Poway Farmers Market: A Closed-Street Saturday Around a Historic Park, With a Steam Train Running

Overview

Most San Diego farmers markets happen in a parking lot. This one closes a street.

Every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Midland Road shuts to through traffic and the market runs alongside Old Poway Park, a restored 1880s-era park with an operating heritage railroad. The Poway–Midland Railroad runs on weekends, which makes this the most kid-friendly produce market in the county more or less by accident — you can buy vegetables and then put a four-year-old on a train.

It's also genuinely produce-first, which not every market calling itself a farmers market can claim. The City counts over 65 vendors across all categories; independent listings put the certified grower count at roughly 35.

What You Need to Know

When: Saturdays, 8 a.m.–1 p.m. Year-round

Next market: Saturday, September 26, 2026

Where: Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Road, Poway, CA 92064 — at Midland Road and Temple Street

Cost: Free to attend

Certified: Yes — a California Certified Farmers Market, listed by the state as Poway CFM

Payment help: Accepts WIC

Vendors: Over 65, of which roughly 35 are certified growers

Road closure: Midland Road detours 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.; driveway parking and business access stay open

Info: poway.org/456/Farmers-Market

The Park Is the Point

Old Poway Park is a genuine historic site, not a themed plaza. The Poway–Midland Railroad operates on weekends with restored equipment, and the park's buildings date to Poway's early settlement.

The practical consequence: this is a market you can spend two hours at rather than twenty minutes. If you have kids, the train alone justifies the drive from central San Diego.

Two Markets, Same Morning

Worth knowing so you don't go looking for crafts among the vegetables.

The farmers market is the street market on Midland Road — produce, flowers, prepared food, music.

The Artisan Market, run by the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild, is a separate event inside the park, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It runs the 1st and 3rd Saturdays from January through August, then every Saturday from Labor Day weekend through Christmas.

Which means that from early September onward — including this Saturday — both are on at once. That's the best time to come if you want the full spread.

Parking and Getting There

Drive, realistically. The City publishes only the road-closure detail: Midland Road is detoured from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and driveway parking and business access remain open. There's no dedicated market lot, shuttle, or published bike parking.

Transit is genuinely poor for this one, and it's worth being honest about. MTS route 944 has a stop at Temple Street and Midland Road — the market's own corner — but 944 doesn't run on weekends. Route 945 does run Saturdays, but its published timepoints follow the Poway Road corridor and don't include Midland Road or Old Poway Park.

So: no published weekend bus service to the market's door. If you're coming without a car, check current schedules at sdmts.com rather than trusting a route map.

Good to Know

Come for the produce, stay for the park. Of the three big North County Saturday options, this is the one built for a morning rather than an errand.

Arrive before the 1 p.m. close with room to spare — growers pack up when they sell out, and the certified section is the part that goes first.

The ZIP code trips up map apps. The City lists 92064. Several directories publish 92074, which is Poway's PO-box ZIP and geocodes badly. Use 92064.

The other Saturday options are Little Italy Mercato downtown and the Del Mar Farmers Market, which runs afternoons rather than mornings. See the whole week in our guide to San Diego farmers markets by day.