For a day of good old fashion fun for the whole family, a great place to go visit is the Klackle Orchard and Cornucopia. The Klackle Orchards is a family farm that is located on 600 acres of land, with 300 of it consisting of fresh produce. So after you enjoy a day of fun here, you can then take home some great tasting fresh produce!
The Klackle Orchard and Cornucopia is located in Greenville, Michigan at 11456 West Carson Road. They charge $7 during the weekends and $4 during the weekdays to visit the beautiful area if you want to do other activities. But if you just want to go and buy some fresh produce items at their market, the admission is free. They are open 7 days a week all way up to December 3.
The farm has been passed down within the family over the last 3 generations. Now it is currently owned by Steve Klackle and his wife Rosemary. They have 2 children also whose names are Natalie and Ryan. They all stay busy running and harvesting the orchards. The first variety of apples that they harvest has 100,000 trees and like I said that is just the first variety of apples! They have plenty of others also.
The orchard is one of the largest commercial orchards in west Michigan. Like I said the farm features about 300 acres of land to grow all the fresh produce they sell. They estimate their annual production to be approximately 200,000 bushels of apples a year! A lot of their crops are stored, packed then sent to chain stores throughout the Midwest.
They also have a seasonal farm market called the Cornucopia. What they sell depends on what time of year it is. They have apples from Gingergolds to Golden Supremes to Paulared to McIntosh and many others. They also sell homemade apple crisps, pumpkin cream cheese donuts, fresh baked pies, homemade apple bread, fudge, and many other goodies! Or stock up on the apples and make your own homemade apple pies or applesauce that will make your friends and families’ mouths water!
The orchard is filled with lots of fun different activities to be a part of. You can take a covered wooden wagon ride that takes you through the orchards and past the pumpkin patch. You can ride the wagon as many times as you would like. There is no limit! Or to get to the pumpkin patch in a unique way, you can take the enchanted pumpkin patch ride. This is a giant pumpkin on four wheels and the eyes of the pumpkin are the windows for you to look out! Both of these rides run throughout the weekdays and the weekends.
They also have barrel train rides that take you around the orchard. These are actual barrels that are painted and decorated up that are on wheels and pulled by a tractor. This is a fun and entertaining way for the kids to get a tour of the area. This attraction only runs on the weekends from 10 am-5 pm.
Besides those rides, the farm also offers Firetruck rides, pony rides, Camel rides and even an elephant ride!! All of these rides only cost $3.00 for admission which is well worth it. Your child will have a blast riding these animals! The farm also features an Animal Crackers Petting Zoo that has animals from goats to bunnies to chickens to many other different animals. Here you can go in the cages and feed and pet all the animals. On the weekends from 12 pm – 5 pm they have the exotic animals that you can hang out with.
There is also a Straw Fort Barn Maze and Corral that takes the kids through fun straw obstacles throughout the barn. This attraction is open daily from 10 am-6 pm. It is a great way to let the kids wear off some energy and have fun doing it. I even had to try going through there with my niece and nephew and I had a lot of fun too!
They have an Indiana Klackle’s Coaster Slide that allows the kids to slide down in to a pile of soft hay and wrestle around in an area where they won’t get hurt. Then you can also take them out to the wooden play area where they can climb on a wooden tractor and wagon. These attractions are open daily from 10 am – 6 pm.
The Sand Pile Play Area is a huge sand box for you and the kids to play in! In here they have a few giant tractor tires for the kids to have fun with. They also have lots of small dump trucks, cars and tractors to play around in the sand with!
The farm also has an inflatable fun area. In here they have giant inflatable slides, barns, tractors, pumpkins and many other objects for the kids to climb through and bounce around in. All the kids were having a blast in here. I wish I could have taken off my shoes and joined them too! This is another great spot for the kids to wear off their extra energy.
My favorite part of the orchards was the Labyrinth maze. Here you can test your skills in a 7 acre corn maze and see if you can find your way out. This maze is full of about 70 thousand high corn stalks that take you to paths that may or may not lead you out of the maze. You can have a fun time racing your family or friends here and see who can finish quicker! The average time for the maze is 20 minutes and we were close with a time of 26 minutes.
After you get done with the maze, you will have probably worked up an appetite. So you can head over to Klackle’s Country Kitchen and grab a bite to eat. Here they sell items like hot dogs, hamburgers, brats, pizza, soup, homemade chicken salads, popcorn, candy and many other treats to fill your stomach.
The orchard also offers educational tours for schools and other groups for a discounted price. Each tour is designed to the age group the children are in. It is a great way for them to have fun and learn about how an orchard works. The tours even let them pick their own apples and take them home. Or you can throw your child a unique birthday here and make his or her day really fun and special!
This is a must see place for people of all ages! I bought lots of apples back to take to my friends and family and they loved them also. You will be sure to have a fun day of excitement here at Klackle Orchards and once the kids are there, they probably won’t want to leave all the fun! So if you get near Greenville, Michigan, make sure you swing on by the Klackle Orchards and see what the hype is all about for your self!
