Although my younger self would have never predicted this, I have actually now been to a fair number of farms — to see animals, go pick fruit and pumpkins, or cut down Christmas trees. And with COVID-19, my family and I have been to even more farms than usual for drive-through tours, farm safaris, and berry picking. When I told my daughter Maggie that we were going to a farm, she actually asked “What kind?” This time, we were headed to Triskelee Farm in West Linn for one of their scheduled tours, and even for farm regulars like us, it was a fun and memorable experience.
It’s an easy drive from Portland, about 30 minutes. The farm itself is large and spacious with lovely views and a farm store. Before the tour starts, you can buy beer, wine or mimosas to take with you on the tour, and I saw several adults taking advantage. (We had mimosas.)
Triskelee offers both private and public tours. Because of COVID, we chose the private tour, which meant that we were the only people in our group. We did see other groups on the farm, although they were not near us. On the public tour, reservations are required and those are limited to approximately 20 people. Often the public tours have 10 to 20 people, with space for families to social distance within the tour group.
Our guide walked us through the farm, stopping at each animal to tell us a little bit about it. The tour was about 30 minutes and included the chance to feed goats, alpaca and ostriches. For the goats and alpaca, we were able to feed them right in their area and pet them. We fed the ostriches through a feeding dish we held out on a stick. We also saw pigs, peahens, chickens, horses and a pony. We even saw baby ostriches! You can add a horse ride to the tour, which my daughter enjoyed.
One thing to know is that Triskelee is a working farm and some animals are raised for meat or products. Our tour guide didn’t belabor it, but it was mentioned in passing.
We were impressed by the size and beauty of the farm, the number of animals we saw and — this might sound strange considering it’s a farm — the overall cleanliness and space for the animals. They did a nice job with social distancing, too.
Triskelee Farm is a welcoming and lovely spot, with friendly and professional staff and beautiful animals, some that you can meet up close. Maggie is still talking about feeding the alpaca, and we were able to take some fun photos, too. It made for a great trip for the whole family. It’s close to the Canby Ferry and we thought that next time, we might tack on a roundtrip crossing.
Triskelee Farm
29700 SW Mountain Rd., West Linn, 97068
They offer both public tours at specified times and private tours. To book a tour, complete the contact form on their website, and they will email you to confirm a date and time.
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