Visiting a farm can be a great way to spend a day, with all sorts of fun activities, animals, and the opportunity to learn something new, from growing fruits and vegetables to how to make cheese through a variety of classes and more. One of the top kid-friendly activities in Colorado, these are the most fun farms in Colorado that are worth a visit.
James Ranch, Durango
Just north of Durango, James Ranch offers a variety of unique family adventures, including a self guided walking tour of the ranch that will teach you more about how the families manage the land and animals. You’ll be able to walk through the gardens, milk parlor and yard, and see where the animals live, including chickens and baby goats. The ranch also hosts a number of summertime events including live music, yoga, and workshops. Don’t forget to fuel up at the onsite restaurant, which proudly sources its main regenerative ingredients directly from the ranch and serves up delicious food like 100% grass-fed beef burgers, salads, and sandwiches.
Miller Farms, Platteville
Miller Farms is a real working farm that’s been in operation for nearly 70 years. Farm tours offer the chance to find out how the farm runs on a day-to-day basis as you join a farmer for the day. Or, come in the fall to experience the harvest festival. The festival offers the chance to take a hayride into the 180 acres of fields to pick your own vegetables, including Indian corn, squash, potatoes, carrots, peppers, pumpkins and more, as well as to cuddle with creatures in the petting zoo and try to navigate the corn maze. In “Antique Alley,” enjoy lunch in the picnic area and checking out the antique cars and tractors.
Urban Farm, Denver
The Urban Farm offers the chance to visit a farm right in the city, learning first hand about sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, touching a warm, just-laid egg, and even how to spin wool. Visitors can explore the farm and get up close to the animals on a self-guided tour when it’s open to the public, between March and September. There are all sorts of programs offered too, like “Be a Farmer,” an activity for students that allows them to work right alongside farm employees, doing things like gathering eggs, filling water troughs and other typical farm chores.
SunCrest Orchard Alpacas and Fiber Works, Palisade
Set right in the heart of peach and wine country, SunCrest Orchard Alpacas and Fiber Works maintain a herd of nearly 50 alpacas, and oftentimes there are babies onsite too. The farm specializes in alpacas as well as fiber processing and finished alpaca products, and offers interactive and educational tours year-round. Visitors can get up close and personal with the animals, learn more about them and then see how their fiber is spun into yarn with a tour in the mini-mill. In the end, you’ll get to visit the farm store and see the wide range of alpaca products available too. There are also a variety of events, classes, and even trekking tours offered, where you can go trekking with an alpaca through the orchard and learn about alpaca etiquette.
Growing Gardens, Boulder
Whether you have kids, or you’re a kid-at-heart, visiting Growing Gardens is a wonderful way to spend a spring afternoon. You can join in on the process of raising goat kids by bottle-feeding them as well as doing some goat milking goats and even teaching the animals to walk on a leash. Every spring, the dairy hosts a Goat Baby Shower complete with live music, food, wine, goat races, a family photo booth, and face painting. The farm also offers summer camp for kids and other events, like cheese-making workshops, goat yoga, and various volunteer opportunities.
Mesa Winds Farm & Winery, Hotchkiss
This 36-acre farm and winery not only offers panoramic vistas of the nearby West Elk mountains, plateaus, and canyons, but it features a winery and organic vineyards, orchards and an adorable flock of Babydoll sheep who keep the “alleyways” mowed in the peach and apple orchards, and among the grapes. Situated on Rogers Mesa in the valley of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, a region that’s been declared the state’s farm-to-table mecca, Mesa Winds Farm has been certified organic for more than 25 years and farmed ecologically for over a decade. Its sweet black-and-white Babydoll Southdown sheep are known for being incredibly patient and docile, making them wonderful to meet for all ages, even the tiniest tots. This farm also offers overnight stays and the chance to pitch in by prepping peaches for pressing into wine, helping with the grape harvest, weeding and raking pruning in the orchards, or picking and sorting tree fruit.
Gunnison River Farms, Austin
Gunnison River Farms sits alongside the Gunnison River in the tiny town of Austin and has been growing some of Colorado’s finest peaches for over a century. Guests can stay in the property’s historic cabins, and when the dinner bell rings, gather around the farm table for a meal that includes fresh ingredients from the farm, like veggies from the garden, and lamb or pork. If you like to fish, the farm also arranges professional guide services.
