Agri-tourism, Farm Tours Offered Throughout Sonoma County

Discover farm life: Agri-tourism is alive and well in the heartland of Sonoma County. This popular brand of California travel comes in a variety of flavors — farm stays, farm tours, produce picking, cooking classes, and more.

The experiences are designed to give visitors an inside look at what life is really like on the American farm. They are open to everyone; in many cases, they cost no more than $20 a person.

Small farms have turned to agri-tourism in recent years as a method of supplementing income and raising awareness about rural America. Depending on the farm, most of these experiences include destination history (many local farms are family owned), interactions with animals, and some form of tasting at the end. 

Redwood Hill Farm

In good spring weather, Sebastopol’s Redwood Hill Farm – Capracopia — a goat dairy — offers full farm tours guided by one of its family members, “kid cuddle days” that focus on the adorable baby goats, and personalized private tours arranged to work with your schedule. Meet the goats, cuddle baby goats, learn how to milk a goat, and experience  sustainable farming first-hand, from the tracking solar array and rainwater catchment tanks to the pioneering use of tagasaste, an innovative goat fodder crop. This Certified Humane farm also includes chickens, beehives, olive and fruit orchards, and more.

A man milking a goat at Redwood Hill Farm.
Redwood Hill Farm – Capracopia

Both the full farm tours and kid cuddles days start at 11 a.m. and last until 2 p.m. Bring a picnic to enjoy in the orchard. The farm market stand offers award-winning Redwood Hill Farm goat cheese, seasonal fruit, and fresh flowers, as well as skin-nourishing goat milk soap made with fresh goat milk and Capracopia Olive Oil produced on the farm. (Note: No pets are allowed on the farm.) Reservations required.

McClelland’s Dairy

The traditional farm tour at McClelland’s Dairy just east of Petaluma is a 90-minute experience that begins with a history lesson in front of the farm’s original milking parlor. You’ll learn how the farm has been family-run since 1938. You’ll also learn how three generations of McClellands have run the operation.

Next, walk through the nursery to meet some of the newest cows on the block. From there, tour a pasture or two, and learn about how the farm recycles water.

The tour concludes in the milking parlor itself, where you can watch cows being milked (the ranch’s 1,000-plus cows are milked for 20 of 24 hours daily). Then, taste the farm’s signature product: European-style artisan organic butter. Private tours are available year-round; public tours are offered in October, in connection with the farm’s Pumpkin Patch.

Achadinha Cheese Company

Geese roam in front of a yellow farm house
Achadinha Cheese Company

In the rolling hills about four miles southwest of downtown Petaluma, the Achadinha Cheese Company offers 90-minute farm tours and cheese making classes. Achadinha is a family-operated ranch where they milk the cows and goats and then make their own farmstead cheeses, along with raising beef cows, pigs, sheep, horses, and chickens.

Tara Firma Farms

Two chickens from Tara Firma Farms.

Also south of Petaluma’s downtown area, Tara Firma Farms produces grass-fed beef and pastured poultry and pork, and offers free visitor tours on Saturdays and Sundays. You’ll witness a ‘fully operational example of what sustainable farming looks like.’ Its farm store is open daily.

Green String Farm

A old farm house in the setting sun
Green String Farm

The 140-acre Green String Farm east of Petaluma has long been an influential player in sustainable farming, focusing on assisting natural processes that help grow healthy fruits and vegetables. The Green String Institute, founded in 2000, offers a certification program that promotes sustainable practices. The farm’s store is open daily, year-round; in addition to whatever delicious fruits and vegetables are in season, it always offers fresh eggs (you can walk over and see the chickens who laid them), preserves, organic honey, and Red Bluff beef and pork.

Dry Creek Peach & Produce

Two women from Dry Creek Peach & Produce.
Dry Creek Peach & Produce

Located in northern Sonoma County in the Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg, Dry Creek Peach & Produce is a small, family-run farm that prides itself on producing some of the best organic peaches in the world. All its fruit is organically grown, tree-ripened, hand picked, and hand packed. Its farm stand is open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon from July to mid-September (call ahead to confirm store hours). They grow a variety of peaches, as well as nectarines, plums, and pluots, and offer organic peach jam.

Sonoma County Farm Trails

Of course, the places mentioned above are just a few of the Sonoma County farms that welcome visitors. For more than 40 years, members of Sonoma County Farm Trails have opened their farms and ranches to the public. The group sponsors a number of agriculture-related events each year. And all year long you can follow a Farm Trails map to experience life on the farm. 

For more ideas about how to experience Sonoma County’s agricultural abundance, read Sonoma County’s Farmers Markets, The California Cheese Trail in Sonoma County, and Gravenstein Apples – Sonoma’s Other World-Famous Crop.

You Might Also Like

handmade pizza at Glen Ellen Star
Trip Itineraries

As a Sonoma local, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing Sonoma County’s finest offerings and generally end up with the…

Movie Prop Car On Display at Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Occidental
Activities

As you meander the wee 60-yard block of downtown, strolling its wooden sidewalks past 19th-century, false-front buildings, you’ll feel as…

Winter scenery at Luther Burbank in Sebastopol CA
Outdoor Activities

Lush greenery, foggy coastlines, seasonal harvests and unique wildlife sightings – Sonoma County in winter is a place where visitors…

Hot air balloon ride in sonoma county
Sightseeing & Tours

Without a doubt, Wine Country is one of the world’s most breathtaking regions to travel through whether you are looking…

Girls Getaway in Sonoma County
Food & Wine

Winter might be considered the off-season for many of the world’s hottest travel destinations, but a Wine Country visit between…

Pig at Charlie's Acres
Sustainable Travel

Need a pick-me-up? These nonprofits offer ways to spend time with cute animals — you could even try some goat…

Yellow wildflowers covering field
Outdoor Activities

Springtime in Sonoma County is hard to beat! Plan ahead with our weekend-by-weekend, month-by-month collection of popular experiences — from…

Wingo, California, Sonoma County’s Ghost Town, photographed by @chrisjkam
Outdoor Activities

Traveling mindfully to Sonoma County allows us to have experiences that can be savored in a place focused on and…

Tolay Lake Regional Park
Outdoor/Nature

More than (just) a premier Wine Country destination, Sonoma County’s myriad of options allow travelers to connect with the destination…

Couple at beach with dog
Outdoor Activities

Find hidden gems, outdoor adventures and more with tips from those who know the coast better than anyone: The locals….

See What’s Happening

Share your experience using #SonomaCounty or #LifeOpensUp