Take a self-guided tour at Upstate goat farm and play with goats!

Did you know there is a FREE self-guided tour at Split Creek Farm? Goats and educational opportunities are plentiful at Split Creek Farm in Anderson, SC. Plus, the farm shop sells award-winning cheese and must-eat fudge made from their goat milk. Get outdoors, enjoy some animals, and learn something new!

If there are baby goats involved somewhere around the Upstate, we’ll be there. Goats, especially baby goats, make us so happy! Split Creek Farm is a Grade A goat dairy farm in Anderson, SC that we’ve written about and visited before to the delight of both us and our readers. But they are more than goats. Education is hugely important to the farm and to that end, they have recently designed and installed a new self-guided tour that anyone can take.

We tried it out because, well, goats. And I’m homeschooling and thought this would be a fun adventure.

Goats 4 Goodness

Goats 4 Goodness is the non-profit arm of Split Creek Farm. It was established a few years ago with the intent to “do good things” and has delivered on that goal through goat yoga, virtual farm tours, allowing guests playtime with baby goats, and participating in Make A Wish.

But a big part of the vision of Goats 4 Goodness is the educational component of the farm. They do offer tours, both virtually (imagine surprising your co-workers on a Zoom call with baby goats!) and in-person, as well as field trips and other opportunities to educate the public on what their farm does, which is a ton. The goats are the backbone of the farm, supplying the milk needed to make their award-winning feta cheese, the delicious fudge, yogurt, and other products. The farm also supports the local restaurant industry and breeds nearly-extinct breeds of goats. They also participate in local and regional goat shows and research.

Sandra and Jessica, the owners of Split Creek Farm, are pioneers in many areas of goat farming and their non-profit helps to provide funds to further the goals of the farm and integrate them even deeper into the supportive local community, bringing the joy of the goats to everyone.

The new self-guided tour

While the farm store is open Monday – Saturday for purchases, self-guided tours are available only on Friday and Saturday. The farm employs a small number of people and as you can probably imagine, it takes a huge amount of work to run the farm, milk the goats, make the cheese, fudge, and yogurt, clean the pens, collect the eggs, take care of the babies, and care and feed the herd.

As much as Sandra and Jessica would like to take every single guest on a personal tour of the farm, they needed to find a way to make what they do more accessible and understandable for guests and their families. And so was born the self-guided tour with easy-to-read and follow boards around the farm.

The topics are broad and fascinating. Guests will learn about all the different breeds of goats and why they are unique. They will learn about how the cheese is made and where the goats are milked and how that process worked. They will learn about every animal on the farm and why their individual jobs are important to making the farm run smoothly. I’ve personally been to Split Creek Farm numerous times and still learned a lot walking through the tour and reading all the plaques.

For myself and my kids, learning about where our food comes from and what goes into that process often has led to a deeper appreciation for farms and all the work they do. My own love of goats is only compounded every time I learn more about them. And my goodness, they make me happy. And they make my kids happy, which is all the more reason to visit the farm and learn about the goats.

It’s totally free to visit the farm and take self-guided tours. If you come with kids, just be sure to keep a close eye on them as it is a working farm and guests need to be respectful of those rules.

Playing with the goats

Split Creek Farm treats their animals with extraordinary care. I’ve seen both Sandra and Jessica speak to these animals exactly like I speak to my own kids. But the difference is that the goats listen to them! The goats obviously love the owners and employees and the female goats are quite literally what makes the farm run due to the sale of the products made with their milk.

So it’s no wonder the farm is protective of their animals. However, the animals get a lot of freedom and you’ll probably run into goats wandering around and Sam, the border collie, making sure they are where they need to be. There are chickens and two enormous pot-bellied pigs roaming around as well.

As long as guests are respectful of the animals, they are allowed to play with them and pet them. This is glorious. Playing with the goats is just awesome, especially the smaller ones. They are super curious (one really enjoyed munching on my daughter’s hair) and sweet and fun. Sam likes to play fetch with his frisbee and the chickens, well, they do their own thing.

Sometimes the farm will do special events where guests are able to play with the baby goats or have goat yoga sessions. Follow their Facebook page for that info. It’s really fun to play with the goats especially after you’ve done the self-guided tour because, I feel, that you may have a greater respect for them and for what goes on at the farm.

Virtual farm tours

Split Creek Farm also does virtual tours for anyone anywhere. People have really loved these as seeing the goats on their computer screens always elicits a lot of joy. Virtual tours can be arranged here at Goats 4 Goodness.

Visiting Split Creek Farm

It’s free to visit the farm and you don’t need to sign up to do the self-guided tours. Just follow all the posted rules, which include no pets. Once you arrive at the farm, you’ll see the space allowed for visitor parking on your left. The first couple of self-guided posts will be on your right near the huge penned goat pasture and on your left near the open barn. You’ll see the others around the farm.

Self-guided tours are available Friday and Saturday 10 am – 6 pm.

The farm shop is open Monday-Saturday 10 am – 6 pm.

For the latest on events and pictures of their baby goats come late winter, follow Split Creek Farm on Facebook.

Split Creek Farm
3806 Centerville Road, Anderson
864.287.3921

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