Hayrides, ice cream, baby animals: Here's where to find it all during this weekend's Piedmont Farm Tour

The tour runs 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28, and includes more than 40 farms across Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham Franklin, Guilford, Johnston, Orange, Person and Wake counties. (Sixteen of those farms will open at noon during both days of the tour.) Tickets are $30 per car to visit all farms throughout the weekend. A single-farm pass is $10

With all of the choices and farms to visit, the tour can be a bit overwhelming if you don't plan your stops just right—especially if you have kids in tow. The folks at Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, which organizes the event, however, have you covered with tips for taking kids on the tour this weekend.

Five farms offer hayrides, covered wagon rides, horse and buggy rides or a covered trolley ride. At Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm in Roxboro, for example, you can take a narrated covered wagon ride through the pastures to see a herd of 35 bison. And at Chapel Hill Creamery, a horse and buggy ride will take you to see Animal Welfare Approved cows and pastured pigs.

Four farms feature hiking trails. They include Celebrity Dairy in Siler City, which has 10 miles of walking trails, and the Hundred Acre Wood in Rougemont with a Winnie the Pooh-themed shaded forest trail.

More than 20 farms feature snacks or meal stops, including plenty of places to indulge. Ran-Lew Dairy Milk Co. in Snow Camp serves up homemade ice cream. And Bull City Farm in Rougemont has ice cream and a tasting menu, including some unique sausages. (Pro tip: It's always a great idea to bring a cooler on the tour, so you can take home some farm fresh treats and produce.)

Plenty of farms will have animals to check out—from chickens and cows to more unique creatures, such as bison, guard llamas and donkeys. At Minka Farm in Efland, for instance, you can feed piglets, hold baby chicks and milk a goat. At Windy Hill Farm in Cedar Grove you can hold baby goats and bunnies.