Let's set the scene: an open stretch of highway welcomes your family as leaves in various silhouettes show of their newly deepened hues in the crisp, cider-scented breeze. Outside, the sun shines brightly while inside your vehicle, kids buzz energetically. It's autumn in West Michigan, and the harvest season is just beginning.
Any Michigander will tell you that opportunities for creating life-long family memories don't end with summer. Fall presents unique experiences that will turn a mundane weekend into the most memorable of events: apple picking followed by cider and doughnuts, whimsical harvest festivals, towering corn mazes...
Orchards & Farms
There's process that takes place at u-pick apple orchards that can be described as something near-euphoric: picking the perfect apple from its bough, wiping it gently on your shirt, and sinking your teeth pass the red/yellow/green skin to its sweet/tart/crisp flesh. Add to this the rainbow of equally delicious produce available during the season, and you have a smorgasbord of fall flavors. Pears! Pumpkins! Squash! Grapes! Gourds! Even raspberries!
In addition to the ingredients to your favorite harvest meal and perfect carving pumpkin, West Michigan's orchards and farms present a full menu of activities. Petting zoos are a must-have and feature farm favorites such as goats, chickens, and in the case of New Era's Lewis Farm Market, a flirtatious camel. Many agricultural destinations don't stop there and have added bouncing inflatables and twisting go-kart tracks.
Search for West Michigan u-picks in Culinary Travel!
Harvest Festivals
West Michigan's communities enthusiastically embrace the harvest season with a number of family-friendly festivals and events. The usual favorites are certainly queued: live music, children's activities, car shows, but some go a step further to incorporate truly unique activities. The city of Frankfort holds a pumpkin chucking contest each year while the Silver Lake Sand Dunes Area takes the cook-off to a new level by combining apples and bbq. In fact, each fall flavor seems to have its own dedicated festival, from DeGrandchamps Cranberry Harvest to Grand Haven's Salmon Festival. For the adults in the family, you might want to try grape stomping at the Paw Paw Wine & Harvest Festival followed by a glass of your favorite West Michigan wine.
For a full line-up of this year's festivals, visit Events.
Corn Mazes
If your idea of the perfect fall afternoon includes sending your children to wander in a field for hours, we have just the thing. Many West Michigan destinations produce world class corn mazes during the harvest season. With the corn picked and the stalks reaching sky-high, and impressive barrier is formed and carved into mind bending patterns.
Ranging from the short and easy to the twisted and difficult, this harvest tradition is sure to thrill any member of the family. Halloween bonus: during this spookiest of seasons, many corn mazes go haunted at night.
Find corn mazes and more in Family Fun.