Among the attractions at Cox Farms’ fall festival in a typical year: Rope swings, massive slides, climbing structures and a full-size replica of Stonehenge, made from foam.

“People and music and bubbles and greatness,” is how Lucas Cox, whose family has owned the 116-acre farm in Fairfax County since the 1970s, describes it. “So this is just a taste of it.”

In front of him Sunday, cars filled with families were slowly winding their way around the Centreville farm, children poking their heads through sunroofs as their parents navigated the “self-driven” hayride.

The idea — a take on the traditional hayride, with each family in their own car, driving at five miles per hour — was conceived by Cox, his sister and parents in March as the novel coronavirus began its rapid spread and vast swaths of the economy shuttered. They wanted to provide families with a way to celebrate fall while social distancing.

“It’s a taste of normal; it’s continuing your traditions,” Cox said. “But it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We never let people drive on a hayride.... We figured 10 or 15 or 20 years from now, people who are kids now will be telling their kids, ‘This one time, we got to drive through — that was the only good thing about 2020.’”

He laughed that his two children, ages 4 and 6, were some of the harshest critics as Cox was creating the course, which includes a haunted house filled with bubbles, a massive space ship, a football game between aliens and gnomes, tractors dating to the 1940s, a spooky witch and, of course, a plethora of pumpkins.

“Welcome to the hayride, thank you for coming,” a masked employee says as the drive begins. “Stay in the vehicle, don’t stop, and follow the white line — the white line will keep you out of trouble.”

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Some of the fall staples that usually draw thousands to Cox Farms each season remain the same — including the bags of kettle corn, cups of cider and apple cider doughnuts.

Other traditions come with twists this year because of the pandemic. You can still pick out a pumpkin, but you have to order ahead to choose the size you want at the drive-through market. Then you pick the one you want from a shelf with options of that size. You can still take photos at the massive displays with corn and pumpkins, but there are stands where you can place your phone and signs imploring guests to “Make it quick!” and return to their cars as soon as possible.

“Cheeeeese!” 5-year-old Michaela and 2-year-old James McNealy shouted through their bright orange masks as they stood before an array of pumpkins and corn Sunday after the hayride.

Their mother, Sasha McNealy of Fort Washington, said she counts herself among those who are “kind of obsessed with the annual photos at Cox Farms” and said she has been looking for activities to entertain her kids away from home. The hayride seemed safe and fun — and ended up being better than they had expected.

Michaela’s and James’s favorite parts? The haunted house with the bubbles and the dinosaurs.

For 4-year-old Wexton Knear, the aliens and the space ship were the most exciting. Wexton’s father, Ben Knear, explained that they were worried the space ship, which had also been a highlight of trips in previous years, might not be there this year. They were ecstatic to find it at the beginning of the hayride.

“It’s definitely a different feel than last year, not being able to do everything,” said his wife, Emily Knear. “But to have this — for them to be able to do a hayride, for us to take pictures — it’s comforting.”

Soon, an employee came by with cleaner to spray the pumpkins and gourds at the photo station. And as more people arrived, an employee zipping around on a Segway reminded families as they entered: “Make sure you guys have your mask on, and if you want to take a picture, you can take it off.”

Cox, whose parents held the first fall festival in 1981 with a single wagon and a single tractor, said the family considered opening the festival as usual, with a limited capacity. But they couldn’t bear the thought of having to turn people away — and couldn’t figure out how to make it happen safely, for guests and for employees.

“We couldn’t figure out how to do it and have it be fun,” he said. “And if it’s not good, we don’t want to do it.”

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