County Line Orchard

The sun is shining, the air is crispy and the leaves are showing beautiful colors. Fall has arrived and I'm loving it! I just cant get enough of the fantastic fall festivals, pumpkin patches and apple orchards. I recently have been hearing so much good stuff about County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN. All week I was really craving some festive, fall fun and on Friday we were on a mission to find some. County Line Orchard was our destination and it did not disappoint. 

The drive from the south side of Chicago burbs was a breeze. Just before we could see the orchard from the road, we could smell it and oh my goodness was the smell in the air delicious. The orchard was overflowing with so many varieties of beautiful and delicious apples. The smell in the air was fresh, sweet happiness. Upon exiting our car in the parking lot we instantly got hit with the overwhelming, intensely amazing smell of their famous donuts. I am not a big fan of donuts, I know, there is something wrong with me but, anything Pumpkin Spice or Apple Spice I have to try. As if we were under a spell, we went straight for the donut line. We ordered one Pumpkin Spice and one Apple Spice for the three of us to share and sample. I read on their website that during this time of year, they make 10,000 donuts a day. I have also heard stories of people waiting in line for 1hr to purchase their donuts. I will say that the donut indulgence is definitely a must. They were fantastic and lucky for us on a Friday at 4pm we didn't have to wait in any lines. The Apple Spice was my favorite of the two. 

After admiring the beauty of their 29,000 sq foot timber frame barn filled with so much goodness we headed over to the check-in barn to purchase our tickets. Patrick & I purchased the Lil' farmer pass which includes the kids farm, tractor rides, u-pick orchard, and picnic area access. Children under 2 are free. We also purchased a $2 moo-choo train ticket for Delilah and I to go on a ride and a $3 bag of feed for the animals which was worth every penny. 

The Kids farm was the best kids farm that I have ever been to. All of the animals were adorably sweet. Our 21m old daughter Delilah called them all "Puppies". The goats were her absolute favorite. Feeding the animals gave her so much joy. She would grab a handful of feed, open up her hand to them to gently feed them and then laugh hysterically as they licked her hand. It was sweet, funny and such a great experience. The kids farm is so clean and maintained wonderfully. The kids farm also includes a toddler play area with mini tractors to ride and wagons to fill with hay. There is a mini kids maze, real big tractors to sit on to take pictures, some animal statues to sit on and fun cutouts to put your face in. I wish that we had more time before they closed for the night because we could have spent 3hrs in the kids farm. 

The moo-choo train was Delilah's first ever ride. She loves a good thrill and tractors and trains so I figured it would be a big hit. We jumped aboard and the ride was fantastic. It's about a five minute ride through the apple orchard. Delilah jumped up and down on my lap yelling "Go", "Go", "GO"! She loved it, I loved it and we are definitely going to go back for another ride. 

Next, we jumped on a tractor for a ride out to the orchard. They dropped us off and we explored all of the beautiful apple trees. Each row of apple trees has a great sign with the apple type. It is really a neat experience and just as the sun was setting, it was so beautiful to walk through the orchard. 

Before leaving we were back in the big, beautiful barn making our purchases which included our picked apples, 1/2 dozen donuts, caramels, a dutch apple pie and apple cider. 

I highly recommend taking a trip to County Line Orchard. We can't wait to go back before this season is over. This is definitely a place that will be on our fun, fall festivities list every year. 

Link:

County Line Orchard: http://www.countylineorchard.com