Places to Go - Oxon Hill Farm (Oxon Hill, MD)

Oxon Hill Farm is a working farm (or a model of a working farm, I'm not sure what the difference is) operated by the National Park Service and located right outside of Alexandria and within minutes of National Harbor (which makes for a great farm/lunch outing). The great part about Oxon Hill is that all the animals are spread out, so your kids can run around a little (unlike, Frying Pan Farm in Fairfax, VA, which is also great, but since the animals are so close together, the kids tend to run through it quite quickly). Further, it's free (which is always a plus). They have a small visitors center, which is full of toys for young children to play with and buy (my kids love it) and a barn full of old farm equipment that kids can sit and play on.

They are SUPPOSED to have daily activities, such as wagonrides, meet the dairy cow, and chicken feeding programs, but the day we went all such activities were canceled with NO NOTICE. We were actually sitting on the wagon, waiting for the driver and finally another parent said "guess they're not running them today." When we finally found a ranger, he just said "not today" and wouldn't answer any further questions. So make sure to call ahead.

All this being said, we had a lovely time. The whole place is stroller friendly. The bathrooms are really clean (always a plus with young children) and there are picnic tables on a beautiful mowed field next to the parking lot.


For more information, click here - http://www.nps.gov/oxhi/