A kid-friendly cut-your-own farm with a playground, farm animals, and free cider, but sources disagree on whether it's open most weekends of the season or only two of them, so confirm the date before you drive out.
McCarthy Tree Farm reads less like a tree lot and more like a small family outing built around a tree purchase. Between the playground, the farm animals, the blacksmith demonstration, and a campfire stocked with free hot apple cider, there’s enough here to occupy kids for a while regardless of how quickly the adults pick out a tree.
The single most important thing to sort out before visiting isn’t the tree selection — it’s whether the farm is even open on the day you’re planning to go. Sources genuinely disagree here. One aggregator (Delaware Today) describes the farm as open only two windows all season: Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend of December. Other listings describe more conventional weekend hours (10am-4pm) running through the season. Both can’t be fully right, and nothing in the available record resolves which one is accurate for 2026. If your plan involves a mid-December Saturday, that’s exactly the kind of assumption worth confirming by phone first, because if the shorter schedule is correct, you could show up to a closed gate.
Given that uncertainty, the safest bet is to treat the season opener — Thanksgiving weekend, which lines up with the Nov 27, 2026 date derived from “opens Thanksgiving weekend” — as the one date almost everyone agrees the farm will be running. Beyond that, call ahead.
Tree-wise, the farm carries white pine, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, and Canaan fir, and the record lists both cut-your-own and choose-and-cut as options, so you may be able to cut it yourself or have staff do it — worth clarifying on arrival if it matters to you. Tree baling is free, which is a small but real savings compared to farms that tack on a baling charge.
Beyond the tree itself, the gift shop here has a distinctive theme built around pottery and chimney-sweep decor rather than the generic ornament selection you’ll find at a lot of farms, plus handmade wreaths and centerpieces if you want to round out a gift-shopping trip. The blacksmith shop and farm animals give the visit a working-farm feel rather than a pop-up lot, and the campfire with free cider is a genuinely useful detail for anyone standing around in late-November or December weather.
No pricing information was found anywhere for this farm, from the farm’s own site or from third-party sources, so there’s no honest way to estimate what a tree will cost here — that has to be a question you ask at the gate rather than something budgeted in advance. Cash-only status and whether a saw is provided for cut-your-own trees are also undocumented. None of that is disqualifying, but it does mean you should go in with a phone call already made rather than relying on this page (or any single online listing) for the full picture.
Sources conflict here: one aggregator says the farm is only open Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend of December, while other listings describe general weekend hours (10am-4pm) through the season. Until that's resolved, treat Thanksgiving weekend itself as the safest bet.
With a playground, farm animals, a blacksmith demonstration, and a campfire in the mix, this is a linger-a-while farm rather than a grab-and-go one — plan for at least an hour beyond the actual tree cutting.
Not documented directly, but a farm built around a playground and farm animals tends to draw families specifically, and if the shorter Thanksgiving-weekend-and-first-weekend-of-December schedule is accurate, both of those weekends would concentrate whatever visitors the farm gets into a much smaller window.
Not documented in the record.
Not documented. A working farm with a playground and animal areas suggests grass and dirt paths rather than paved, level ground between attractions.
Skip this farm, or at least call ahead, if you're planning a mid-to-late-December visit, since one source claims the farm only opens Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend of December rather than staying open weekends through the season.
Coleman's Christmas Tree Farm is also in Middletown, New Castle County, and offers a much larger hayride-based cutting experience if McCarthy's smaller, playground-centered setup isn't the right fit.
Not documented. Neither a starting price nor a pricing note was found for this farm; ask by phone (302-836-3171) before you go if budget matters.
Unclear. One source says it's only open Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend of December; other listings describe general weekend hours through the season. This conflict is unresolved, so confirm before a December visit.
Yes — a playground, farm animals to visit, a blacksmith demonstration, and a campfire with complimentary hot apple cider.
The record lists both cut-your-own and choose-and-cut, so you may have the option either way; ask on arrival.
Opens November 27, 2026 (closing date not published). Weekends. Hours: 10am-4pm.
Pricing was not published when we last checked.
Yes. It's cut-your-own and choose-and-cut (staff cuts it for you).
1061 Dutch Neck Rd, Middletown, DE 19709, in New Castle County. It is one of 13 farms we track in Delaware.
We track 13 farms in Delaware, 6 of which let you cut your own tree. The farm has not published a starting price, so it cannot be compared on cost — call before you budget.
What sets it apart locally: it has a cocoa or cider stand, a gift shop or farm market, a petting area, which most Delaware farms on our list do not.
There are 3 other farms we track in New Castle County. All Delaware farms →
mccarthytreefarm.com
Checked September 2026.