The Naumkeag Pumpkin Show is a Beautiful Halloween Garden Trail in the Berkshires (4 stars)
The Naumkeag Pumpkin Show in the Berkshires is a Halloween pumpkin trail through Naumkeag, a 48-acre garden and historic home. This kid-friendly event has only mild spooks and pumpkins carved like superheroes, bugs, animals, and more. You can arrive at night, or come early just before sunset. It will take just 30 minutes, or 45 minutes if you go slowly.
Visitors must use satellite parking in Stockbridge and get bused into Naumkeag, but the shuttles came quickly and conveniently. When you arrive you’ll find ambient music and lighting throughout the attraction, and lit pumpkins everywhere.
The pumpkins are mostly made of foam, but some are real, and they’re carved into fun, child-friendly shapes like Sesame Street characters, animals including a fish, turtle, sea horse, otter, dolphin, sand dollar, spider, lady bug, butterfly, and beetle. You’ll also find a mermaid, heroes including Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and I swear I saw Colonel Sanders from KFC! I guess somebody was hungry at pumpkin-carving time.
The pathways are all gravel or paved, and while there are some stairs, one mom with a stroller and baby told me it was no trouble to get around. Thankfully, they also have plenty of benches just to sit. It was wonderful to breathe the crisp night air and see lots of happy families with cute kids, many in Halloween costumes. If you come before sunset or at dusk, then from the hillside you’ll be able to see far flung fields with sheep.
I can’t ignore the rather basic production quality and presentation of the pumpkins, compared with other kid-friendly Halloween pumpkin trails elsewhere in New England, but you’ll find a few surprises at Naumkeag as well. There’s a decorated and heated greenhouse where you can get a break from the cold, with pumpkins carved like funny faces, and also a fire pit to warm your hands. Part of the path takes you through the first floor of a historic, shingle-style home, where you’ll find pumpkins carved like Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, and Peter Pan.
I was delighted by the volcano diorama with steam coming out of its top and dinosaur carved pumpkins, a haunted pirate ship, and by the grove of inflatable mushrooms. Best of all, The Naumkeag Pumpkin Show features a “vortex”, a fun tunnel room that seems to spin, which is safe for small kids but of course is optional for visitors.
You’ll also find two food shacks selling hot or cold cider, and hot cocoa, alcoholic drinks, and snacks including cider donuts, pumpkin brownies, and popcorn.
Unfortunately, at this time of year the gardens were not flowering, and the trails were hilly, including stairs without railings. The experience was basic, though with a few surprises including the vortex. It was beautiful, but winding, short, and with satellite parking only. Almost more, but I’ll give The Naumkeag Pumpkin Show a solid 4 stars this time — worth a visit if you are local. And see my review on Halloween on the Hill (5 stars), at another “Trustees” site, Long Hill, on Boston’s North Shore.
For more, see The Naumkeag Pumpkin Show on thetrustees.org and make sure to see the wide variety of creative, outdoorsy, and historic events on their website, including their upcoming Winter Lights events.