Lancaster County Christmas tree questions
Where can you cut your own Christmas tree in Lancaster County?
9 farms, all within half an hour of the city. Hunt’s in Millersville has the widest choice of species in the county; Elizabeth Farms in Lititz has horse-drawn wagon rides, Santa and a bar; Miller’s in Elizabethtown has the longest season, open every day to Christmas Eve; and Country Barn runs a train out to the fields. Heritage in Rothsville takes bookings rather than walk-ins.
When do Lancaster County Christmas tree farms open in 2026?
Three open on Saturday 21 November: Hunt’s, Elizabeth Farms for a morning soft opening, and Miller’s, which then shuts again from the 23rd to the 25th. Heritage, Gehman’s and Frog Hollow open on Black Friday, 27 November, and Country Barn on Saturday 28 November. The season runs longest at Miller’s, to Christmas Eve; Hunt’s to 21 December, Elizabeth Farms to the 19th, Country Barn to the 13th, Heritage and Gehman’s to the 12th, and Frog Hollow to the 6th — six days in all, in two Friday-to-Sunday weekends, which is the shortest season in the county.
What kind of Christmas trees grow in Pennsylvania?
Far more kinds than in the southern states, and that is the real reason to cut your own here. Hunt’s alone grows white pine, Douglas fir, concolor fir, Fraser fir, Korean fir and Turkish fir. Across the county you can also cut Canaan fir, blue spruce and Leyland cypress. By comparison, the North Carolina mountains grow Fraser fir and very little else. If you want to know which to pick, our Fraser fir vs Douglas fir guide covers the three most common.
Do I need to book a Christmas tree in Lancaster County?
At Heritage Tree Farm, yes — choose-and-cut there is reservation only, through a sign-up sheet on their website, on five days in all. Nowhere else requires it, but two farms open tagging long before the season: Hunt’s from 1 October and Miller’s from 31 October. You walk the field, tag the tree you want and come back for it. It is a Pennsylvania habit that catches out visitors, and it means the best trees are claimed weeks before anyone opens.
How much is a Christmas tree in Lancaster County?
Hunt’s publishes a full 2026 list and it is the one to plan from: $100 for a 6–8 ft white pine, $115 for a Douglas fir and $130 for a concolor, Korean or hybrid fir, rising to $250 for an 8–10 ft fir and $300 for a 12–14 ft white pine. Pre-cut Fraser runs $60 at 4–5 ft to $250 at 8–10 ft, with Canaan at $85. Tagging is free. Gehman’s charges one 2026 price for every tree on the farm, cut or pre-cut — $90 with the tax in it — which makes a tall tree there the cheapest tall tree in the county. Frog Hollow works the same way at $70 flat — $66.04 plus tax — which the farm confirmed to us for 2026 on 29 October. Country Barn is the only one that charges you to reach the trees at all: $6.50 admission, with the tree priced by height on top. Miller’s prices by the foot without legible amounts. Our what a tree costs page collects every real price list we hold, across both states.
Which farm is best with children?
Country Barn if the point is the day out — a train ride to the tree fields, giant slides, barnyard animals, a hedge maze and an elf scavenger hunt, on six days from 28 November, with $6.50 admission and Breakfast with Santa bookable separately. Elizabeth Farms for horse-drawn wagon rides and Santa’s Workshop, with cooked food at the weekend. Hunt’s is the gentler version: a wagon ride, a fire pit for s’mores and a free ornament, with no ticket.
Can I bring my dog?
Hunt’s says so plainly — pet-friendly and kid-friendly grounds. None of the others state a policy either way, which usually means a leashed dog is fine but is worth a phone call if you would rather not find out at the gate.
Why do some of these farms still show last year’s dates?
Because a farm that sells most of its trees over four or five weekends has little reason to touch its website in October. Two still do: Bowser’s, whose site is now a blog of general Christmas articles with no farm information at all, and Abe’s, which still says it is closed for the 2025 season. Frog Hollow was the third until 29 October, when we wrote to ask and the farm sent back its six 2026 dates and its flat $70 — the website still shows last season, so the dates on this page are the farm’s own words rather than its website’s. Gehman’s was in this list until 28 October, with no year attached to its dates, which we caught by checking the weekdays: 28 November is a Friday in 2025 and a Saturday in 2026. It has now posted a block headed 2026. We leave a date column empty rather than carry last season forward — but what a farm grows, what it charges you to walk in and how it takes payment all go up, because those change far more slowly than dates do.