hill ridge farms

I think the entrance fee is a bit high and for what they charge should include the train ride. The Christmas lights hayride was amazing. Bonfires were also nice. Will go back again.

I've only been to one pumpkin patch before (multiple times), and I have to say I was really surprised by all there was to do here! There was SO much more to do than the one we would go to every year back home in the Midwest, which is why the price to get in didn't really bother me. Even though it was busy, we still had a blast! Paid extra and waiting in a line for a pony ride, but my three year old loved it so it was well worth it! Love that the pumpkins were included in admission! Thought it was funny that as everyone is out getting pumpkins, the poor employees are frantically unloading pumpkins from large boxes. The employees working seemed to really enjoy their jobs. The food was pretty good. They had actual bathrooms, which was great. We also went back for the Christmas lights, which wasn't quite as awesome as our first visit, but still a good time. I really would recommend this to anyone for a fun day with your family! Side note: Two of our poor pumpkins barely made it three days before rotting. However, can't complain because they were essentially free!

Well I assisted my wife Daisy Scout trip to this attraction. I am big fan of Christmas lights. There were 22 people in my group. The kids were excited to go see the lights and see Santa. I think the light display was good. Thanks for the section that paid tribute to our troops. The lights are wire framed and very animated. I will not say anything negative at all about their lights. I do feel that there were a lot of unused area that could and may be ready for expansion. Like many of the other reviews I personally feel that it is over priced at $10.00 a person. The train ride is an extra $3.00 and a pony ride is another extra $4.00. So as you can see it can get expensive to do everything there. I would NOT recommend the train ride if you are expecting to see additional lights other than the hay ride. It won't happen. However, as for the group of girls they loved just the idea of riding a train so they did not complain. I was left asking myself where are the light for this portion of the "additional" fee. Our group ate in the Grill on site and it was great the burger and fries combo were ok and not too expensive $6.95. Several in our group got the chili bowls and loved them. They have a great store and lots of items. As a person that too put up lights and lots of them for the holiday I know it can get expensive. So hey I do recommend this for you and your family. Everyone needs to go one time besides it gives you a chance to be with your family and spend good quality time. Tell them you love them and Merry Christmas to all.

My dentist had a free family day here for all of their patients. It was great and we were able to participate in all the attractions. Even as a local resident I probably wouldn't have visited otherwise because i have a large family and the big city admission entrance is expensive. Way too expensive for a small place like this. I may, however, be investing in a season pass this Spring 2015. It pays for the general entrance and its a good place to take the kids for an hour or two each week as I live very close by. Anyway, on our visit, compliments of my dentist, the kids had great fun here. We all loved the train ride and the views in the Fall were gorgeous! The huge slide was a hit as well as all the jumpers and the rock pan mining was exciting for my children. It's a Family environment, with lots of children everywhere, which is what we prefer. The country store was fun to walk around in and the fudge was yummy. I cannot comment on most of the food being sold, but I did have a corn on the cob which was gross and not worth the price i paid. The oil available to put on it, which i suppose was a substitute for butter, was yucky and the corn had a burnt taste. All in all a great place to go with a small family (like one child) if you want to have some country fun, but for a big family like ours it's way too expensive for a onetime outing. I wish they would lower their prices or maybe offer Youngsville residents a free admission pass once a year. That would earn my patronage!visited: 9/2013

We recently took our kids and grand kids to the Hill Ridge Farms in rural Yougsville , NC on a "day trip". The "farm" is clean and nicely laid out however, about 25% of the stations / "attractions" had apparently been closed for the season. Regrettably, their admission prices failed to reflect that, which was disappointing, considering the expense. While there are a number of animals to see, none of them are made available for petting. In fact, most areas were double-fenced to keep youngsters at bad from the animals; a huge disappointment to our grand kids. The train ride (an extra expense) was nice but very short. At least the engineer did a second loop of the tracks. The "hay ride" was decent and the driver very pleasant. It seemed that a lot of the employees that probably work extra jobs around the farm were, instead, putting up Christmas lights and decorations on the property. Perhaps a night time visit would be in order during the month of December. Overall, while the grand kids were generally satisfied, Grandma and I felt like there was a lot of expense with little to show for it. On a positive note, I will say that all of the employees we spoke with were polite and friendly.

Family fun place for all ages. So much to see and do. My children loved the train ride and seeing the pig races. We spent all day there and still felt like we needed more time. It was like a mini fair in one place...food, rides and games. Plus the added fun with hay rides, pumpkins and corn pits.

We went in early October, the height of pumpkin excitement! The parking lot was pretty full and the line at the gate was long. You can go inside the country store at the entrance to buy tickets, animal food, fudge, etc. and by-pass much of the line at the gate. You get a wristband to wear.Who went: me, my parents (seniors), and two kids, ages 8 and 10. We bought Superpasses for the kids, $20 each- includes train ride, hayride, play area, and gem mining. The adults got the $10 ticket plus a $3 train ride ticket. $79 total. You can buy plastic ducks for $1 each to race at the water pumps, or bring your own. The super passes also include an evening event - Festival of Lights (we didn't attend).The place is designed for children ages 3-10. It's a great place to get the family outside and active. Probably the last year my 10 year old will enjoy it - a few different mazes to run (all short so you can see everything), a hay house to jump in, a corn house to play in, a huge inflated "pillow" to moon bounce on, water pump races, a hay horse race area, a fort to explore as well as a teepee. There's also a long tunnel slide at the top of a hill - long line. The train makes two loops around and is gentle for the little ones. You can get the kids faces painted for very reasonable prices $3-10, and pony rides for $4. They sell funnel cakes and pretzels and all sorts of fair food. They have real bathrooms, not porta-johns. We've been a few times and they are always adding something. Animals: They have chickens, a donkey, and goats, and I think turkeys inside a double fence, you can put food in a tube and watch them play (no touching). There's a Bunny Town with cute houses and rabbits (rabbits are generally lazy, don't expect action). There was also a pony or horse you could pet by the goats. There is a dock where you can feed the fish and ducks. This year they had a Pig Race track - they held events at specific times - with pig race, goat races and duck races - very cute. This was our first time doing the gem mining. The kids really enjoyed it. You get a pre-packaged bag of dirt and a sifter tray. The employees were great at showing the kids what to do and you get to find lots of gems that you get to take home.The hay wagon is pulled by a tractor and goes on a short trip over to the pumpkin field. This area has picked pumpkins laid out for selecting. Do not plan your trip thinking you are visiting a farm - I don't think anything is grown here, maybe the corn. Most pumpkin farms don't let the customers pick the pumpkins themselves because of the dangers of spider bites, so it isn't that much different as far as the pumpkins go. I think we spent about 3 hours here and the kids would have been happy to stay a little longer.

My 2 year old son had a ball playing on the farm. He didn't fight going to sleep that night! The staff was very polite and friendly. They all seemed to enjoy being at "work." We will definitely be back!

We went on for a company sponsored event so the food was catered, can't comment on their food. The activities were simple but entertaining for the children. The hayride culminating in a pumpkin each was fun. We all enjoyed the short train ride as well. In fact all activities were fun, not sure about making this an annual event but maybe... My son loved the "gem panning" as a 4th grader he is at the upper end of what I would consider the activities appropriate. Curious to see how it's decorated for Christmas.

I lived in SC for 10 years and went to many places that let you pick pumpkins, apples, blueberries, and more. They would hold festivals, brew cider, make donuts, and you could pet the farm animals. I was only 30min outside of Charlotte so I wasn't in deep country per se. After moving to Raleigh, I had hoped to find somewhere that held a quaint fall festival like I was used to. Came across HRF (Hill Ridge Farms) and it all seemed right. Then I went. $20pp is a bit steep but hey, it included the farm animals, a pumpkin from the patch, and access to their grounds. So we bit the bullet and went.The hayride is a short ride to the "pumpkin patch" where not a single pumpkin has ever been grown. It was pre-picked pumpkins set out in rows for people to pick from. The pumpkin's even had PLU stickers on them. Big disappointment.So, let's forget that and head over to the animals. We had bought some feed for them in the store out front and couldn't wait to hold it out for them to gobble up. Well, the animals are all double fenced in two circles so the public is unable to touch them. How do you feed them? There are PVC pipes set up in angles that you can happily pour the food down so it lands in a pile with the food from everyone else that was fooled into thinking they were going to feed a farm animal.Well, we can enjoy the slide and hay maze. Take our pumpkin, shop at the quaint store, and head home. Entertainment for those who have never been out of the city but a poor representation of what farm fun can really be. Went once, wouldn't go again. Will have to continue to hunt for a better farm experience.

It was a bit of a hike for us, but well worth it. My kids are 4 & 2, they loved it. There wasn't anything they could do there, mazes, bounce house, big pillow, hayride, corn house, slides. it was a great day and we would go back again. Plenty of parking, great friendly employees everywhere. The pig, goat, and duck races were the kids favorite. They took us on a hayride and we got to a big field where the kids got to pick their own pumpkins, Very clean, even the bathrooms. We didn't eat there but I did get a bottle of water, it was $1.60, I thought that was pretty good for a park. We spend about 3.5hrs and probably could have stayed but it was getting hot and we were hungry. It is a bit pricey for what it is but we did have a great time. The super package included a few extra things but $80 for a family of 4 with small kids wasn't something we wanted to get. We did the basic package without the train ride and there was still plenty to do.

We have gone for the past few years to the Fall festival and Christmas lights and both exceeded our expectations. I have a 3 year old and a six year old. You can't beat the price once you see how much fun the kids are having. We take the grandparents sometimes as well and it is a great place for all of us to spend the day together. I would recommend bringing your own food and trying to finding a secluded spot around the farm somewhere that has a picnic table. Nothing but fun to be had at this place.

This is a great location for the whole family. The train ride around the property is nice. We were there when they were setting up the Christmas lights, and it looked like there would be plenty to see. We live close by and my child asked to go all of the time.

Nothing but good things to say about this place. I took my girls to check out the new splash pad and it is AWESOME!!! A lot of other stuff for the kids to do as well (giant pillow bounce, animals, hay jump, mazes, big tunnel slide, etc.). I love that you can bring your food in and picnic if you want. There are plenty of shaded picnic areas to eat and relax. Staff was super friendly and I thought the price to get in was reasonable since the splash pad was included. We always have a great time when we visit during the fall but now it's a new summer spot for our family as well!

Was there for a family mud run race which was great and meant that we didn't have to pay to get in (was surprised that they charge for parking; not common outside of large venues and cities). As for the farm itself, it has several low-key things for young kids to do (animals, slides, places to jump). We saw literally no staff at any of these places (except animals) but they were well maintained and kids loved them. Only major criticism was food. Of course, you don't expect great food, but literally cold corn dogs and frozen "grilled chicken" patties were both overpriced and inedible. If we return, we'll either pack lunch or eat elsewhere.