Maymont Farm — Attraction in Richmond

Beautiful park-great fun for the kids. We went for Spring Break week and spent about 4 hours there for FREE. The money we spent was by choice (goat food, nature center, donations).

We tried to park near the farm but since they had part of the parking lot roped off (during spring break!?!?), we went to the Nature Center lot. I will probably park there more often because the parking was better and we got a nice spot up close and in the shade. Our first stop was the "newly renovated farm". Note to Maymont-Please "unrenovate"! They now have only one goat food machine that now costs 50 cents and it literally gave everyone about 10 tiny pieces of food. They used to have several and it was a quarter and you got a handful. I have to say that I didn't hear anyone having a bad time the whole time we were there except for at this point. The kids were antsy because of the LOOOOOONG line waiting to get to the one machine, the parents were mad that it was now 50 cents and then when the food came out....uh...let's just say I thought there would be a riot. My goodness. I was not thrilled either. I had my son and a friend with me so we spent $2 for less than a handful of food. That being said, after feeding the goats the kids seemed happy to pet the sheep and goats and the food fiasco seemed to blow over quickly with everyone. I wasn't thrilled with the new look of the farm, but the kids still had fun.

We walked the whole park and the highlight was the rocks that they could climb. The rocks were busy and the kids were all having a blast.

The nature center was $4 for me and $3 for each kid. We've been before, but couldn't wait to see the otters. Sadly, the otters passed away. Had we known that ahead of time, we would have saved our money. All but one interactive exhibit was being worked on too. We saw fish and turtles and snakes and left. We spent 10 minutes in there and only that long because my son fell and had to sit for a few minutes. It was a total waste of money.

We did donate to the park when we were there because it is free and the most beautiful place to visit in Richmond. We've been to Lewis Ginter and it was fun, but expensive. Maymont is free and beautiful.

We will go back but we will skip the farm and...

We were disappointed that we spent money on tokens and the feeding dispenser was empty. I couldn’t find someone to fill it. Customers were shaking the dispensary as well. There was plenty on the dispensary accepting quarters but none on the tokens. Kind of tough when there is a “coin shortage” and people cutting down on using cash. It might be better to adopt a vending station like some fish hatcheries do. The animals were neat to see. They all seemed pretty content even on the hot day! We were sad we weren’t able to feed any. There were people reaching into the little vegetable garden they had and pulling those products/leaves to feed the animals. We thought that was kind of rude of people to do. Hopefully next time we come we will get to use our tokens!! It may be a good idea to have some more staffing or signage around to deter people from acting...

Visitors will have the exciting opportunity to buy pallets specifically designed for feeding the animals! Just imagine the joy of interacting with them as you hand-feed these little treats. Be sure to bring some quarters, as you'll need them to access the pallets from the dispenser machine. Alternatively, you can grab token using cash/ card/Apple Pay from the vending machine area, which will provide plenty of pallets for feeding.

While you're preparing for this delightful experience, keep in mind that there won’t be any cups available to hold the pallets, so you'll be holding them in your hands—get ready for a few spills! And expect the thrill of feeling the animals gently licking the food right from your palm. It’s going to be an...