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Frying Pan Farm, one of the most popular parks in Fairfax County, preserves and interprets early 20th century farm life. Entry to the farm is free except for special events. The best way to explore Frying Pan is to park and start walking. The Visitor Center and rentable Picnic Shelter are located at one of the park's two entrances on West Ox Road. Visitor Center rooms can be rented, and there are restrooms and an exhibit on dairy farming inside. At the farm entrance there are equestrian facilities, a preschool, a 1920s-era carousel, the park's Country Store, barns, a rentable picnic area, a farm house, and farm animals. Daily wagon rides, weather permitting, start in this area. There is a natural surface road that connects this area to the Visitor Center. The north side of the park, beyond the equestrian areas, has wooded hiking trails near a creek named Frying Pan Branch. During the park's open hours, feel free to wander into the store, along the paths, and through the barns. There is cow milking every afternoon at 4 p.m. You will see horses, pigs, chickens, goats, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, and other animals common to farms of the early 1900s. You can learn about animal births on the park's web page. The park also has historic buildings, and Frying Pan hosts a four-day 4-H Fair and Carnival in late summer as well as other seasonal festivals.
Frying Pan offers a range of public programs. There are equestrian events and classes, a 4-H club, camps and workshops, school field trips, and scout programs. The site offers birthday parties, and there are rental facilities for group gatherings. If you love Frying Pan Farm Park, consider spending time here as a volunteer.
Frying Pan Farm Park offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. Volunteers help lead public programs, drive the tractor for wagon rides, staff the visitor center's information desk and country store, work with the animals, serve as farmhands, and lead school programs, campfires, birthday parties, camps and workshops. Scouts and corporations also conduct volunteer projects in the park.