Stokoe Farms

Love getting Christmas trees there… Free puppet chicken show, free petting zoo, free hot chocolate and cookies after cutting down the tree… Just lovely experience with the kids.

We go every year for a Christmas tree. Friendly staff and they a great setup! Very well organized. You get a lot for you buck.

We get our Xmas trees here every year and if that was all, it would be 4 or 5 stars.
However, we decided to venture out to pick pumpkins today. Being a holiday, I knew it would be crowded but I didn’t expect it to be over run with various groups from camps and day cares on top of the normal holiday crowds.
There is also an admission fee (which is not charged during Xmas). This fee does not include pumpkins and is charged to kids and parents.
It was so over crowded today that lines for all the activities were way too long. We certainly did not get a good value for our money today. And I found pumpkins at a local grocery store for cheaper prices after the fact.
We will likely continue getting our Xmas trees here but I doubt we’ll do pumpkins again.
The donuts are good though!

Shouldn’t charge $ 12/​person especially if you plan to feed the kids n purchase pumpkins … been to a lot of farms and all were free except for purchases you make… $ 12/​person too steep… seemed like the kids enjoyed themselves …

As a general rule, my wife is wrong about everything. So when she told me about how awesome Stokoe’s was, I naturally ignored everything she had to say.
Well, it turns out she’s not wrong about EVERYTHING. This place isn’t just amazing, it’s also what Christmas is all about.* And I don’t mean the relentless commercialization of… well, everything.** I mean it’s about having some good, clean fun as a family. In fact, Stokoe’s might be the most American place in America (and I mean that in a good way).
First and foremost, this is where you, me, and everyone within a fifty mile radius comes to get their Christmas tree. Judging by the crowd when I visited, we all go on the same day. But it’s no wonder that so many people wearing Buffalo Bills gear converge on this particular farm when they need a tree, because they’ve got everything:
–Trees of all shapes and sizes, cut and ready to go.
–Tractors to ride on if you want to go cut down your own tree like a real man.***
–Tree-​shaking machines to get the loose needles off.
–Tree-​wrapping machines to truss them up.
–Twine so you can haphazardly strap a tree to the roof of your car.
–Free hot chocolate.
–Singing chickens (at the Hillbilly Henhouse, of course).
–Apple cider doughnuts.
–Slides for the children. Not the adults. They get mad if you try.
–Jams, jellies, and other wonderful canned/​jarred goods.
–Goats. Just walking around.
–A yak that you can feed/​pet.
–A hay mountain that you can race your brother up.
–Bunnies. And some sort of Panamanian animal for petting. But it is NOT a Panamanian petting zoo. Don’t google that, kids.
But most American of all, on one weekend a year, Stokoe’s has an ex-​military Santa that parachutes out of a helicopter. ‘Merica, fuck yeah!
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*Speaking as a Buddhist/​Jew by heritage, I clearly know what I’m talking about.
**Although there is a small element of that as well.
***I, of course, did not do this.

Nicely done farm for the family.
Better than most other places around here.
I was a not taken back by the $ 10 admission fee per person but after spending the entire day there with the family, I think it was worth it.
Admission buys you a lot of activities… corn maze, pumpkin patch, jump pillows (think trampoline), various different slides that are fun for kids and adults, tractor pulled hay ride, petting zoo, a cool zip line feature…
The pumpkins are fresh and decent priced. The country store is what you would expect. I picked up some local honey and jams/​spreads after the tasting station which have is an opportunity to taste some of the offerings.
Food there is the basic fried food fare: burgers, dogs, fries/​mozz sticks etc.

This is a review of Stokoe’s Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Fest (located just south of Scottsville). The farm also sells u-​cut Christmas Trees later in the season.
On weekends from mid-​September through Halloween, Stokoe Farms provides for a day (or half-​day) of fun activities, specifically geared towards families. Highlights include a huge pumpkin patch, tractor rides, petting zoo, corn maze, bounce pillow, zip line, and pumpkin tossing, among a host of other activities.
On site, there is a farmers market gift shop and food & refreshments (including kettle corn and home-​made donuts!) We typically bring a picnic lunch but always splurge on some donuts and cider. With a 3 year-​old and 1 year-​old (and bringing food) we typically stay 3 – 4 hours.
Entry (for everything) is about $ 10/​person for anyone older than 2 years old. While this may seem steep, I think it’s well worth it. I believe the pumpkin toss also costs a little bit of money on site (purchasing small pumpkins that you then get to catapult into a field).
Compared to Powers Farm Market in Pittsford, Stokoe Farms provides much more in scale and activities. (I have not been to Wickham Farms in Penfield.)
While I hate to bring additional crowds to Stokoe Farms, this is hands down a family favorite adventure every fall now.

So it is hard for me to compare and objectively review a tree farm since this is the first time I’ve been to one. But I’ll discuss based on my overall impression of the place.
This is out in the middle of nowhere, a good location for a tree farm. There is ample room to grow these. There is a parking area that is basically mowed hay or something like that. No pavement here.
There is a gift shop building, a food building, and a hot chocolate/​mini animal pen building all kind of adjacent to each other on the left. As you walk past these buildings, there is a haystack area with a slide for kids to play and on the right are the tree wrapping machines. I believe they call it «baling» the trees.
We got in line to ride a farm tractor out into the tree farms. Approx 10 minute wait, as there were quite a few people in line. Of course, it’s only a couple weeks out from Christmas. Anyway, they have several examples of different trees they grow: Douglas fir, spruce, and two more of which names I do not recall.
The next tractor came by eventually and we grabbed a handsaw and hopped on. A short ride out into the tree fields and we were dropped off to find a tree. I found so many trees I liked. It was difficult to choose. They clearly grow quality trees. Most of them appeared healthy and fairly symmetrical. The aroma of pine was apparent in the parking lot but even more so in the fields. They have 3 main sections for us to browse. The first was trees 6−9ft tall, the second was the same species but taller, and the last section were the other species. We got an 8 foot tree. Once you cut the tree, you bring it back to the tractor pickup location and put it on the hitch, which brings it back to the main area to be baled. I am not sure how the pricing works, as I was not the one paying. I believe all trees are the same price regardless of size or species, but correct me if I’m wrong.
They have free cookies and hot chocolate in the animal pen building. There was this odd looking rodent that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a goat. It was so cute though, almost looked like a giant, less fluffy chinchilla.
Anyway, this was a fun first time for me. I don’t mind the fake trees though, so I’m not sure that I would do this every year. But I can see why so many people enjoy this and this place is a very good place to fulfill your Christmas tradition of handsawing your own tree. Just make sure you dress warm and bring gloves in case your hands are too pansy to carry a tree back ;)