Willoughby Heritage Farm and Conservation Reserve is a peaceful little escape right in…read moreCollinsville, IL that is perfect for slowing down your day and taking in some good nature vibes. They have a few miles of hiking trails, but beware they are kind of hard to follow and it's really easy to get lost, but also pretty easy to get back on track! They have farm animals you can feed, pet, and check out along with vintage farm equipment dotted all over the farm. It's free to visit and is definitely a local hidden gem in this town!

I stopped by this evening about 4:30 to take a look around. It is a gorgeous, small farm with lots…read moreto do! There is a gorgeous garden, which is a photographers playground -- bees, beautiful butterflies and hummingbirds pollinating all around and enjoying the sweet nectar. Flowers everywhere -- it is so beautiful! It was super quiet as I walked around, it was just me and two hikers that went down to the little trail and back. This is such a wonderful play for kids! There are turkeys walking around loose, that just pass by, so used to humans, obviously. There are two pigs in a pen, a few goats chilling on their tables and a horse, two donkeys in the barn. Friendly, and curious if I had treats to give. (Which you can feed some of the animals, others have signs not too.) Groundhogs running around too but they do hide! Not scary at all. Lots of space for a shaded picnic lunch and a good sized play area for kids. It's well worth checking out. It is gorgeously maintained and the animals are beautiful, so very well taken care of. Just go, already -- It's good for the soul! :) Will definitely be back.

Absolutely love this place! The prices are super reasonable and everyone who was working there,…read morevery friendly and helpful. I can tell the caregivers very much care for the animals from the domesticated goat to the exotic yak and camels. Lily the Camel is so sweet her handler was kind to her and I appreciate that the most. My toddler (2yo) loved the wagons they offer gratis and of course - the baby goats! Came for a visit from the mile high state - and south county has a gem in Critter Lane! Can't wait o come visit everyone again - thank you to the dedicated staff for making this a wonderful park.

My kids always enjoy it. The animals are fun and usually pretty interactive. The workers are nice…read more Some of the things inside the shopper overpriced, but that's anywhere. You just gotta drag your kids away from it lol all in all, we always enjoy coming here and it's a blast.

My two boys, 9 and 7 years old, had the best time feeding the animals and walking around.read more

This place was....interesting…read more I'll be honest, it popped up as a pumpkin patch. My sister just moved to the area and was looking for one close for her kiddos, and this was around the corner, so we decided to give it a try. To start, it was $10/person to get in, which wasn't really promoted. We've lived many different places and have never had to pay to get into a pumpkin patch, so that was a surprise. Kids were the same price, also a surprise. The property is pretty cool, they have some farm animals. They sold food to buy but half the animals you couldn't feed and the other half were already full from being fed so much. We assumed it was a regular petting zoo and bought some food before seeing it, so we ended up with leftover bags of food and no animals to feed. The hay ride only went once hourly so you basically had to wait around forever if you wanted to ride it. The maze was cool and the concept seemed really fun to find a message BUT the first word on the message was "God" and honestly, nowhere did they promote this farm as a religious-based experience. Lastly - the pumpkins. We came here for one reason. They don't even grow pumpkins on site, they ship them in, and they don't keep them stocked. I think we had like 20-30 pumpkins to choose from, if that, and they were picked over. We had a 4YO and a 6YO and they couldn't pick any of the pumpkins up, all the kid size ones were already sold. I feel like this could be a good spot for what it is, and if it was marketed as that - a Christian family fun farm experience. But, that's not what we had expected based on the marketing they had, so it was a bit of a disappointment for us.

My Grant's Farm experience has been limited to the Christmas light show and Christmas village…read moreexperience but recently I've added the Clydesdale tour which was fantastic and a one of a kind experience getting to meet these magnificent creatures. My brain wasn't working correctly and we missed our tour time but the guide was kind enough to take us along during their tour. Mind you, we got there an hour and a half early but the brain cells died or something. Anyway, we got to pet the Clydesdales and had a close encounter with one. These horses are huge and very beautiful. We got to see a couple of them getting bathed and they were so gentle and well-behaved, I was quite impressed! The tour includes a free adult beverage or water for those under 21 or those who prefers a water instead. Our tour guide was amazing. I think she said her name was Linda. She was very kind and didn't even want any gratuity explaining that her role is a volunteer one. She's a retired educator and you can tell with the patience she had with her rather large tour group. The ticket price for the tour was pretty reasonable for the experience you're getting. You do pay for parking but you can take the tram for free to the village area for more activities. Unfortunately, we ran out of time the day of our tour so we didn't make it up to the village. You can take the trails (bike or on foot) and visit the farm though! When it's nicer outside, I fully intend to do so.

A childhood summer vacation favorite was Grant's Farm. Now you can go for their summer evening…read moreevent series. I went on the 4th of July on the 250th anniversary of... well I guess it wasn't the anniversary of the first-ever July 4th, but the first one like I'm talking about. I was impressed with how uncrowded the event was. The crowds were less than on the average days in the summers of my youth. These days there are no elephants at Grant's Farm. I saw a number of animals including some really cute hens and several wallaby. I fed goats and some tread on my American flag dress. I was happy that Grant's Farm's biergarten had several non-beers on free offer. I thought it was beer and only beer! First I had a seltzer made with vodka blueberry flavor... I think it's called Nutrl. Yum! We could smell the blueberry from a couple of feet away. My second drink was High Noon vodka iced tea It was good, but if I get to make that choice again, I'd go back to the blueberry. My friend and I split a vegan bratwurst with sauerkraut and a side of mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was pretty flavorful and the temperature was right (we weren't expecting much). I liked the bratwurst, but my companion wasn't wowed. The 4th of July drone show was a nice alternative to fireworks. We liked watching and figuring out the formations. Our only tip to the venue: reduce the volume of the band. We were sitting as far away as we could, and maybe there were speakers near us, but no matter the reason: this was at least 40% too loud for all of us. Those hens were so darling!

Best place, best value! Family owned and run! I loved everything about it! You could make a day…read moreof it and not break the piggy bank!

Had a very nice time at Bandy's! Got a pumpkin, had fun in the corn maze. Not that many things for…read moreadults to do but it was still very nice, and they have a lot of activities for childern.

This was a wonderful petting zoo and pony ride experience for my daughter's birthday. The "unicorn"…read morewas really great. All of the kids had a blast! Chloe was wonderful and did a great job of engaging the kids and making sure they were comfortable with the animals. Would highly recommend!

We booked Cowboy Critters for my daughter's 2nd birthday party and they were amazing! It was very…read moreeasy to book online, they were easy to get a hold of for anything we needed and the event went very smoothly. We will definitely recommend them to anyone looking for an event or fun party idea! My only recommendation would be if you add the food for the animals to bring a lot of quarters. I bought a roll of $10 thinking it would last most of the party and it was gone in 10 minutes. Also big shout out to Melody! She was very patient with the kids :)

I have been purchasing eggs, chicken, beef, pork and turkey from FPF for years. All their animals…read moreare humanely pasture raised by the family and I know that I am getting high quality animal products and the freshest eggs. Highly recommend stopping by their farm store on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays to stock up!!

Love this place! I've been a customer for years and knowing that I'm buying meat from a farm that…read morecares for the animals make all the difference. There is NOTHING like buying from a local farm.

Love Eckert's! The farms are so beautiful and the staff is so friendly! I love that they have…read morededicated props throughout the fields for photo ops, they really care about the customer experience. They also have a little shop set up to purchase ciders and waters in the fields which was a nice surprise. We had a blast doing Sunday Bingo, and the prizes were definitely worth it. If you go to the Cider Shed, definitely try the Orchard Summer (my bfs fav) and the Cider Donut (amazing sweet/cinnamon flavor). The batches taste a little different everytime, but that's what you get for local, homemade beers! At the restaurant, the bartender was great. He was very personable and chatted a while, and then left us alone to have our date night. The wine flight was a great way to try everything, definitely recommend. I took a star off only because I feel like the food wasn't that impressive. It was more like a Cracker Barrel and not as flavorful as I hoped. Overall, love the vibe at Eckerts and will keep going back!

Eckert's is a place filled with nostalgia for me as I've been going since I was a kid, and after a…read moremany year hiatus I was super excited to check it out again. We decided to stop in and do the sunflower fields with our season pass, allowing us to roam the sunflower fields and get 1 big sunflower each. In addition, we chose to snag a vase for a few extra dollars so we could pick even more smaller sunflowers along with some zinnias to complete our bouquet. The wagon ride out there brought me back to all the times we went as a kid, and the fields itself were beautiful & well maintained! While we were out in the field, we also were able to enjoy a cider from the shack which was pretty great as well. The lady working the cider shed out in the fields was also super helpful in explaining the whole experience to us, which helped us decide on what we wanted to do. When we returned from the sunflower fields, it was time to stop in to their Cider Shed for Xtreme Bar Bingo and a cider flight. There were a ton of tables and plenty of room despite the small crowd that showed up for bingo, and the outdoor pavilion & fans kept things cool despite it being a heater (heat index of 109°F). Our cider flight included the Pink Lady, BeeKeeper, Orchard Sunset, & Cider Donut. While I wasn't a huge fan of the Pink Lady & BeeKeeper, the Orchard Sunset & the Cider Donut were absolutely phenomenal! I would go back just for those two ciders even if we didn't get to do anything else. We were a bit hungry during bingo and decided to try out the Brussel Sprouts as a small side, and while they were pretty good, they were pretty bland with no additional seasonings or add-ins which was a little disappointing. The service at the Cider Shed was great with the staff helping us choose which ciders we may want to try. They also let you get 3 free samples, which was super useful in making our decision. After losing at Bingo (nothing new there), we figured it was best to end our Eckert's evening by having a quiet dinner in their Country Restaurant. I saw a seasonal Grilled Peach & Burrata salad on the menu that I was really excited to try, so we split that as an appetizer. Although it was another solid dish, it wasn't anything special in my opinion. The burrata definitely paired well with the grilled peach, but there wasn't much else to say about it. From there, we snagged a fruit wine flight as we were very curious on how their wines taste. The flight included Blackberry, Strawberry, Peach, & Apple wines, with the Blackberry stealing the show as best overall! The Strawberry was also nice, tasting like a watermelon jolly rancher, while the Peach & Apple were just okay. Lastly, for the entrees, I got the Cheeseburger Platter with a side of mashed potatoes and brown gravy while my girlfriend got the Chicken & Dumplings & a side salad with Aunt Helen's Sweet Vinaigrette. The cheeseburger platter was okay, nothing special, but the mashed potatoes & brown gravy were incredible. The chicken & dumplings fell a bit short as they were pretty meh, lacking the amount of chicken we were hoping for, and the side salad was not great as we thought the "sweet vinaigrette" just didn't taste right. The staff in the restaurant were again, super helpful, nice, and attentive, making us feel right at home. Finally, we grabbed 2 Cider Donuts for dessert on our way out. To say they were delicious would be an understatement. While they were a bit greasy, the flavor and texture was to-die for and gave us a perfect sweet treat to end our night. All-in-all, we really enjoyed our day out at Eckert's roaming the sunflower fields, creating our own bouquet, playing Xtreme Bar Bingo, & trying new ciders & wines. While we will definitely be back for the experiences, donuts, & ciders, the food is nothing special in my opinion and would likely be skipped. Would definitely recommend coming out for their summer & fall experiences, though!

Came here to the my oldest step daughter. Our first time here and came across their page from a…read morelocal city Facebook group. They are located off caryle Ave. Not far from Scott Air Force Base. Support local! We got there around 10:30 or so and hardly anyone there yet. It was so nice this family opened up their property to let the public pick pumpkins and provide some fun fall activities. They even allowed us to meet their miniature cows and baby sheep. All around happy we got to come here. We purchased at least over 4+ pumpkins of all sizes, shapes, and colors. The smaller ones are $1 and the rest are by the lb. They have many wagons set a side to use to load up your picks. They did tell us the ones on the vine may not be ready yet, but if you did they can come out to help cut them. They have a little corn maze to get through to the patch. They have ample grassy area parking. With signs and portable bathrooms if needed. They accept cash or card. Also time wise we only knew of the weekend times. 10-3 that we are aware of currently. They have their own facebook page and website so you can see times etc

This family had a dream. You pick or select from pumpkins around the farm. Price is by the pound…read more She has merch, pumpkins and fun. Check them out.