Hi. I am looking for a nice apple-picking, pumpkin-picking, fall-fun place to take my twin three-year old girls. We drove up to Apple Holler in Wisconsin last weekend and it was so crowded we literally couldn't walk through the sea of humanity! And it wasn't even that great of a place.
Any places you've been and have enjoyed?
Keupers farm in montgomery Il.
It is about 15min pass Saint CHARLES iL.
great place and too big to ever get too crowded
you can pick apples on one side of the street or pumpkin picking on the other.5 acre corn maze. a store.huge play area for the kids and a place to take a short hike.you could spend more than a day there.I have a 5 and 3 year old they loved every second.They also have great family coupuns online
We have been to County Line Orchard as well but for us it was way more than 45 minutes away, so you may want to Yahoo or Google it. MapQuest gives you the wrong directions. It was great, it has a huge store and a lot of activities. It was pretty crowded when we went and we had to stand it quite a long line to pay for our apples. This was a couple of years ago though, so it may be different now.
This year we went to Woodstock, IL. We started out at Homestead Orchard. We checked their website beforehand, as they suggested and it said that there was a lot of available fruit (we wanted to go there because they also have pears and raspberries) but when we got there the woman told my husband that all they had was golden delicious and that we could "take our chances" on the raspberries. We wanted pie apples, so not golden delicious and when he asked about other locations nearby she didn't want to share any information. So I would not recommend Homestead. We ended up at All Season, also in Woodstock and they had plenty of apples including honeycrisp which I guess is hard to find and people really like. We were very successful in our picking and had a great time. No hay ride or corn maze, just apples and pumpkins. It was a little crazy in the store, it is not set up in the most efficient manner, but the orchard is very close and easy to navigate and it wasn't too crowded once we got out of the store. We will definitely go back to All Season.
This website is easy to navigate around and has some great information:
http://www.allaboutapples.com/ Click on Orchard Listing to find U-Picks.
Good Luck!
D.
We've been to countyline orchard in the past, too. It was nice. You should call before you go anywhere though - a friend of mine went to take her daughter there a couple weeks ago and it turns out the warm wet summer made all the apples ripe early - there were hardly any left! Pumpkins may be another story...
I took my two year old son to Kuipers Family Farm in Maple Park Illinois about a month ago. They have an orchard and a pumpkin patch. They also have a decent playground area, a corn maze and a petting zoo. It probably isn't too exciting for older kids but I think three year olds would enjoy it. There is a short hayride out to pick the apples which my son really liked. It wasn't too crowded but we got there shortly after they opened and only stayed until 2PM and it was mid-September. They have a website with their hours, apple info and a list of activities.
Our family likes going to County Line Orchard
http://www.countylineorchard.com/
this is a great place in Indiana, only 45 minutes away. It has a picnic area and a little zoo/farm, apples and pumpkins and a corn maze.
Get there early to get parking, and the apple doughnuts are DELICIOUS--worth the wait in line. My 2 year old loved it.
Have fun!
V.
I liked Kuipers (search them on google). You get a hay ride to the apple orchard where you pick whatever apples. There's some goats to feed/pet. There's a corn maze, etc.
C.
We have gone to CountyLine Orchard, just over the border in Indiana and have enjoyed it.
Honey Hill Orchard in Waterman, IL (not far from Aurora) is a great place. There is apple picking, pumpkin picking, a place where you can pet some animal, a big barn full of hay that the kids can climb on. They also have a really cute store to buy pies and cider and things like that. There isn't a charge to get in, and it isn't "over the top" like some pumpkin patches that are out there. I prefer the family run, low key type of places anyway.
We went to County Line Orchard, in Hobart, IN a couple of weeks ago. I had never been apple picking before in the area so I enjoyed it. There are fun things to do for the kids as well...
http://www.countylineorchard.com/
I also recommend County Line. There's fun stuff for the kids, but it feels like a farm. If you're coming from the west, take 294 to 80/90 rather than going through chicago and then south through the construction.
Definitely call first though if the apple selection is important to you. When we went 2 weekends ago, they told us that last weekend would probably be the last really good weekend for picking. I've heard the same from a friend who went to a place up north last week. Apparently it was an early season this year. This was our second year picking there and the apples are really yummy! (Their cider is only so-so. But the donuts are great.)
