Housed under a cheery red and white tent in the Eagle Rock Plaza parking lot, the Cougar Mountain Pumpkin Patch is a fall staple of Eagle Rock. After buying tickets at a booth near the entrance, visitors can pick out pumpkins, say hello to the animals in the petting zoo and enjoy the variety of rides and bouncy houses the patch has to offer. Owner of Cougar Mountain Pumpkin Patch and Christmas tree lot Lisa Nassar said community members anticipate the patch’s reopening each October.
“The minute they see this red and white tent go up, these kids can’t wait to come in,” Nassar said. “They’ll come on Sept. 28 and ask us, ‘When are you opening, when are you opening?’ They get so excited, and that just warms my heart.”
Nassar said the pumpkin patch and Christmas tree farm have been running at their Eagle Rock location for about 20 years, and has been family-owned for four generations. According to the Cougar Mountain Pumpkin Patch website, the business has been serving communities throughout Southern California for over 68 years. Luz Delatoba, who visited the patch with her son Lukas, said they look forward to coming to the patch every fall.
“I work at the Target [on Colorado Ave.] so we’ve been coming for over 10 years,” Delatoba said.
Lukas Delatoba said he likes the rides the best, especially the giant inflatable pirate ship and the blue and yellow inflatable slide toward the back of the pumpkin patch.
“That one is my favorite because it’s a ship, but one thing that’s bad about it is that it’s so steep,” Lukas Delatoba said. “The one that is deflated was scarier because it was even longer and made me scream a lot.”
Claire Powers and her daughter, who live in Highland Park, have been coming to the pumpkin patch for several years. Powers said her daughter’s favorite part of the pumpkin patch is different every time they visit.
“Every year it changes,” Powers said. “When she was younger, it was the petting zoo and now she likes the rides.”
Nassar said she thinks the pumpkin patch is especially important for the Eagle Rock community, as it is located centrally in LA. Other pumpkin patches can be up to an hour away according to Nassar.
“We bring festivity and fun directly to the Eagle Rock community,” Nassar said.
Nassar said working with and helping visitors to the pumpkin patch is her favorite part of the job, and that putting in the effort is always worth it when she sees children and their families enjoying the fun.
“I love working with our city. I love being with the community and I just love being here,” Nassar said. “We come here once a year, and we bring fun to the community.”
The Cougar Mountain Pumpkin Patch is open from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 1:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets are $1 for children and $2 for adults.
Contact Eliza Kirk at ekirk@oxy.edu
