Schnepf Farms: The Rides

Schnepf Farms does not usually have tons of rides and games, let's face it: They're a farm, not a fairground. But for the Pumpkin and Chili Festival, they bring them in to give you even more reasons to go down to the farm.

A big part of the reason admission is charged for this festival is to cover the cost of the rides, so you might as well take advantage of them seeing as you can ride them free as much as you want. We knew it wouldn't be anything compared to six flags, but Krystina and I were only at the farm for about an hour or two before we made a beeline to the Peach Tree Express roller coaster. It was about what we expected and had the longest line of anything else at the festival, though it was only about a 10 minute line. Don't let the name fool you, this coaster does not go anywhere near the peach orchard on the property but you can view it in the distance. While it may have looked a bit small, this coaster was a ton of fun, it probably maxed out at around 20 mph or so but the drops were still sharp enough to lift you out of your seat. My personal favorite ride was a combination of a bike and a 4 wheel drive vehicle, I don't know what they are called but they were a blast! They had single person bikes and ones that held 4 people (2 adults and 2 children). There were separate tracks for each type of bike but you got to ride down a twisty dirt track through the middle of a tiny strip of forest that was randomly on the property. In the same general area of the farm there were a few more rides but they were mostly for the kids so we skipped over them. What good is time down at the farm without a good ol fashioned hayride? Schnepf Farms once again delivers by offering one of my fondest memories of growing up in a rural area by piling everyone onto a trailer lined with hay bales and hooking it up to a tractor for a good pull. This ride is a great way to relax a bit, but you'll want to avoid it if you have bad allergies (my poor girl was sniffling and sneezing the entire ride). It takes about 10 minutes to make the rounds and takes you through the peach and apricot orchards, past the deer pens, along the train track for a bit, and finally to the entrance of their 10 acre corn maze before bringing you back to the start. The last ride of the farm is one that seems like it is year-round, the train around the farm. All day while at the farm we watched the train travel through various areas and there really didn't seem to be any area it did not cover. I was dying to ride on it the whole time but we were waiting until after 6:30 pm when the regular train became a "Spooky" train ride. If you ride the regular or spooky train, there is a small cost of $2 per person that is well worth the simple enjoyment of this ride that takes you all over the farm and even through the orchards. If you go during the festival you should really hold out until night because the spooky train ride is a blast. While it's not really scary, it does add a bit of life to the ride and most of the costumed actors seem to really be having fun at their jobs. Tomorrow I'll finish up the last bits of the farm and possibly my final wrap up of the trip.

This part of the trip only cost $4.00 (2 train tickets @ $2.00 per person). Running total now of $44.00 in previous charges + $4.00 for the train = $48.00.