Only a Few Weeks Left for Farmyard Fun

SCHAGHTICOKE — It was a gorgeously warm fall afternoon when my son and I walked into the welcoming wooden entrance to Liberty Ridge Farm’s unparalleled natural play space. Led down the hill along a foot maze of pumpkins in every shape and size imaginable, past the amusing music of the mechanical HillBilly Band, visitors have 30 fall attractions to choose from including an 11-acre corn maze cut this year to depict a scene celebrating the 50th anniversary of the timeless classic, “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. “I liked seeing my friends here and just having a lot of fun,” said Colin Buckley, 8, who was smiling broadly as he climbed up the hill. They’d spent nearly five hours on the farm said Anna Feldman. She’d been here before to see the Nightmares, their nighttime attractions, which are the largest in the region. The seven sections of Nightmares include two new features this year. The Underworld Tunnel was enlarged to more than twice its size and includes a spooky mineshaft, steampunk style haunts and an incredible 3D florescent finale in McCobb Manor painted by renowned black light artist Stuart Smith of Stuartizm Designs. “There’s tons of things for kids to get tuckered out doing,” said Leo Quinn, a marketing consultant who has spent six weeks a year helping out in the administrative offices since 2002. He said a school group of 400 students had been there that day, but looking around at the well-kept grounds, you’d never know it. The farm hosts an average of 30,000 visitors each fall. The exceptional thing about Liberty Ridge Farm however, is that it’s not just for kids. On this quiet evening, adults were letting go of their inhibitions and playing too. Couples raced each other in the giant gerbil wheels and through the pedal cart maze. Moms bounced on the huge jumping pillow and relaxed in the Corn Crib’s piles of kernels. Men gathered around for a game of tetherball and to throw some basketballs while their kids fed the goats, took a ride on the newly rebuilt Corn Cob Express train and played in an enormous sand dune. Everyone took turns going down the 80 foot underground slide. “There’s so much entertainment for the kids and parents as well,” encouraged owner Cynthia Gifford. Holding themselves up to a higher standard, they hired on Executive Chef Jereme Keough to prepare locally sourced fresh ingredients including their own smoked meats in affordable entrees, sandwiches and dips that keep the downhome taste of the farm alive. “We want to be the best. We are still like this hidden treasure that people don’t know about, but once they do, it starts a tradition and the generations keep coming back. We want to grow memories,” she said. One way to make memories is by doing things you may have always wanted to do but never got the chance. As my son and I straddled the saddles of the wooden horses and tried to throw our lassos like real cowboys, a boy ran shouting toward another of the farm’s new additions, a trio of exclusively designed Amish-built “birdhouses” sitting atop locust tree stumps. “Treehouse, treehouse, treehouse”, he screamed. From my perch I watched as the sun blazed its last light through the brightly colored leaves, birds swooped to their nests under the barn rafters, and visitors swung contentedly on the wooden benches gazing at the campfires, listening to the smacking sound of acorns as they dropped to the ground. “I never want to leave,” said my son. In the parking lot, cornstalks were strapped to the roofs of the cars like Christmas trees and bright yellow barrel wagons brimming with chrysanthemums waited patiently while their tired riders happily ate cider donuts at super speeds. Liberty Ridge Farm is located at 29 Bevis Road in Schaghticoke and is open until November 6. Weekday Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., admission is $14/each. Weekend Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., admission is $15/each. Nightmares run on Friday and Saturday nights starting at 7 p.m., for ages 10 or older, admission is $26/each. For more information go to http://libertyridgefarmny.com/