Mabie Farm Park – Animals, Slides and the Play Barn

Mabie Farm Park

Mabie Farm Park is south-west of Dumfries on the A710 Solway Coast road towards New Abbey, signed in brown a mile and a half past Islesteps, with four free car parks and signed disabled spaces. It opens every day from April to the end of October, 10am to 5pm, then shuts for the winter. Pay at reception as you arrive, by cash or card: a day ticket is £12 for adults and for children aged 2 to 16, £44 for a family of four, and free for under-2s, at the time of writing. The paddle boats and the Choo Choo Express, a little train for small children, are included. Buy a £1 bag of feed at reception for the Shetland ponies, Belted Galloway cattle, llamas, alpacas, goats, donkeys and pigs in the paddocks, and visit the mothers with their young, calves among them, in the Animal Barn. Every afternoon in Pets Corner, staff help children hold and feed the rabbits, guinea pigs and mice. Outside there are bouncy castles, a jumping pillow, grass slides, pedal go-karts for over-4s, trampolines, a play park and the four-lane Astroslide, which may close in the wet. When it rains, the Play Barn has a climbing wall, nets and ride-on tractors, and the Straw Barn has rope swings. Lunch is in the park's own tearoom, open 10am to 5pm, with homemade soups, sandwiches, salads and cakes. Or bring a picnic: there are tables all round the park, some under cover, and a barbecue area. Both toilet blocks have baby changing, and the tearoom has a microwave for baby food. There's disabled access throughout, though some paths are grassed over, so ask at reception about the golf buggies if walking is hard. Only assistance dogs are allowed, and children under 16 must come with someone 16 or over.

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