To celebrate the fall season, I recently went pumpkin picking with some friends. We decided to visit Lakeview Farms. Located off U.S. Highway 26 in North Plains near Hillsboro, the farm is, admittedly, a bit of a drive. But if you plan, you can have a fun day trip full of seasonal activities.

The sweet smell of hot kettle corn greets you as you make your way from the parking lot to the admission booth. We paid our tickets ($5 for the Corn Maze; $4 for the Pumpkin Patch with $1 off your purchase), grabbed a bag of that irresistible kettle corn, and headed into the corn maze.

Lakeview Farms changes the layout of the maze every year. The goal is to navigate the twists, turns and dead ends to find the five checkpoints; each one includes a different hole punch to mark your ticket. Once you’ve gathered the square, triangle, clover, diamond and moon, backtrack to the exit and pick a prize.

After conquering the maze, it was time for the main event: pumpkin picking. To get to the patch, you can choose to ride a mini train or a paddle-wheeled boat across the lake; then, on your return trip, ride the opposite mode of transportation back. The train and boat are fun additions and make the experience memorable.

At the pumpkin patch, wheelbarrows stand ready, waiting to be piled high. Classic orange pumpkins line the front of the area, and more colorful varieties grow in back. We strolled through the patch seeking our favorites: a huge orange beauty to make a jack-o’-lantern; a white ghost pumpkin; a deep orange Cinderella pumpkin; two warty squashes and a gorgeous One Too Many pumpkin, with its orange veins over a creamy background.

Back at the main Snack and Gift Shop, a large copse of evergreens offered a welcome respite from the autumn sun. We took advantage of the pumpkin washing station before paying. Lakeview Farms also offers pony rides, face painting and a small petting zoo for the kids.

After driving back home to Astoria and dropping our pumpkins off, we continued east to my friend’s farm in Knappa to work hard on another classic seasonal activity: making fresh apple cider. We worked those apples: picking them from the tree, a quick wash in a bucket, then it was an assembly line of efficient chopping, food processing and packing them into the hand-cranked cider press. The saccharine scent of ripe apples hung in the air as the setting sun cast a glow around us. We ended up with about eight gallons of apple cider — a perfect reward.