Bluebird Gap Farm

About Bluebird Gap Farm

Bluebird Gap Farm is a public city park and petting zoo in Hampton, Virginia, located at 60 Pine Chapel Road across from Bass Pro Shops. It is run by Hampton Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services, and it is designed to resemble a working farm rather than a traditional zoo. The property covers about 60 acres and holds around 100 domestic and wild animals, including horses, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, birds of prey, alpacas, tortoises, peacocks, and waterfowl. Admission is free. The farm is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Alongside its animal collection, the farm is home to the city's volunteer master gardeners' demonstration garden, a covered pavilion, a nature trail, and an antique display barn holding home and farm artifacts from the past two centuries.

History

The City of Hampton purchased the property in 1965; the history of the land itself dates back to the 1600s and passed through generations of private ownership until the 1950s. The farm opened in 1966 under the name Old MacDonald's Farm, originally located near the site of what is now the Hampton Coliseum, making it one of the city's oldest parks. At opening, it held 105 donated and loaned domestic animals. The farm relocated to its current site on Pine Chapel Road in 1969, adopting the goal of showing animals in a farm setting to children from an urban environment. It has operated under the name Bluebird Gap Farm since that move.

Exhibits and habitats

The farm's layout centers on its working-farm animal areas, alongside several dedicated spaces. The Powhatan Pavilion seats up to 100 people for gatherings, and the Azalea Trail is a nature path offering views of Newmarket Creek. A stage provides seating for special events and activities, and the Hampton Master Gardeners' Display Garden and Arboretum sits within the grounds. The antique display barn houses a rotating collection of home and farm pieces spanning multiple past eras.

Animal highlights

No published species list is available for Bluebird Gap Farm, so no species count can be given here. What the farm's own materials describe is a collection of roughly 100 domestic and wild animals typical of a working farm — horses, cows, pigs, goats, and chickens — supplemented by birds of prey, alpacas, tortoises, peacocks, and various waterfowl.

Planning your visit

As listed on the farm's website, hours run 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from March through November and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from November through March. The farm is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Picnic tables and charcoal grills are available throughout the grounds in addition to the covered pavilion, and a snack and drink vending area is located in the welcome center. One animal feed machine, located in the barn, accepts credit cards only; guests can also exchange five pieces of litter for a bag of feed when the exchange program is operating.

Each year in late October, the farm hosts a two-day Fall Festival with vendors, games, food, and a pumpkin patch, and it has sponsored a 4-H Club for youths ages 5 to 18 since 2010. Confirm current hours and any event schedule on the official Hampton city website before visiting.