It’s a crisp fall Sunday morning in the Mission Valley. Church has started to let out, and families are filling the gravel road to Lazy DC Bar Ranch to experience a beloved fall activity. 

Lazy DC Bar Ranch is putting on its seventh annual pumpkin patch and hay ride for St. Ignatius. Family-owned, the ranch offers a hay ride, toys and games for kids and a pumpkin patch filled with Jack-o'-lanterns, Cinderellas and sugar pie pumpkins. 

Megan Callahan, the ranch owner, explained that creating the patch was a random idea she had one day. 

“My husband's family all thought I was crazy. I said, ‘No, we have the perfect spot for it,’” Callahan said. “It started super slow and small, then we’ve just expanded it every year. It’s been super successful.” 

Admission to the patch is free, only charging for concessions, vendors and pumpkins. The family-run patch sells caramel apples made with locally sourced apples, plus cookies and drinks. Vendors at the event, such as Jerry Krantz, otherwise known as “Uncle Jerry,” sells his paintings of Montana landscapes.

When not putting on the pumpkin patch for the Mission Valley, Lazy DC Bar Ranch sells hay and offers horse races, riding lessons. For the pumpkin patch, Hunt’s Timbers provides sawdust, which is used for the kids' play pit. Callahan said the patch plans to “pair up” with Mission Falls Sanctuary — a horse sanctuary — once established by Callahan's sister-in-law.

“They’re still processing all the paperwork right now,” Callahan said. “Her goal is to keep older equines out of the slaughter pipeline.” 

The Lazy DC Bar Ranch offers pasture boarding and mule breeding services with their Mammoth Jack mule, Lenny, according to the ranch’s website. 

“We always try to add one new thing a year. Our tetter totter this year is made out of old farm equipment we pulled out,” Callahan said. 

With the pumpkin patch's success, attendance has reached as high as 2,000 people in one weekend, according to Callahan. Another popular attraction is a petting zoo featuring a horse named Noodle, two mules named Gidget and Bunny, and a turkey named Mrs. Peacock. The hay ride is taken around the ranch on a fourth-generation John Deere A bought in the 1950’s. 

“I love it, I look forward to it every year,” said Carolyn Golen, mom to Megan Callahan. “I remember it rained so badly one year and all of a sudden people started coming an hour before we closed. We all stood there freezing, and my husband said, ‘Oh, why don’t they just go see a movie,’ and I remember Megan said, ‘Because they don’t have pumpkins at the movie.’’’ The Lazy DC Bar Ranch pumpkin patch is open for the first two weekends of October from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. off Mission Creek Road in St. Ignatius. 

    Jerry Krantz (Uncle Jerry) painting in front of his art stand at Lazy DC Bar Ranch's Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 4. (Katie Mihalik/Leader)

 Families play games at Lazy DC Bar Ranch's Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 4. (Katie Mihalik/Leader)

 Lazy DC Bar Ranch Mules, Gidget (front) and Bunny, stand in the petting zoo on Oct. 4. (Katie Mihalik/Leader)

 Lazy DC Bar Ranch's Pumpkin Patch is open for its seventh year. Open for the first two weekends of Oct. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Katie Mihalik/Leader)

 Cinderella's, Sugar Pie's and Jack-o'-lanterns are available at Lazy DC Bar Ranch's Pumpkin Patch. (Katie Mihalik/Leader)