We found this place completely by accident back in 2023. We’d driven out to look at Dights Falls, parked, and on the walk back there was this gate we hadn’t noticed on the way in — Collingwood Children’s Farm, right there on the Yarra, five minutes from Abbotsford. We’d lived in the inner north for years and had no idea it existed. Walked in on a whim with zero plan and zero expectations.
It was so much better than either of us thought it’d be. Goats, sheep, cows, horses, a whole barn full of guinea pigs, chickens just wandering around like they owned the place. My dog absolutely lost his mind the second he saw the first paddock, ears up, tail going full speed, every instinct in his body firing at once. He wasn’t scared, he just genuinely could not process that there were this many animals in one spot and none of them were coming home with us. We ended up sitting by the river afterwards with coffees from the little café on site, watching him slowly come back down to earth, and it turned into one of those days that’s way better than anything we’d actually planned.
Went back a third time and it landed right on the first day of school holidays. The place was full of kids, and half of them were more excited to come pat him than to look at the actual farm animals, which he loved every second of. Great day, one of our favourites.
Our fourth visit – what’s changed, including entry prices
This time was our fourth visit, a few weeks ago, and it was a lovely reminder of why we keep going back even though a few things have changed. Entry’s $20 now for an adult, up a bit from what we remembered paying, possibly because we happened to go on a public holiday. The indoor animal housing had been half torn up mid-renovation the last time we were there, tarps everywhere, a few pens closed off, and this was our first time seeing it finished — and it genuinely looks lovely now, bright and open and clearly a much nicer space for the animals living in it. There’s a little less packed into it wall-to-wall than before, and a section that used to be animal paddocks has turned into raised garden beds full of flowers and vegetables, which is really pretty in its own right, even if it wasn’t quite what we came for.
Taking a dog to Collingwood Children’s Farm
The dog side of it hasn’t changed one bit, which we were so glad about. Every fence on the property is timber, no electric wire anywhere, and you can tie him up just outside a paddock and go in yourself to say hello to whatever’s in there, or he happily sits and watches the whole thing from the fence line, completely content. Dogs are free to bring, on lead, right across the farm. It’s such an easy, relaxed way to introduce a dog to farm animals up close, and honestly one of the only places this close to the city where you get to do that at all.
Is Collingwood Children’s Farm still worth visiting?
We’ll probably go a little less often than we used to, simply because there’s not quite as much animal-to-animal ground to cover as there was in 2023, but it’s still a genuinely gorgeous morning out. Coffee by the river, a wander through the gardens, a very happy dog, and Dights Falls just a short stroll away if you want to stretch the day out afterwards.
If you’re chasing a farm with more open feed trails and a bigger spread of animals, our Myuna Farm write-up is a lovely one to add to the list too, just a bit further out of the city.