Check out these delightful farm stays where you can ride around the farm, drawn either by horses or these days more likely the tractor. Embody the joy experienced by your inner-ancestor.

Here’s a roundup of just a few of the farms you can visit:

Fairwinds Farm Located in Maryland, Fairwinds Farm offers a variety of activities including hay wagon rides, horseback riding, and fishing. This family-friendly farm is perfect for those looking to experience a variety of farm life activities in a scenic setting​ (Farmstay)​.

Verdant View Farm Situated in Pennsylvania, Verdant View Farm provides hay wagon rides, dairy tours, and opportunities to help with farm chores. This farm emphasizes hands-on experiences, making it ideal for families and groups looking to get involved in farm life​ (Farmstay)​.

Hull-O Farms Located in New York, Hull-O Farms features hay wagon rides, bottle feeding animals, and opportunities to explore a corn maze (seasonal). Guests can also participate in various other farm activities such as fishing and gardening​ (Farmstay)​.

Liberty Hill Farm Inn This Vermont farm offers hay wagon rides, berry picking, and dairy tours. Liberty Hill Farm Inn is a great place to learn about sustainable farming practices while enjoying the beautiful Vermont landscape​ (Farmstay)​.

HarBet Lodge Located in Texas, HarBet Lodge provides a range of activities including hay rides, fishing, and learning about large animal veterinary care. This farm stay offers a unique blend of educational experiences and outdoor fun​ (Farmstay)​.

A Tennessee Dude and Guest Ranch At this Tennessee ranch, guests can enjoy hay wagon rides, horseback riding, and even participate in bread and butter making. This ranch is perfect for those looking to immerse themselves in a traditional ranch experience​ (Farmstay)​.

Summer is hay season on the farm so this is the time to get out for those rides. Some of these farms will trade wheels for sleds in winter, when you cuddle under blankets, marvel at the quiet of the snow and the huffing of the team, and dream of hot chocolate on return home.

These farms here are just a few of the farms offering hay wagon rides found under the Activities filter check-off for hay wagons on the Farmstay site. Give it a try!

(Cover photo courtesy of Hull-o Farms NY)

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Have you ever wanted to try your hand at milking a cow? You’re thinking, “How hard could it be?” Actually it’s not as easy as it looks but these farms want to give you a chance to dispel the romance and try for yourself. It’s where nostalgia and novelty overlap.

1. Dogwood Hills Guest Farm – Arkansas

Nestled in the Ozark Mountains, Dogwood Hills Guest Farm provides a serene setting with a variety of activities, including cow milking. Guests can stay in a comfortable three-bedroom cottage that accommodates up to eight people. The farm offers many engaging activities such as dairy tours, egg gathering, and gardening. Guests can also enjoy farm-fresh meals prepared with local ingredients, including raw milk and farm-fresh eggs​ (Farmstay)​.

2. Sanctuary Farm Montana – Montana

Sanctuary Farm Montana, located in Alberton, offers a peaceful retreat with no cell phone coverage, internet, or cable TV, allowing guests to truly unwind. Visitors can stay in a cozy log cabin or an all-season yurt, both offering unique and comfortable accommodations. The farm provides opportunities to participate in farm activities like milking goats and feeding chickens. Guests can also enjoy the beautiful surroundings, including a creek and adjacent National Forest​ (Farmstay)​.

3. Fat Sheep Farm and Cabins – Vermont

Fat Sheep Farm & Cabins, located in Hartland, Vermont, offers a unique farm stay experience where guests can immerse themselves in farm life. There are five comfortable cabins available to stay overnight. Visitors can participate in daily animal chores such as feeding and milking sheep, feeding chickens, and collecting eggs. Seasonal activities include socializing with lambs in the spring and enjoying workshops on cheese and bread making (Farmstay)​.

4. Reves de Moutons – California

Rêves de Moutons, located in the picturesque Paso Robles wine country, offers a luxurious farm stay experience. Guests can enjoy staying in retro-style campers or rooms in the farmhouse. The farm focuses on sheep and goat farming, producing milk, cheese, meat, and wool. Visitors can participate in daily farm tours and meet the animals, with opportunities for hands-on experiences like feeding and milking (Farmstay).

5. New Day Dairy – Iowa

New Day Dairy Guest Barn in Clarksville, Iowa, offers a unique farm stay experience where guests can immerse themselves in the daily life of a working dairy farm. The guest barn provides 24/7 views of 150 cows through large loft windows, allowing visitors to watch and interact with the cows from the comfort of their accommodations. Guests can even take the “Be a Dairy Farmer” challenge and participate in an introductory and farewell tour of the barn (Farmstay).

If these states aren’t on your travel list, use the filter option when you search on Farmstay for all the farms offering “Milking” .  Remember, not all farms have dairy animals, but there’s a whole host of other activities that allow you to fully immerse yourself in farm life.

Whether you’re looking to enjoy the beauty of the Ozarks, the tranquility of rural Vermont, or the scenic vistas of Montana, it’s time to come home with some good farm stories to regale your friends…and it might just be your adventures as a milkmaid!

(cover photo courtesy of Hull-o Farms, New York)

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David and Caroline Owens bought their first farm in 1992 in Pelham, NH as a place to raise their kids and grow their own food. Caroline was a former vocational agriculture teacher with a degree from Cornell now working for a feed company; David was a biomedical  engineer with a degree from Boston University. Soon enough, friends and neighbors were asking to buy meat from them. They were on the cusp of the local, pasture-raised food movement raising sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, and turkeys. They jumped all in.

Fast forward to 2006 when the size of the Owens’ operation had outgrown the existing farm infrastructure. Caroline and David began the search for something on the East Coast with more acreage, especially in pasture for their burgeoning sheep business. The search led them to the current 112 acre Owens Farm in Sunbury, PA in 2008, and they have been farming the land there ever since. Located in the beautiful rolling hills of the Susquehanna River Valley, they have found their ‘forever’ farm.

The Owens currently raise sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys, selling to local families. No small production, they birth upwards of 175 lambs in March, with piglets in April and October, and chicks brought on farm in April to grow into meat birds. All are heritage breeds raised sustainably on a rotational system through the pastures. To help move the sheep flock, part of which spends the summer controlling vegetation under the solar panels at Susquehanna University, the Owens include border collies in their animal count.

The Owens offer classes in Lambing and Sheep 101 for individuals with or thinking about getting sheep, beekeeping and honey making, and a Sheep Bootcamp for Ag teachers. They also offer tours of their farm for a close-up look at how they raise happy and healthy animals in a natural setting without the use of chemical inputs.

As exhausting as all the above activity sounds, the Owens decided to ‘share’ their farm with overnight guests starting in 2015 because they felt the benefit of 24+ hours on site gave a much clearer picture of farm life from dawn to dusk. They also had loved to travel when their kids were young and often stayed in unconventional lodging or looked for home stays.

A former carriage barn became the ‘farm stay’, and the Owens now host guests from mid-March to November when there are the most hands-on activities (and least amount of mud!). When asked about guests’ reactions to their stay, Caroline mentions her conversations tend towards the seasonality of things – that livestock births happen during the months that most benefit survival and production, not everyday on the farm; that summer is the best (and most prolific) time to eat out of the farm garden; that grass grows fastest in spring and summer so animals are rotated through the pastures to keep it fresh and not overgrazed… also when they send out their band of sheep to keep the solar arrays cleared; like that. Additionally, there is great surprise in the abilities of her working dogs to herd and corral the sheep (probably because Rover at home is not so well behaved or interested in a job!)

This farm might be in PA but it’s right off I-80 with guests arriving from New York City, Baltimore and DC in 2-4 hours. So, if you ever want to throw yourself into the middle of a working operation with 112 acres to roam, and you find yourself in Pennsylvania or had a hankering to go to Pennsylvania, Owens Farm just might fit the bill. Take an unplugged vacation, not because there is no wifi but because your electronics don’t hold a candle to this farm experience!  Retreat to the country and breathe it all in. We can promise you your trip home will be filled with stories of your stay and your camera will be filled with the photos to back it up.

Check out Owens Farm here on Farm Stay USA for more information and to book your stay today!

(All photos courtesy Owens Farm)

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Guests and visitors to the farm can also opt to sign up for a cheese making class, where they learn to make chèvre, mozzarella, or cheddar cheese. They also give the option of milking the cows and goats in the morning before class!

Overnight guests have the option to be “farmer for a day”, which includes hands-on egg-collecting, feed and water the ponies and horses, feed and milk the goats, and observe cow milking. Draft horses help with much of the everyday farm work during certain seasons.

The farm itself dates back to about 1850 and run by two families until Kathleen Fields purchased it in 1997. Vacationers can choose to stay in the farm house, where there are two rooms with queen beds, plus a room with twin beds, or stay in a mobile home/RV that is situated in the six acres of woods on the property.

Camps are offered during the summer, including Farm Camp, Horse Lovers Camp, and Kindercamp. More information can be found on the farm’s website.

Start planning your trip to Flint Hill Farm today!

Enjoy a closer peek at Flint Hill Farm through this video:

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