Helvetia Christmas Tree Farm

"Nice little farm!"

We had Nanny in town from England and thought a trip to the Xmas tree farm would be a fun excursion since she has seen all of the regular tourist attractions.  Plus, we thought it would be fun to get a tree this weekend!

The farm is a short drive from Portland (about 30 minutes away), depending on traffic.  The drive is really beautiful, so the time seems to go fast too.  After you exit Highway 26, you take some nice backroads and then end up on a really nice gravel road (you will have no trouble in a regular car).  You will travel about a mile  on the gravel road and it will be on the right...across from the alpaca farm.  What beautiful animals they are, and you can stop and watch them too.  The car park is set up well, so you drive in one way and go out another.

Once you arrive, you may be greeted like we were, by 2 big St. Bernards.  They are super friendly and love kids.  You can get a ride on their 'tractor train' out to the tree field and walk from there to find your tree.  Once you find it, cut it down (they will supply you a saw and a kneeling mat), and take it back to the road where they will pick you up and take you and your tree back to the buildings/cars.  They will bale your tree for $2 (a great deal), and will bale your kids for free (seriously, they will bale your kids!).  

If you decide not to cut your own tree, they also have several pre-cut for you and you can take any of those.

Head into the gift shop to pay, and you can check out their train display.  This was a big hit with our 2-year-old who is completely train obsessed.  There are buttons for the kids to press to make the trains move around the track, so it is a little more interactive than just watching.  They also have a trainset set up from 1930 that was all hand built and left to a nephew who has recently restored it.

There is also a little 'cafe' set up with cider, coffee, and hot chocolate...for those really cold days.  Don't forget to print up a coupon off their website for your free cider too!

We found the service really great, our tree is beautiful, and we had a really lovely afternoon.  We recommend heading out to Helvetia Christmas Tree Farm!