About

Just a short drive from Belfast in the heart of the Newtownards Peninsula, The Ark Open Farm offers a full day of immersive, family-friendly fun across its 40 acres of scenic countryside

What You’ll Experience

Animal Encounters
New for 2025 and already a farm favourite! We vary the animals that you can pet but you will meet and pet a range of our animals during your session and this could include our rabbits and guinea pigs through to a lizard or hissing cockroach.

Play in our new play area
In summer 2025 we unveiled our new play area which we invested in ahead of Spring/Summer 2025. It has slides, swings, sand digger, a zip line and lots of climbing and exploring opportunities which are sure to thrill.

Enjoy a delicious meal in our re-imagined Cottage Café
We launched our new look for the cottage café (and the farm!) in 2025 alongside our delicious menu of homecooked food ranging from soup and sandwiches through to loaded fries and burgers. We also have locally roasted coffee and seasonal drinks and snacks.

Barrel Rides
Hold onto your hats and get ready to have some serious fun on our barrel rides. We have an upgraded track which has been designed to add to the thrill with some bumps and wobbles to enjoy - great fun for adults and kids alike! 1 FREE ride for every child!

Dragons Den Play Area
Set right beside our fairytale forest and Jurassic Trail, our Dragons Den Play Area offers great climbing and opportunities. It's also set right beside picnic areas which proves popular with family groups spending the day on our farm!

Fairytale Forest & Jurassic Ark
Explore our land of dinosaurs and fairy houses. Once you arrive you'll see our wide range of dinosaurs on our trail and then you can walk across to visit our fairy houses, three little pigs, Rapunzel's tower and Goldilocks.

Jumping Pillow
On dry days our bouncy rainbow pillows are always a huge hit. They are a truly unique experience and make for great photos of you, your family and friends defying gravity. Remember to bring your socks!

Ride On Tractors
Go for a spin on our pedal tractors in our undercover polytunnel. We have tractors to suit toddlers through younger primary school-aged children. They love going through our tunnel, topping up their 'petrol' at our pump and going over our mini ramp!

Tractor Ride
Love tractors? Tired feet? In a hurry to get to our dinosaurs and fairies? Our tractor ride is a fun and speedy way to get from one side of our 40 acre farm to the other. You can even bring your buggy on board.