Connect with nature by cuddling a cow at Lake Stevens farm
Published 2:35 pm Thursday, July 2, 2026
EVERETT — A pig walks over and plops itself down on my feet.
“They’re just like big dogs,” said Tara Luckie, reaching down to pet another pig resting nearby. “They absolutely love their belly scratches.”
While most people come to Luckie Farms for the close-up encounters with Highland cows, the pigs often win people’s hearts, said Luckie, who owns the farm with her husband, Scott Luckie.
“People end up really liking the pigs because they’re just kind of quirky and they’re very curious,” she said.
Although it’s hard to beat the friendly Highland calves, who, fresh off one of the farm’s calf snuggle sessions, were taking an afternoon nap in the sun. They did perk up at the offer of head scratches.
“It’s culturally it’s not the norm to engage with cows, but they are really social,” Luckie said.
Located just over 10 minutes away from downtown Everett, Luckie Farms gives its visitors a chance to be present and feel the joy of farm life.
”The joy it brought people, it was almost the same experience as when you go to Disneyland,” she said.
Luckie wasn’t always a farmer, although she said she knew from a young age that farm life was her calling. The couple started the farm in 2020 after moving from West Seattle with their children.
Now, the Luckies and their farm staff take care of more than 60 cows ranging from just a couple of weeks old to 18. The Highland cows are not the only four-legged inhabitants of the 75-acre farm. Visitors can see horses, alpacas, donkeys, rabbits and reindeer.
Luckie Farms offers two interactive experiences that people can sign up for, both including a healthy dose of farm animal snuggles.
The Interactive Farm Experience provides a chance to meet the calves, donkeys, reindeer, and alpacas, take a wagon ride to meet the big Highland herd and visit the gift shop that opened around four months ago. Tickets are $35 per person.
But if you’re all about the cows, don’t worry, they have you covered with the Highland Cow Snuggle Experience. Spend 30 minutes inside the calf pen and soak up the cuddly cows for the price of a $30 ticket. If the beginning of this article made you jealous, you can add on a 15-minute visit to the pig pen.
Farm tours run year-round, while calf snuggles are only available from June 13 to Aug. 31.
At the end of 2024, the space became what Luckie referred to as a forever farm. Through working with the Washington Farmland Trust, the Luckies were able to secure a conservation easement for their farm.
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that limits use of the land permanently to protect its conservation values.
“It’s 75 acres that will stay a farm for our great grandkids or great great grandkids,” she said. “This will always be a farm.”
Now the farm can continue to connect people with nature, like Stephanie Simerly.
In 2024, Simerly visited the farm with her friends and fell in love with it. Afterwards, she “pretty much begged Scott and Tara to start a volunteer program,” she said.
She continued to take tours every month until eventually they asked if she wanted to work at the farm. Recently, she moved up to full-time.
“It’s so peaceful out here,” she said. “The experience and the memories that you can make out here, I mean, if you’re an animal lover, it’s an amazing place to hang out and take pictures.”
If you go
Luckie Farms is located at 930 Sunnyside Blvd in Lake Stevens. You can learn more about booking your up-close farm experience on their website www.luckiefarms.com.
Check the weather and dress accordingly.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
