue D. So for a month and a half, the road leading to Stocker and Thomas was also the detour.

WSDOT's project page says traffic on Lowell-Snohomish River Road near SR 9 alternates starting Sept. 30 and warns drivers to expect delays. As of Oct. 7, neither WSDOT nor the city had posted a follow-up confirming how that switch went. Treat the alternating-traffic setup as the plan until you see it yourself.

The same page lists other closures the project "may require" at various points. These include nightly full or one-direction closures of SR 9 ramps and mainline, closures of Lowell-Snohomish River Road lasting up to two weeks or up to six months, and partial closures of Marsh Road and Airport Way. No October dates are listed for any of these.

Two Farms on Marsh Road, and Why Night Matters More at One of Them

Stocker Farms, at 8705 Marsh Road, runs its fall festival daily Oct. 1 to 31, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last entry at 5 p.m. Buying online saves money. Admission is $19.95 on weekdays and $27.95 on weekends online, versus $23.95 and $32.95 at the gate, plus tax. On site, a weekend costs $9 more than a weekday.

Thomas Family Farm, down the road at 9010 Marsh Road, opened its night attractions Friday, Oct. 2, and daytime activities Saturday, Oct. 3. Its Friday Fun Park starts Oct. 9, this Friday. Daytime weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Weekend Fun Park admission is $24.50 for ages 4 and up. Friday walk-up admission is $15, and kids 3 and under get in free. The farm says parking is free.

What sets Thomas apart from the other farms is what happens after dark. The haunted house, haunted town and Zombie Paintball are $35 each, and the flashlight maze is $20. Those evenings fall on the same corridor where WSDOT has said nightly ramp and mainline closures on SR 9 are possible during construction. If your evening plan includes a 9 p.m. drive home over the river, check WSDOT's page and the Snohomish County Roads Update that afternoon.

The two farms also handle Fridays differently. A $15 Friday walk-up at Thomas is $9.50 less than the same farm on Saturday, and $4.95 less than Stocker's cheapest online weekday ticket.

Elliott Road's Bridge Is Scheduled to Finish as the Season Ends

Bob's Corn, at 10917 Elliott Road, deals with a separate project run by a different agency. Snohomish County's Elliott Road project postcard describes a new 40-foot clear-span bridge at Anderson Creek. The project raises Elliott Road about 2.5 feet, widens the bridge approach, realigns the creek and adds fish habitat, all aimed at the floodwater that keeps covering the road. The schedule printed on the postcard runs from July 2025 to October 2026. During that time, a temporary bypass south of Elliott Road carries one lane of alternating traffic controlled by temporary signals, for about 15 months.

That puts the project's scheduled end inside Bob's Corn's busiest month. The farm's own FAQ calls October weekends its busiest, asks visitors to expect lines and says traffic and parking can take a while. Guests who reserve an October fire pit are told to arrive two hours early. The county hasn't posted a fall notice saying whether the signals and single lane are gone. Until it does, plan for one signal-controlled lane on the way in.

Bob's ticketing rules matter more than usual this year. Admission is $19.95 on weekdays and $28.95 on weekends. Tickets bought at the gate cost $5 more, and October weekend tickets have to be bought online in advance. If you can't buy a weekend ticket at the gate, you can't decide on the spot to stop by on a Saturday. That alone makes a Bob's weekend a planned trip. The farm's new feature this year is nighttime gem mining, priced from $8.95 to $25.95.

The Farms Away From Both Projects

Two other farms sit on roads neither project names. They also run on different calendars from the Marsh Road pair.

Craven Farm, at 13817 Shorts School Road, holds its fall festival Sept. 19 through Nov. 1, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Its season runs through Sunday, Nov. 1, the day after Stocker's season ends. New this year is the Hay-ground Play Area, which joins the Alice-in-Pumpkinland corn maze, a kids' maze, the cow train, a wagon ride, a jump pad, mini golf and human foosball.

Carleton Farm, at 630 Sunnyside Boulevard Southeast across the line in Lake Stevens, opened fall activities Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. Weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. It's the only farm on this list where the pumpkin patch, petting zoo, market and food area have no entry fee. Weekend activity admission is $15, or $25 with extra activity tickets included.

Here is how the October weekend prices compare across all five:

For the four farms that sell a weekday or Friday ticket, the weekend premium runs from $5 at Craven online to $9.50 at Thomas. The three farms with the largest premiums, Thomas, Bob's and Stocker, are the same three on roads with scheduled work zones.

Oct. 31 Brings the Crowds Downtown

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so the last weekend-priced day at Stocker overlaps with the downtown event. The Historic Downtown Snohomish Association has scheduled First Street Trick or Treat for Oct. 31, 3 to 5 p.m. Police will staff key intersections and some crosswalks will close for a while. The association recommends walking west along the north side of First Street and east along the south side. During the same two hours, St. John's Episcopal Church at 913 Second Street is hosting a free Halloween organ concert and handing out candy, one block off First.

If you want to fit a farm morning in before 3 p.m. downtown, the route matters again. Lowell-Snohomish River Road and Second Street both come into downtown from the SR 9 work zone, and WSDOT is rebuilding the Second Street on-ramp as part of the project.

At Foote & Flunder Group, our principals watch these projects closely because the SR 9 bridges and the Elliott Road crossing will affect how the valley's roads work long after this pumpkin season. If you'd like to talk through what the Highway 9 widening means for a property near Marsh Road or downtown Snohomish, Foundation First Group can walk you through it. Schedule a Strategy Session with a Principal.