There are a lot of farms around Toronto offering seasonal festivals, wagon rides, pumpkin patches and increasingly elaborate play areas. The problem is that admission prices have also climbed to the point where taking a family to the farm can easily become a fairly expensive afternoon.
After visiting Brooks Farms, Pingle’s Farm Market and Forsythe Family Farms, I realized that what makes a farm worth visiting has very little to do with how many attractions it can squeeze onto a property. The farms we enjoyed most were the ones where the experience felt intentional — where the play, food, animals, fields and farm market all felt like they belonged together.
Of the three, Forsythe Family Farms was easily our favourite. Pingle’s surprised me in a very good way. Brooks Farms had plenty for kids to play on, but for the admission price, it was the one I was least likely to return to.
Brooks Farms: Lots for Kids to Do, But It Didn’t Feel Like a Farm
Before visiting Brooks Farms, I knew it was one of the more expensive farm attractions in the area, so I expected a fairly substantial experience once we were inside.
There certainly isn’t a shortage of things for kids to play on. There are playground-style structures and different activity areas packed into a relatively compact space, which would probably work well if your main goal is to let your kids run around and burn off some energy.
What was missing for me was the farm.
There were very few moments where I felt like we were actually visiting a working farm or interacting with one. Instead, it felt like we had paid admission to a large outdoor play area that happened to be on a farm.
The wagon ride was probably the clearest example. My son loves wagon rides, so this is always one of the things we look forward to most. At Brooks, the ride essentially made a loop around the perimeter before returning to where we started. It also operated at scheduled times rather than feeling like an organic part of the farm experience.
I was also surprised by the pumpkin setup. There wasn’t a traditional pumpkin patch where we could walk through the field and choose a pumpkin still growing on the vine. The pumpkins available to visitors had already been picked and placed out. [Note: our visit took place Oct 3, still early in the season]. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but picking a pumpkin from the field is one of those simple things that makes visiting a farm in the fall feel different from simply buying a pumpkin somewhere else.
The market was fine, but I didn’t find much that I wanted to take home. We ended up stopping at Rose Family Farm afterward because I still wanted to shop for local produce and farm products. I did buy apple fritters and apple cider at Brooks, and both were decent — the apple fritter in particular was good.
Brooks isn’t a bad choice if you’re specifically looking for lots of things for kids to climb on and play with. But that was also where I struggled with the value. If the main attraction is essentially outdoor play, there are some pretty incredible parks around the GTA that don’t charge admission.
For the price, I wanted the farm itself to be more of the experience.
Pingle’s Farm Market: Much Better Than I Expected
Pingle’s was almost the opposite experience.
When I first saw Pingle’s on Instagram, I assumed it might be another highly commercialized farm attraction where everything had been designed primarily for photos and social media. Because admission isn’t particularly cheap here either, I went in a little skeptical. It exceeded my expectations.
We visited near the end of tulip season, and the farm was beautiful. But what impressed me more was how thoughtfully everything had been laid out. There was a massive area for kids to play, but it never felt like someone had simply squeezed as many attractions as possible into one space. There was room to move around, plenty of interactive stations and enough separation between activities that it didn’t feel chaotic even with a lot of families there.
The entire experience felt much more intentional.
The wagon ride took us farther into the property, the tulip fields gave us an actual reason to explore the farm, and there were enough different things to do that we spent a substantial amount of time there without feeling like we were repeatedly circling the same play area.
The food was decent as well, but one of my favourite parts was actually the retail side of Pingle’s. Their main farm market was well stocked, and there was another cute shop selling snacks and local products. It felt like somewhere I would genuinely stop to shop even if I wasn’t attending one of their events.
Pingle’s is still expensive. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But I left feeling like the entrance fee had paid for an actual experience.
Forsythe Family Farms: Our Favourite Farm Experience
Then there’s Forsythe Family Farms.
Forsythe doesn’t have the polish of Pingle’s or the volume of attractions at Brooks, but it ended up being the farm we liked the most. It felt like we had arrived at a family farm and were being invited to spend some time there. That’s probably the simplest way I can describe the difference.
There wasn’t anything flashy about it. The play areas were simple, the market was smaller and everything felt a little more rustic. But rather than being a negative, that was exactly what made the experience work.
There were farm animals that the kids could actually interact with, including a petting area with a handwashing station nearby. There were fields and trails to explore, and the entire property felt connected to the fact that this was first and foremost a farm.
The wagon ride was the highlight for us.
Instead of waiting for one of a handful of scheduled rides, the staff seemed happy to take the wagon out whenever there were families interested. We went through the property rather than simply circling a play area, and it became an actual part of our visit rather than something we checked off a list. It was simple and genuinely fun.
The farm was also considerably quieter during our visit. There was space for the kids to explore without constantly weaving between crowds, and every person we interacted with was incredibly friendly.
Forsythe’s farm market is smaller than Pingle’s, but it was much closer to what I personally want from a farm store. There were vegetables, local food products, meats and other things I would actually bring home. I could smell fresh pies baking while we were there, which probably did more to sell me on the place than any elaborate farm attraction could have.
Nothing about Forsythe felt manufactured. It was no-frills farm fun, and we loved it.
Brooks Farms vs. Pingle’s vs. Forsythe: Which Would I Choose?
These farms are actually serving slightly different experiences, which is why I wouldn’t say that everyone should automatically choose the same one.
If you want a highly developed seasonal attraction with plenty of structures and activities for kids to play on in a concentrated area, Brooks Farms offers that. There is certainly enough there to keep younger kids occupied. I just don’t think the experience justifies the admission price compared with what else is available nearby.
If you want something polished and more event-like, Pingle’s Farm Market does it extremely well. It is also expensive, but the difference for me was that I could see where the money went. The property is thoughtfully laid out, there are lots of interactive activities, the farm market is excellent and the seasonal component actually becomes part of your visit. I would happily return for another one of their seasonal events.
But if you ask me which farm I actually want to go back to, it’s Forsythe Family Farms. Forsythe wasn’t the biggest or most polished of the three. It was simply the one that gave us the experience I had been looking for in the first place. We weren’t visiting a playground that happened to be sitting on farmland. We were visiting a farm. And for us, that turned out to be much more fun.
Which Farm Is Best for Young Kids?
With young kids, it’s tempting to assume that the farm with the most attractions automatically wins. After visiting all three, I don’t think that’s necessarily true.
My son was perfectly happy with a wagon ride, animals he could interact with, some space to explore and a few simple places to play. He didn’t need dozens of attractions packed together to have a good time.
That’s one of the reasons Forsythe worked so well for us.
Pingle’s would be my choice if I wanted to make more of a full day out of it, particularly when one of their seasonal fields is open. Forsythe would be my choice for the relaxed family farm experience I would happily repeat throughout the year.
Brooks would make the most sense for families who specifically want a large outdoor play experience and aren’t as concerned about the traditional farm component.
My Ranking
1. Forsythe Family Farms — Best overall
The most genuine farm experience of the three and our personal favourite. Friendly, relaxed, interactive and simple in exactly the right way.
2. Pingle’s Farm Market — Best polished farm experience
Expensive, but thoughtfully done and worth the admission during our visit. The farm market, seasonal fields, play areas and activities made it feel like a complete experience.
3. Brooks Farms — Best if your priority is kids’ play
There are plenty of activities for young kids, but it didn’t offer enough of the traditional farm experience for me to justify the price.
There are so many farms around Toronto and Durham Region that paying admission now comes down to more than simply asking how many activities are included. I want to leave feeling like we actually experienced something connected to where we were. The farms that did that best weren’t necessarily the ones with the most attractions. They were the ones that still felt like farms.
Leave a Reply