For the third consecutive year, the Lazy 5 Ranch in western Rowan County is North Carolina’s most visited school field trip destination, and Rowan has four of the top 25 sites.
The popular zoo and animal attraction led in field trip attendance in the 10th annual survey conducted by Carolina Publishing & Associates of Matthews, publisher of Carolina Field Trips Magazine.
The Lazy 5 Ranch enjoyed a slight increase in field trip attendance with 129,314 students visiting. The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh moved up to the second spot with 127,768 visitors thanks to the opening of its popular Nature Research Center last year.
Dan Nicholas Park in eastern Rowan finished third in the survey with 121,531 visitors. Also in Rowan, Patterson Farm and Tiger World finished at No. 21 and No. 25, respectively.
Rounding out the top five field trip attractions were Charlotte’s Discovery Place with 117,324 visitors and the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro with 109,075.
This year’s survey marks the first time that five field trip attractions have welcomed more than 100,000 students each, according to Sam Rogers, publisher of Carolina Field Trips Magazine.
Other attractions among the top 10 in this year’s survey were Marbles Kids Museum, Raleigh, 92,151; Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, Chapel Hill, 79,756; N.C. Aquariums, Manteo, Pine Knoll Shores and Kure Beach, 77,758; N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh, 77,614 and the Schiele Museum, Gastonia, 73,980.
Here’s the rest of the top 25:

11. Greensboro Science Center; 68,923; 12. Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, 59,853; 13. Tryon Palace, 57,691; 14. Catawba Science Center, 53,349; 15. N.C. State Capitol, 51,954; 16. Old Salem Museums and Gardens, 43,876; 17. Biltmore, 33,972; 18. Museum of Life and Science, 30,808; 19. Carolina Raptor Center, 30,652; 20. Carolina Renaissance Festival (Education Days Program), 27,390; 21. Patterson Farm Market & Tours, 28,521; 22. SciWorks, 27,967; 23. Linville Caverns, 26,482; 24. N.C. Museum of Art, 24,240; 25. Tiger World, 18,712.
Carolina Field Trips Magazine is in its eighteenth year of publication. Three seasonal issues are published each year and the magazine’s website is www.carolinafieldtripsmag.com.