If you want to go to one place where you can enjoy horseback riding, canoeing, hayrides, visiting an authentic log cabin village, hiking, a variety of music, and many other activities, some for free, on an old family farm, the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio, is the place for you. Admission to the farm is free. Various fees apply to some special events and recreational activities.
The Bob Evans Farm, Homestead Museum, and Craft Museum are open April 1 to December 30 from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 pm. Bob Evans the founder of the Bob Evans restaurant lived on the farm himself for 20 years, and he and his wife, Jewell, raised six children in the large brick farmhouse called the Homestead. The Homestead is now on the National Registry of Historic Places and was once a stagecoach stop and inn. The Homestead is now a museum and historical center. Bob Evans was born in 1918 and died this year.
The season ends for most tours and recreational activities September 1.
Visitors to the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande can enjoy the activities such as horseback riding, canoeing and hayrides on weekends. At any time the farm is open, guests may tour the authentic log cabin village, hike wooded trails, shop at the Craft Barn, and camp on the grounds. The Adamsville Village dates back to the 1800’s and is situated along Raccoon Creek. The log cabins were once homes and a school.
Some of the many special events include a Traditional Craft Day, Volksmarch, a Radio-Control Fly-In, the 137th Bean Dinner, Mountain Bike Race, Craft Barn Christmas Open House, and the 37th annual Bob Evans Farm Festival.
According to Bob Evans officials, the Bob Evans Farm offers something for everyone, including those who want to sample pioneer living, shopping for fine art, or a variety of family activities.
If you are a craft fan, you will be able to find folk art and many-one-of-a-kind items and the works of 50 award-winning craftsmen for sale. There is pottery, tin ware, woven rugs, oak furniture, and quilts.
If you like camping, you will be able to camp in your own tent or RV on the grounds of the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande.
The biggest event of the year at the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio, will be the 37th annual Farm Festival from Friday October 12, to Sunday, October 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children from 6-13.
Visitors will be able to eat bean soup, world-famous Bob Evans sausage, chicken, French fries, biscuits, pie, apple dumplings, and sausage gravy.
Activities include traditional arts and crafts, contests, such as a tractor pull for children; and wagon rides. Demonstrations include square dancing, horseshoe pitching; Border collie herding demonstrations, and sheep shearing.
Entertainment includes country music, gospel music, bluegrass music, traditional Appalachian music, a cappella harmony, clogging, line dancing, and comedy.
For the festival at the Bob Evans Farm, it takes 79 tents to accommodate visitors, 3.2 million pounds of beans for one festival, 15,000 servings of sausage, 10,000 pieces of chicken, , and 5,000 servings of sausage gravy.
