Credit: Pineland Farms
This post may include affiliate links. If you click on one of them, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
Pineland Farms is our FAVORITE place to visit and a no-brainer why it got the award for being the first featured location on The Wandering Chickadee blog.
Pineland Farms Overview:
Pineland Farms is located in New Gloucester, Maine and is about a 25 minute drive from Portland and is LOADED with activities for the whole family.
A favorite activity for our family to do is to sign up for a Farm Visit. The Farm is open at 9am (great for those early risers!) and the last ticket is sold for 2pm. All visitors are expected to depart by 4pm. There is signage for Farm Visits on the Pineland Campus but could be a bit larger to help first timers find where to go. You want to follow signs that say “Farm Visit” or “Birthday Parties”. Both will get you to the right spot. If you get lost, the wonderful staff at The Market can provide easy to follow directions. You will want to check-in at the Smoke House for your tickets. In the picture above, it is the red house with the white silo.
There are a ton of animals to explore! There are milking cows, heifers, and calves that each have their own barns for children to explore along with chickens, peacocks, goats, alpacas, sheep, ponies, potbellied pigs, rabbits, and more.
In the barnyard area there is a big outdoor house where kiddos can set their imaginations wild along with a slide, bridge, tunnel and lots of outdoor space to roam free! There is also an edible garden here too! The accessibility of the play features are a bit limited, however. Someone with mobility concerns may have some struggles with climbing up to the slide and getting up on the porch of the play house.
Additionally, the Equestrian Center is open Thursday-Saturday from 9am-2pm and you can visit the Morgan Horses with your Farm Visit Pass. The Equestrian Center is located about 1.25 miles from the Farm Visit Check In spot and off a busy, curvy road with very little shoulder so if you plan to visit the Equestrian Center I would suggest taking your car.
You can also extend your trip by exploring the Story Book trail (stories change every 2 weeks so check out their website for the current book), the Corn Maze (during the fall), and checking out the sledding and skating rinks (during the winter months) on campus. These are all free to you!
The storybook walk is directly across from The Market.
Head on down this trail for the 1 mile long Story Book trail.
Strollers of any kind will work when visiting the animals at the Barns. All roads are paved and there is concrete flooring in all the barns. If you decide to visit the Equestrian Center, I would recommend a jogging/3-wheeled stroller as the paths around the fields are dirt. However, my Uppababy Vista did just fine when I used it there. If deciding to go on the Storybook walk or the Corn Maze, a jogging/3-wheeled stroller is a MUST as these trails are on grass and soft dirt.
While the picnic tables at the Smokehouse and at The Market offer some great shady spots, on a sunny day, you can expect to get plenty of vitamin D. Don’t forget to bring along the sun protection!
Another wonderful feature on the Farm is that NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED. Our daughter has had two incidents with dogs that have been relatively scary and she is quite timid around them. To have a place that does not allowed dogs at all, is a huge stress reliever!
Picnic Tables by the Smokehouse and Silo
Picnic tables by the Heifer Barn
Picnic tables in between The Market and start of the Story Book Walk
You can also find a water bottle refill station just inside the first set of doors at The Market!
Costs for Farm Pass:
Adults: $6
Children 3 years and older: $6
Children 2 years and younger: FREE
If you visit and end up liking Pineland Farms as much as we do, a Family Season Pass may be worth it to your family. The Season Pass is $100 and includes free farm visits (you still have to pre-register), 50% of family programs with advanced registration, and our personal favorite…10% off purchases at The Market (beer and wine excluded)
Sample Itineraries
Spring/Summer:
- Visit the animals at Pineland Farms by pre registering for your Farm Visit
- Walk the Storybook trail directly across from the Market
- The stories change every 2 weeks, including during the winter! Check the link to see the story that will be featured during your visit.
- Stop at The Market for some yummy lunch options!
- Check out the Dunn School playground (right across from Pineland Farms) and their nature playground too! This is available during non-school hours.
Outdoor Playground at the Dunn School
Fall:
- Visit the animals at Pineland Farms by pre registering for your Farm Visit Pass
- Walk the Corn Maze (included with your the cost of your Farm Visit Pass)
- Find the best pumpkin in the Pumpkin Patch and purchase it (Venmo or cash accepted!)
- Stop at The Market for some yummy lunch options!
Winter:
- Visit the animals at Pineland Farms by pre registering for your Farm Visit Pass
- Go sledding or skating
- Stop at The Market for some cocoa and hot coffee!
If your child/ren love animals and playing outside, you can easily spend 2 hours visiting the Farm. By adding in any of the other options that are free and eating lunch on the campus, this could easily be a 3-4 hour adventure for your family.
Budget Friendly Option:
The many reasons we LOVE Pineland is because it is a very budget friendly place to take kids and where they can spend hours having fun. The budget friendly option here is to just purchase the Farm Visit passes. They give you access to 5 barns of animals, a play yard, the equestrian center, and the corn maze (during the Fall season). Other FREE options on the Pineland Campus include the sledding hill, skating rinks, story walk, and a whole network of trails that we will visit in a different post.
There are also a TON of picnic tables located by the barnyard, the silo, and near The Market (and coincidentally, those spots are where the bathrooms are too!) so you can easily pack a lunch and find a great location to eat with your family or squad.
The Splurge Option:
The one add-on to your trip to Pineland Farms would be to check out the Candlepin Bowling on campus. It is a relatively new option and costs $20/hour per lane for up to 4 people. They do not have shoe or sock rentals so plan to bring your own socks (and bowling shoes if you have them).
Credit: Pineland Farms
The Bathroom Low Down:
There are three convenient inside bathroom locations during your visit to Pineland Farms:
- At the Smoke House & Silo. This is an all gender/single user bathroom that is big enough for you and your stroller to fit in. This is the closet bathroom when you are visiting any of the cow barns, the corn maze, and pumpkin patch. In the bathroom you will find a large counter for any infant changing needs you may have.
- At the Education Barn. This is also are two all gender/single user bathrooms that are big enough for you and your stroller to fit in. This is the closest bathroom to the barnyard animals and outdoor play space. These bathrooms have a Koala-Care-like infant changing station in them.
- At The Market: There are sex-separated/multi-user bathrooms. This is the closest location to the start of the Storybook Walk and to the Dunn School Playground. This bathroom has a Koala-Care-like infant changing station in the handicap accessible stall.
- Sometimes, Pineland does provide porta-potty options at the sledding, skating, and corn maze sections of their campuses.
What’s in my car or backpack for this visit?
The Oxo-Tot Travel Potty (from Amazon):
While I do my best to try to have my daughter use the bathroom before we head out on our adventures, it never fails that she has to use the bathroom and it always happens where we are just far enough away from the bathrooms that it’s a pain. That is why I LOVE my Oxo-Tot travel potty (Amazon) with Oxo Tot Travel Potty Refill Bags (Amazon). We have used this several times while playing at the Dunn School playground on our adventures at Pineland. It has been a life saver! What I love is that it is lightweight and compact enough to fit in my hiking backpack and the disposable bags have an absorbent liner that makes for easier toting until you can find a trash receptacle.
Key Takeaways:
- Pineland Farms is a 25 minute drive from Portland and is a great option for families; there are plenty of free options, the farm passes are affordable, and there are some excellent splurge options by grabbing lunch in The Market or taking the family bowling.
- No dogs allowed.
- Packing Essentials:
- Water
- Snacks
- Stroller (go with a jogging/3-wheeled if doing more than the animal barns)
- Sun protection
- Oxo-Tot travel potty from Amazon
- Bathroom Situation Rating: A-
- With 3 separate indoor bathroom locations, you will be sure to be close to one if you need it!
Thank you for reading this blog on The Wandering Chickadee. For more content check out @thewanderingchickadee on Instagram!
To have The Wandering Chickadee land in your email every other Monday, add your address and hit subscribe! Thank you!
~Natalie
This post may include affiliate links. If you click on one of them, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
3 Comments