Plank Road Orchard

Went to Plank Road Orchard today for u-​pick apples and some baked goods. The apple cider donuts (.75 cents a piece) were delicious! We decided on the large bag which was $ 28.00. The orchard was a decent size and we were able to fill up our peck without a problem. Since it is so late in the season they only had two varieties of apples available for picking. I would suggest going earlier in the season to take advantage of their other varieties.
If you are looking for an orchard with other attractions this is not the place for you. It has a small store and the orchard. No hay rides or extra frills. This was perfect for us and we had a great time!
They only accept cash and checks so make sure you are prepared. Happy picking!

Had a wonderful first apple picking experience! Staff was very helpful and friendly. I couldn’t have asked for a more scenic, peaceful, relaxed afternoon either. Many many fresh apples to pick from — I felt like I had the luxury of being picky! Definitely recommended to others looking for a simple and laid back orchard.

If you’re looking for an orchard with a bunch of rides and attractions where you’ll spend gobs and gobs of money, then this is definitely not the place for you. If you’re looking for a nice family owned apple orchard with plenty of variety and tons of apples at a decent price (along with some delicious baked goods and homemade hot apple cider), then bring the whole family!
Plank Road Orchard has been around for 20 years and owned by the current owners for the past 14 of those years, so said the friendly family member whom I talked to this morning when we were there. I was also told that they’re trying out some new dwarf varieties of apples which sounded interesting to me.
Everyone that our family talked to was super friendly, and you can tell that they run their business with heart. The woman that I talked to asked me how I heard about them & I told them I came across the orchard on Unilocal.She sort of made a worried face & remarked that they’ve got some not so great reviews here, and then she proceeded to thank me for giving them a shot anyways. I really am glad that we did.
$ 28 got us a peck of apples, which is a great price if you ask me. Most other orchards charge about $ 20 for a half peck of pick your own (at least others that we’ve been to). Fair warning, it is cash only, so come prepared. There was an older woman who sold us our bags and also explained to us which apples were ripe & suggested we pick the honeycrisp and liberty apples because they were perfectly ripe. There were tons of apples to pick and many different varieties were ready. We filled our bag with Honeycrisp, Liberty, Liberty Gold, Golden Delicious & Red Delicious when all was said & done.
The only thing that was a negative for me is that they do spray their apples with pesticides. The woman that I talked to explained that it depends on how hot and/​or humid the weather is. She also pointed out that they’re surrounded by corn fields with farmers who spray, so when they do, the orchard gets the bugs… makes sense enough.
After loading the car with our harvest, we went into their little storefront for some coveted donuts & apple cider. While the donuts didn’t look piping hot out of the fryer, they definitely hit the spot. A half dozen set us back $ 4, and a whole dozen would have been $ 6…not too shabby. Fresh hot apple cider set us back a whopping 50 cents per cup, and let me tell you, it’s probably the best 50 cents I spent all day. You could tell that they used several different apples in the drink, tangy, sweet, and tart all at the same time… yum.
When we pick apples, we prefer to actually pick apples rather than be distracted with loud crowds, corn mazes, petting zoos, etc. Plank Road Orchard was overall a great experience, and we’re looking forward to making it a family tradition.

We love this place! Its just apples, cider, and donuts. We do not want a petting zoo or rides and thank goodness for no inflatables. Its a lovely, quaint place just to spend time with our family, picking and eating apples. We have been coming here for the past few years and will keep coming. Apples are good this year!

We just returned (9÷7÷2013) from this place and had to write a review to warn others. When we arrived in the parking lot, we were welcomed by a friendly young man. He explained the small bags were $ 7 (5 lbs), the medium $ 14 (10 lbs) and the large $ 25. We decided we would go with the medium. We were there purely for the fun of picking apples. The large bag would be too much for the family and it would just be a waste of apples sitting on the kitchen counter. He mentioned they had fresh baked goods inside which we planned to stop by after the apple picking (our girls love baked goods). We were about to pay when an elderly Granny came riding on a farm vehicle and spoke with the lad in a foreign language. The lad explained that now we will have to buy a bag for each person. We mentioned that we called before arriving and asked the process on the phone as well. Anyways, we were there with family for a good time outdoors and did not really mind paying more for our entertainment. However, the granny was just plain rude and super agitated. She kept claiming her ownership to the farm and that it doesnt matter who we spoke with on the phone (blah blah). This is not acceptable behavior. We try to support local business and understand their contribution to society. But her behavior put us off. We explained the lad that it is not about the money but rather how they were dealing with customers. Some mis-​communication between employer and employee is understandable, but this same request could have been made in a non-​harsh manner by the owner. Our young children were horrified by the granny and actually thought she was coming around to hit us when she got off her vehicle (so did I actually). We left the place and instead went to Pine Apple Acres in Huntley (about 15 miles away). We loved their place and customer service. And are actually glad how things turned out (thanks to Granny’s behavior) which ultimately led us to a better orchard and a finer outdoor afternoon (they had bee hives demonstrations as well). Overall, this experience might have been better had Granny not been so rude and utterly disrespectful. Cause we genuinely liked the lad and the girl on the phone we spoke with before driving out.

I loved this place.
I wanted to go somewhere to pick fresh apples, without dealing with screaming kids and an overcrowded orchard with leftover apple selection.
It was perfect. Quiet, lots of space, great, fresh apples. The people working there were very friendly, family owned, and it was only $ 10 per small bag. The bakery there is amazing– especially the apple cider, honey, and surprisingly the apple cookies. If you’re looking for somewhere to pick apples and not an amusement park, this is perfect.

No entrance fee, ample parking. Great place for the kids. Very clean and very nice orchard.
They do sell pies, apple cider and doughnuts inside.
Overall great experience.

Really good experience this past weekend (9-​21-​2013) which more than evens out a pretty lackluster experience from 2010.
First: the apple crop is generally very good this year. Plank Road Orchards trees were insanely full. The trick was not finding enough apples, but finding the best (and they were really pretty much all great looking). I don’t think that they can get full credit here since last year was abysmal for orchards all over the area. But great recovery, and great for them. We showed up around 1pm, well past the early risers, and had a very easy time filling bags with lovely, delicious apples.
This is an excellent no-​frills kind of orchard. If you’re interested in apples, some family time, and a lovely orchard: this is a great choice. If you’re after the apple-​theme-​park style place, you’ll probably want to go somewhere else.
The real reasons I’m docking one star on this review are:
1) Varieties are nice, but there aren’t a huge number of uncommon, or of my favorites. That said, the ginger golds were amazing, the jonamacs were really good, and the orchard is really large and well kept. Not a terrible problem, just enough to not be my favorite orchard ever.
2) My previous experience, and some of what we saw this time can make you feel a bit nickel-​and-​dimed. Charges for a glass of water, previously we have been charged admission per-​person to pick. At $ 20/​peck, I would gladly pay a little more to have these fees hidden. It’s annoying, and feels predatory, despite having entirely reasonable explanations.
We did get sort-​of-​warned by the very friendly woman taking payments that it was best not to get on grandma’s bad side, and that was our experience from 2010. This time, things were friendly, easy, and super affordable. We paid $ 20 for a peck (half-​pecks were $ 10). Seriously: amazing price for good, fresh apples. Be prepared to pre-​pay in cash, not my favorite method, but again: entirely reasonable.
The bakery was nice, and the usual selection of local/​apple themed goods is available (donuts, turnovers, cider, honey). There is a good selection of handsome pre-​picked apples available.

I love apple picking because I regress to age 4, unfortunately this isn’t what I remember.
don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad place but it’s not a destination orchard where you’ll spend the day with the kids-​no petting zoo, no inflatables or corn maze or hayride… just a small orchard with apples and a portapotty.
The selection is small… galas, red & yellow delish, spartan, cortland, jonathan, jonamac, macintosh and honey crisp. Before you get all gooey about picking your own honeycrisps, don’t. They are pre-​picked and bagged up for you and then you pay more for them than you would the other varieties. The only entertainment for little ones are plastic yard toys… you know, little tykes slides and wagons.
There is also a small bakery with apple cider donuts and apple pies & pastries and honey; we usually pick up a couple bags of donuts on the way to the football game at NIU.
Unless it’s nipple-​freezing cold out, bring plenty of insect repellent, you’ll need it!