Traveling with Kids: Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Lancaster County, PA

Before we left on our trip, friends and family kept asking me where we would be visiting in Lancaster.  As I rattled off the various attractions on our itinerary, I kept getting raised eyebrows when I mentioned Cherry Crest Adventure Farm.  “What is that?” everyone wanted to know.  And honestly, I had no idea. A farm?  Some animals?  Corn?

We passed the farm on our train ride and I think I swallowed a bug because my mouth was literally gaping wide open as I tried to take in all of the activities that I saw.  I knew that the afternoon was going to be a blast.

As we approached the sprawling (15+ acre) “adventure” portion of the farm, we truly could not believe all of the fun activities in front of us.

Of course, the biggest bragging point for Cherry Crest Adventure Farm is their Amazing Maize Maze: this 5+ acre maze includes 2.5 miles of tricky paths that wind you through all sorts of crazy stuff.  There are even fun diversions that let you paddle a canoe, explore a cave, identify animal tracks and more. I am told that you are given a flag as you enter the maze.  If you should give up before finding your way out, simply hold up your flag and await your “rescue.”  We did not attempt the maze on this trip- the heat and humidity of the day + a no-nap Lily Bean had us on borrowed time.  We opted instead to explore the rest of the farm and save the maze for a future trip.

We had such a fun time exploring the rest of the farm (there are 50 activities to choose from- it goes without saying that you could spend an entire day at the farm (we only had 1 afternoon) and still probably not see everything.

These were some of our favorites:

Farm Animal Center

Lil’ Cabin Building (Use giant “Lincoln Logs” to build a kid sized cabin!)

Giant Hay Chute Slide

Watching the Strasburg Railroad chug through the farm!

Singing Chicken Show

Farm Jump for Tiny Tots

Lil’ Farmers Playland (This area had a whole bunch of fun stuff, from swing sets to a 3 tiered water table- PERFECT for the sauna of a day!)

Wow!  And honestly- that probably doesn’t even crack the surface of all of the activities that you will find at Cherry Crest Adventure Farm.  In addition to the maze and other activities, the farm also hosts an array of seasonal events such as:

Sweet Corn Festival

Potato Festival

Cruise In (Car Show)

Harvest Festivals

Pumpkin Madness Festival

Tickets to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm start at just $11.95/person and that includes everything at the farm except for the maze.

Add the maze for a few dollars more (2 and under are free in the maze and there is a child discount for ages 3-11).

Save even more with a combo pass including tickets to Cherry Crest and another attraction in the Strasburg Area.  (You can even ride the Strasburg Railroad TO Cherry Crest… and hop back on the train when you are ready to leave!)

P.S. This certainly deserves a mention.  Cherry Crest takes “going green” seriously.  From the GIANT solar panels on their hillside to various stations set up around the farm- they use solar energy to operate their farm.  ROCK ON!

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm invited our family to be their guests which included complimentary passes to the farm.  All opinions our 100% our own.  Everything written above was based on our own experiences.