Riverdale Farm

It is a nice place to take a stroll in — I came here often last year.
Lots of animals to see such as goats, rabbits, sheep, pigs and so on. It provides a countryside feeling within the busy city.
There is also a great hidden gem here — The Cabbagetown Regent Park museum, which located within the Simpson House. It is small (one room) but it has so much history within it — Just reading the posters and displays it is a shock to see how much this area has transformed since the 1800s!

I visited Riverdale Farm a few summers ago & loved that there’s a little farm right in the middle of Toronto. It’s free to visit!
If you’re stuck in the city, Riverdale Farm is a good place to go on a lazy summer afternoon to look around & have a little picnic.

I donated a Wooley monkey there in the 60s I wonder what ever became him. Some where relocated to the Endangered Animal Sanctuary on Millwood.

It’s free. I guess you can’t expect too much since it is free.
The farm is lacking in animals. There’s not much to see or do.
There’s a clean bathroom close to the entrance in the admin building though if you just need some facilities.
Don’t make a special trip to come though.

I’ve already been here a couple times this year when I wrote this review, and had been here a few times before then, and even before Unilocal existed. Still love the place, a hidden gem of Toronto that mainly the locals know about, and one of the good free cool things still left to do, although I would gladly pay $ 5-​$ 10 or slightly more per adult. Best to go in late spring and early fall early in the week if you can, when most students are still in school; avoid Fridays, weekends, and holidays especially if planning to take photographs as it will be difficult to take good shots at the busy times. And, PLEASE, don’t feed the animals, as I and my husband saw some teens feeding them leaves from a tree, which is not appropriate food, and give at least $ 3-​$ 5 per person per visit if you can at their donation stations.

Scoring drugs in Regent Park always went smoothly when I went there years back, excellent service & a quality product is how they
(the gangbangers) Operated, and thusly, conducted themselves like gentleman.
Those days are long gone. I decided to hit the drugs hard, as my car won’t start if I fail the breathalyzer, but for some strange reason, the device fails to notice Cocaine? Manufacturing flaw maybe? Anywho, I start wandering around the old spots & somthing dawns on me, the business savvy gangbangers have been replaced by bearded suspender laden hipsters,
riding around on vintage Schwinns. I think to myself «where in the hell am i going to get my fix now?» Suddenly I notice a guy who looks like he might be the neighborhood dealer (based solely on the fact he was wearing a Hamilton Tigercats jersey) So I approach him «got that booger sugar fam?» He pulls out a walkie & says «move in» immediately cops are coming at me from both sides like Velociraptors. I ran, but knew I had 0 chance, so I grabbed the 1^st hipster in arms reach by his suspenders and yanked him off his Schwinn «so long coppers» I said as i pedaled away. got a block and ½ away when i seen a bike cop gaining on me, i attempt to switch gears, but it only had one. I ditched the bike and started on foot. With only seconds to spare i took refuge in the Riverdale Farm, scored my drugs from one of their patrons, and spent the rest of the afternoon freebasing coke with the swans. Highly recommend this farm.

For a free zoo it’s pretty decent. I would probably come here once every few years. Nothing really spectacular.

This is a small farm within the city, within walking distance of the Cabbage Town area. Among the things we saw: horses, roosters, a turkey, a goat, and lop-​eared rabbits. It was very clean and scenic, and there are clean restrooms on site.

We enjoy this place, the animals seems well cared for, there is a beautiful path to walk in. It feels like a short getaway from the city.

This place is great. Family loved it
First of all it’s free. And very chill. Not overcrowded at all when we visited late May.
Quite a large variety of animals for a free farm! And they put on a few shows for the kids… We got to see some guy come and trim the horses feet. And also the sheep get sheared.
There’s also a crafts setup for the kids.
Highly recommend.

My children spent many days here especially participating in the summer camp programs. I am not sure if these are still on. They used to managed by the School Boards and Toronto Parks and Recreation. Pond Ecology was one of the courses my kids took and loved. This is a great place for kids with little access to country life allowing them to view farm animals. Wonderful spot
for families to visit should you just want to take a walk in a park. All kids love animals. They may be frightened of some but this is as safe a place as any to see them. Throughout the year you will see baby animals as part of the program.

I came here for the goats. Is it wrong that goats make me laugh and I find them to be the most entertaining animals out there?
Seriously though, we needed a destination for a bike ride and this was as good as any. I’d recommend this as an outing for or with kids, as there were many families there. But we met up with a family of friends and hung out with them so we didn’t look like a weird childless couple cruising goats.
Ducks, chicken, pigs, sheep, horses and cows, too!
Make sure to leave some money in the donation box. This place can’t run on fecal fuel!

First time ever there, rather enjoyed myself. Would have been happy even if I had paid to go (yup, it’s free).
Few animals here and there, and most of the trails were closed but I don’t blame though, still icy.
Looking forward to coming back when it’s a bit warmer. :)

A cute little farm right in the city! I came here for the first time recently, which is proof that no matter how long you live in Toronto there are always new things to discover. It’s free to go in (but donations are welcome) and look at the farm and animals — everything from pigs, chickens, sheep, a pony, and my favourite — baby goats! So cute. Obviously this place is popular with kids and there were lots of families. There are some discovery walks passing through here. One of them takes you to a quiet pond and another path goes to a bridge over the DVP which takes you to Riverdale Park East — also highly recommended!
I’d recommend the farm to anyone looking for something off-​beat to do in Toronto. It’s also a good place to combine with wandering around the Cabbagetown neighbourhood. Lots of good places to stop for a drink or snack (e.g. Cafune, It’s Jenny café, Jet Fuel, Omi, Kingyo, Gourmet Burger Co.).

Who could not love this place? It is a farm in the middle of the city. I love coming here on weekends and random weekdays during summer to see the animals grow. The calves are growing up so fast! A great place to come and appreciate where some of our food comes from.

Went to the farm for the first time ever. Yeah, I’m clueless. I don’t know how I’ve been living in the city so long & not known about Riverdale farm. Anyhoot, it was really a lovely place to visit. Got to pet a mama & baby goat. The Clydesdale horse looked lonely. There was a sign that said the other Clydesdale named Dolly died due to old age. RIP Dolly! There was also a donkey only interested in its food, pigs, a turkey, numerous chickens, roosters & cows. The poor cows looked grumpy & bored. But other than that we had a nice walk around. The pond thereabouts is covered in green algae. So we didn’t see any ducks, birds or fish about.
I hope Ford doesn’t close this place down! It would be a real shame. It’s a great place for city kids to come meet some farm animals.

Picturesque, charming, and FREE!!!
This is one of my favourite places to visit. Such a wonderful place for little kids and babies to come and see farm animals. There are pigs, chickens, roosters, horses, cows, donkeys, ducks, sheep, and I also think there is a goat.
There is a little walking trail that is lush, shaded, and green.
There is a little farm house with a porch that provides a wonderful backdrop for pictures.
I also think there is a black barn cat roaming about … or maybe its a neighbourhood cat, I have no idea.
Well, I just absolutely adore this place. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I visit. Its just so beautiful and cute :)

Since changing my morning bicycle commute route to include Cabbagetown (SO gorgeous) I now have the added delight of riding past Riverdale Farm twice a day. I have to admit I have stopped to see the animals.
Cabbagetown itself is worth the visit, as is the park around Riverdale Farm. Beautiful location, great for kids, really feels like a retreat from the hustle of the city as it is so secluded. FREE to visit. See Kat F.‘s review for a more detailed breakdown on the animals that live here.
Head down the path to the south to see Riverdale park West. Farmers Market on site Mondays in the summer months.

I took off one star only because other people’s children are everywhere. And loud. And I just want to visit the chickens in peace.
Otherwise this place would get five out of five for me, mostly because I like that sassy mini rooster who struts around with his harem of hens, all of whom are three times his size – go rooster!
Also, whoever does the gardening for Riverdale Farm does a bang-​up job. Last summer, they had some of the most beautiful lettuce I’d ever seen. Beautiful lettuce! Who would have thought.

Canada enjoys a 99% literacy rate***, but visiting Riverdale Farm you certainly wouldn’t know it. Does literacy go out the window when you become a new parent?
I saw no fewer than 50 clearly marked signs saying:
«Please don’t feed the animals. We feed them enough.»
«Don’t put your fingers in the fence. Animals bite, kick and butt.»
«Cows bite. Do not approach the fence. Do not touch.»
«DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS, FUUUCK!»
…and yet, I saw dozens of infractions by both children and adults alike. Poking the animals and touching things meant to be untouched, reaching into the pens and climbing into cramped spaces. And guess who probably gets in trouble if something ‘bad’ happens? Yeah.
Anyway — loved this farm. I only saw a few of those clever and very serious looking Nubian goats (the ones that look like this:
) — the rest must have been hiding. The horses and donkeys looked pretty chill but it was the pigs that were the star of the show.
They have Tamworth pigs (
here! There were two adults and over a dozen little ones that entertained me by chasing each other, rolling around in the mud, pouncing on each other and otherwise frolicking. The pigs are soooo cute, and apparently they are pretty hard to find, but love Canada’s «adverse climate» so they thrive here. I could watch these pigs for hours.
I had to remove a star for two reasons — one being the lack of proper signage around the farm (I inadvertently found myself in the adjacent park twice; the path isn’t clearly marked to indicate that you’re leaving the farm area) and the pens don’t have large enough species indicators. Remember back in the day at the Metro Toronto Zoo where the ground was painted with hooves/​paw prints leading you to certain animals? They could benefit from that here.
The second reason is the cows.
They looked extremely sad and it was hard to look at them. One of the cows was outside and roaming freely, chewing on something grassy and just generally hanging out. She looked OK, but kind of bored (I dunno, what do cows do?). There were two other cows stuck indoors at Francey Barn and they were in total darkness, tied by the collar with a two foot chain, which was scarcely long enough to allow them to dip their heads into the feeding and water trough. Why are they in here? And why can’t they roam freely? Why so dark? It really bummed me out.
Come here year round from 9am-​5pm but come early if you don’t enjoy the presence of children. Did I mention it’s free?
***