Hunter Farm has been on our rotation for years. It's where we do pumpkin picking every fall. It's where we got our Christmas tree. If you've lived in the south Charlotte area for any amount of time, there's a good chance you've pulled into that Providence Road lot at least once.
But we'd never done the spring season. No strawberry picking, no wagon ride, no petting zoo. Every year I'd see the Instagram posts and think, we should do that, and then somehow not do it.
This past Saturday we finally did it, and I'm writing this partly as a review and partly as a nudge to stop putting it off if you've been doing the same thing I was doing.
Hunter Farm has been on this land since 1868. That's not a typo. It's a sixth-generation family farm run by Farmer Nancy and her husband Andy, who moved back after Andy retired from the Air Force in 1991. Nancy's great-grandmother was raised on this property. The farm has changed a lot over the decades, from cash crops to dairy cattle to what it is today, but the family never left.
Worth knowing: the remaining acreage is protected through a conservation easement with the Catawba Lands Conservancy, which means it cannot be developed commercially or residentially. It's a forever farm. In a part of Charlotte that has been swallowed by new construction, that matters.
13624 Providence Road, Weddington, NC 28104
Straight shot down Providence Road from the south Charlotte / Weddington area. Parking is free and there's a private lot. On Farm Fridays (the special music events), parking is $10 per vehicle. Regular Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays: free.
Spring hours:
Strawberry picking is available during all open hours, weather and crop dependent. Follow them on Instagram at @thehunterfarm for daily picking updates before you make the drive. They do close the fields mid-day sometimes when berries need to ripen, and they try to give at least an hour's notice. Call or text 704-562-4021 if you're unsure.
Strawberry picking. Walk up to the fields, grab as many buckets as you want, pick, bring them back to be weighed. Strawberries are $4.50 per pound. Walk-ins are welcome for picking. No reservation needed.
A note on the berries: they skipped the 2025 season entirely to let the fields rest, so this is the comeback crop. The berries we picked were in great shape. Plenty left on the vines, not overpicked. I asked about organic certification and they are not certified organic, but they told me they don't spray or use pesticides. Make of that what you will.
The flower and herb garden. On the walk up to the patch, you'll pass through a garden area with flowers just starting to bloom and a bunch of herbs. It's pretty and worth a quick stop. Also a good photo moment if you have a toddler who will stand still for approximately three seconds.
The wagon ride and petting barn. This is the ticketed portion. $14 per person, children under 2 are free, and reservations are required. Book online in advance, especially on weekends. One thing to know: you cannot walk to the barn on your own. The wagon ride is the only way in. Each paid ticket includes a small flower plant to take home.
The animals we saw: two baby goats running chaotic laps around the pen, adult goats who will eat anything you hand them, bunnies, chickens, roosters, a pig named Charlotte (this farm has a sense of humor), two miniature horses, two full-size horses, and cows off to the side of the main barn.
The tour guide pulled out a chicken and a bunny for petting. Everything was well-maintained and clean, which I say as someone who has been to enough petting zoos to have low expectations on that front.
The Market Barn. Locally sourced jams, honey, and farm fresh eggs. Custom Hunter Farm goods and gifts. Worth a quick browse before you leave.
The Garden Shoppe. Locally grown flowers and veggie plants for sale. If you need to refresh your porch pots for spring, this is a good stop.
The hangout area. Cornhole boards, a fire pit area (not lit during our visit, but Jamie still climbed inside it because he is a toddler), Connect 4, model tractors the kids can sit on. This is where we killed time between strawberry picking and the wagon ride, and it worked great.
Farm Fridays. Live music runs 5-8 PM. Food trucks, drinks, the full vibe. Note the $10 parking on those nights. If you want a fun Friday evening outing rather than a quieter family afternoon, this is the version to go to.
We went on a Saturday afternoon, post-nap, which meant we rolled in around 4 PM. It was overcast and looked like it might rain, which I think scared people off. There were maybe 5 or 10 other families there. No wait for anything, no crowds, no sunscreen required. I'm going to be honest: a slightly gray afternoon at an outdoor farm with a toddler is kind of ideal. You don't need perfect weather. You need not too hot and not too crowded.
Strawberry picking took maybe 20-25 minutes, which is about the right amount of time before a two-year-old loses interest. Jamie took to it immediately because the activity is essentially just finding things and putting them in a container, which is his entire life purpose right now. We tried to stop him from eating the berries straight from the ground. That lasted maybe four minutes. Once he figured out he could eat them, any pretense of actually filling the bucket ended. We had enough from the beginning, which was lucky. If you have a toddler, pick fast and pick first before they figure out the eating situation.
On the walk back, we stopped at the model tractors. Jamie refused to get off one of them and had a meltdown. This is a normal part of visiting any place that has something rideable. We redirected him to the fire pit area, he played Connect 4 with a little girl who was there, climbed in and out of the fire pit approximately six times, and then it was time for our 5 PM wagon ride.
The wagon ride itself is short, maybe five minutes out to the barn. Jamie was uncertain at first but settled in quickly. At the barn, we spent a good 30 minutes. It was unhurried and casual. The tour guide was helpful. One thing that happened: David and I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to get the two baby goats to eat from our feed cups before the tour guide gently informed us those two are bottle-fed and were not interested in what we were offering. The adult goats in the pen had no such issues. Learn from us.
The baby goats just running around knocking each other down the whole time were honestly the highlight. Also: the bunnies like to be scratched under the chin like a cat. The tour guide told us that and it was accurate.
We ran into one of Jamie's daycare friends on the way to the wagon, which was one of those small Charlotte moments that makes you feel like you live in the right place. It started raining on the walk back to the car. We packed up and left. Total time: about two hours.
For what started as a completely spontaneous "we need to get out of the house" decision, it exceeded expectations by a lot.
Do the wagon ride. I know $14 a person adds up fast, but the petting zoo is the actual experience. The strawberry picking is great and you should do it, but if you skip the wagon ride you've missed the better half of the outing. Book it before you go.
Go on a weekday evening or an overcast day if you can. The Friday night Farm Friday events are fun but the parking situation and crowd level are different. The quieter Saturday afternoon we stumbled into was perfect. I'd replicate it on purpose.
If your kid is a runner, consider skipping the stroller in the patch. We didn't bring ours and it was fine. One family left their stroller at the entrance to the patch. The rows are walkable but it gets a little muddy after rain.
The Market Barn is worth five minutes. The honey and jam situation is good, and the small flower plant that comes with your wagon ride ticket is a nice touch.
Book the wagon ride in advance. Walk-ins are welcome for strawberry picking but the wagon rides require a reservation and the time slots fill up. Don't assume you can just add it on when you get there.
Hunter Farm 13624 Providence Road, Weddington, NC 28104 704.846.7975
Spring hours: Fridays 4-7 PM, Saturdays and Sundays 10 AM - 7 PM Farm Fridays (live music + food trucks): May 15, 4-8 PM — $10 parking Sunny Day Vendor Event: May 9, 9 AM - 6 PM
Strawberry picking: $4.50/lb, walk-ins welcome Wagon ride + petting barn: $14/person, children under 2 free, reservations required
No dogs allowed on property
Book wagon ride reservations and plan your visit at thehunterfarm.com