Have you ever enjoyed the simple pleasure of a hayride? Treat your family (and yourself!) to some old-fashioned country fun. Whether it’s pulled by a tractor or horse-drawn, a hay wagon can take you on all kinds of adventures, from sweet to scary.
Harbes Family Farms on Long Island leads sing-along family hayrides every weekend through October. Adults can also take a hayride tour through the vineyard and taste their award-winning chardonnays and merlots. Famous for their sweet corn too, Harbes has a nighttime corn maze that’s just scary enough.
Things take a very ghoulish turn on
Headless Horseman Hayrides in the
Hudson Valley. Besides the one-mile-long hayride through the dark woods, there’s a sideshow performance, a labyrinth-style corn maze and three haunted houses. Named the Number 1 Hayride in America by American Airlines Magazine, Number 1 Haunted Attraction in the country by Haunt World, and ranked in the Top 10 by CNBC and AOL, the evening hayrides are so scary that young children are not allowed. Reservations are recommended. Considering the fright factor on this one, that may be a double entendre.
At
Old McDonald’s Farm Village in Sackets Harbor, the entire family can enjoy the Wizard of Oz musical hayride through the forest. You’ll meet favorite characters along the way. You can also visit the Flying Reindeer Ranch, Pork Avenue, and P.U. (Poultry University). While you’re at the farm, pick some pumpkins and take a trolley tour to see the calf barn and 600 cows.
Many
camping resorts offer hayrides along with other family activities. You can take a ride in a hay wagon at the secluded
Adirondack Camping Village near
Lake George or on the wooded trails at
Tumble Hill Campground, located between
Rochester and
Corning in the
Finger Lakes.
The 200-acre
Pumpkinville farm in the
Chautauqua-Allegheny region celebrates the harvest with lots of fall fun. Watch a duck race, try the corn maze, and taste sweet cider pressed by a 120-year-old mill. Hayrides head down an old country road and through the pumpkin fields, with views of brilliant fall foliage on the surrounding hills.