More Than Just A Farm
Pineland Farms is a 5,000-acre working farm located in New Gloucester, just a half-hour north of Portland. Unlike most farms, Pineland welcomes visitors to come explore their barnyard and beautiful landscape that is teeming with trails for recreational use. Their goal is to enrich the local community by promoting a healthy lifestyle through exercise, offering educational opportunities, and demonstrating responsible farming techniques.
Market & Welcome Center
If it’s your first time visiting the farm, you should stop by the Welcome Center first. Here, you can learn about all the activities the farm has to offer, and the friendly employees can point you in the right direction depending on your interests. The Welcome Center is in the same building as the market. If something in the market wasn’t made directly on the farm, then it was definitely sourced from a local business. Their delicious baked goods are made fresh every day, and their meat and cheese products are second to none. Their cheese is award-winning, and I highly recommend picking up a package of their cheese curds that come in various flavors. I prefer the classic curds myself, but the buffalo and ranch styles are a mouth-watering treat.
The market also has a deli where you relax and enjoy breakfast, lunch, or a tasty treat from the bakery. Their breakfast sandwiches are made from eggs gathered from their ethically raised hens, and their deli meats are made right on the farm.
Outdoor Activities
The Outdoor Center is where the action is. Here, you can rent day or season passes to access their 18+ miles of well-groomed trails. These trials are open to hikers, bikers, runners, and they welcome skiers and snowshoers in the winter. If you’re up for it, Pineland Farms has fat tire bikes for rent that offer better traction than your typical bicycle.
The Patriot is Pineland’s professional 7,155ft disc golf course. This course is challenging and offers plenty of obstacles and varying terrain to test your disc skills. If you’re more of a recreational player, they also have the Minutemen course, which is every bit as fun. Disc golf is often thought of as a summer sport, but the Minuteman is also open in the winter for all the diehard disc golfers to enjoy.
Suppose any of the various activities already listed isn’t your cup of tea. In that case, Pineland also has three tennis courts and an Olympic-size bocce court, both free of charge! The tennis courts are located on Morse Rd, and right behind them is the bocce court. Both are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Valley Farm & Farmyard
The Farmyard is where Pineland’s many animals reside. Their year-round “residents” include hens, goats, sheep, pot-bellied pigs, and peafowl. During the summer, the Farmyard fosters various other animals such as alpacas in their effort to educate the public about responsible farming. After meeting adorable farm animals, you can also participate in their many fun activities such as Holstein milking, egg collecting, and wool-making.
Due to COVID restrictions, only so many people can visit the Farmyard at a time. If the timeslot you want is sold out, you can still enjoy the farm from your own home! Pineland has set up a live 24-hour goat cam. This live stream follows the daily lives of Puck, Poppy, Basil, and Tansy, their resident goats!
-Written by Stacy Oswald & Photo by Gozha Net
