10-26-2023 Howard - Flipbook - Page 34
Best of Howard
OUT & ABOUT
Liam Meyer, 3, sits on an old tractor in the pumpkin patch at Clark’s Elioak Farm in Ellicott City. PHOTO BY KEVIN RICHARDSON
BEST KIDS’ ACTIVITY
Clark’s Elioak Farm
10500 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City,
Open April through early November.
410-730-4049, clarklandfarm.com
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| Fall 2023 | howardmagazine.com
There’s a petting farm, a pumpkin patch, a
fresh vegetable market and an enchanted forest
full of storybook creatures.
No wonder this Ellicott City attraction has
become a family favorite.
In 2002, Martha Clark was distressed when
the only pumpkin patch and petting zoo in the
area shut down. So she set aside about 25 acres
from the cattle farm that had been in her family
for six generations and opened it to the public.
Soon, it was stocked with 80 critters, including ponies, goats, sheep, a donkey, rabbits and
even an emu.
Two years later, when she learned that the
Enchanted Forest — a once-popular storybook
farm — had closed and was falling into disrepair, she acquired all the exhibits and moved
them to the family farm: Cinderella’s Pumpkin Coach. The Old Woman’s Shoe. Willie the
Whale.
“A lot of people had their pictures taken
sitting in Willie’s open mouth 40 years ago
when they were kids,” Clark said. “Now they
photograph their grandchildren sitting in
Willie’s mouth, and post it on their Facebook
page.”