Avila Valley Barn — Attraction in Grover Beach

I grew up going here. It's basically turned into a big tourist trap. It's fun, good for kids. But it's expensive, and sometimes things are not really run the most efficient way. Everything costs now, when it was free when I was a kid. Also, if you show up the same day as a field trip, you can't go on the hay rides because for some ridiculous reason they don't keep 1 tractor running for non field trip people, so we waited until 1 pm and then had to wait 30 more mins. The tractor ride was literally just riding on the back of a tractor trailer that had hay bales, and the person did not even talk about anything. You just go down the dirt road, turn around in a field and come back. For some reason they charge for the hay maze now. The store is cute, produce is always good. Baked goods are good, and you can tell they actually bake the products because they have that homemade taste. I do wish they put the date on the muffins and breads though. Also I don't know why there is not a separate fridge for the Apple Cider. There used to be and now it's just an ice bucket bin thing instead. They used to sell frozen ones which was also great. If they have field trips coming there, there should be an online calendar that tells what day they are booked with them, or else they need to run them entirely separate from the public portions, so that it's not negatively effecting their regular business like is...

This place looks nice if you’re not educated in animal welfare/quality of life. Every experience I’ve had here is progressively worse than the last, and after my last experience I don’t plan on going back. They pack way too many animals (goats specifically) into way too small of enclosures, I’ve never seen ANY water in ANY of the pens for the animals, as well as 0 access to food besides the lettuce that they are overfed. Majority of the animals are severely overweight. Majority of the animals are matted and look like they have never been groomed or have had their hooves touched by a farrier. The last experience we had was shocking. We were walking through the chicken coop and blood was EVERYWHERE, with a chicken sitting there clearly injured. It looked like a murder scene. I informed 2 employees and they both just shrugged their shoulders, said ok, and continued with what they were doing. If these were my animals, I would have immediately dropped what I was doing and checked on them, ESPECIALLY if they were the main attraction at my business and the main source bringing food to be put on my family’s table. Not to mention, this place is an attraction for kids and they don’t need to be seeing that. Everything is ridiculously overpriced and it’s obvious that they are only concerned about their bottom line and not the welfare of the animals who keep the...

Dear Avila Valley Barn,

I had no expectations coming here other than knowing it was close to the 101 freeway and it was a great place to stop. And, indeed, it was a great stop during our drive up the Central Coast.

There were families and people of all ages and walks of life at your little farm. There were plenty of places to park and we got lucky finding a shaded spot under a tree near the entrance.

There were plenty of things to see here from an ice cream barn on the left, a produce and small market in the middle, a corn on the cob stand, and an area to feed the little goats to the right - and plenty more animals around back.

Avila Valley Barn had a variety of fruits and snacks available but I made sure to stand in the long (but fast) line for fresh roasted corn on the cob. It was delicious! We even bought some raspberries to snack on for the ride back. Too bad you were out of your apple cider but that only means I’d have to make a return visit. I did, however, make sure I purchased two of your pumpkin loaves and a giant cookie since all your other loaves were sold out.

Oh, and your ice cream was so creamy. It was so delicious on a hot July afternoon.

I enjoyed my first visit and I know it won’t be my last. I dream of coming back to Avila Valley Barn.

Until next time…

Sincerely, Your newest Avila...