Apple Charlie’s South Huron Orchards & Cider Mill

Great place to take the family for delicious doughnuts, homemade apple cider, pies, etc.

Not much to do or see. Older lady at cash register and hay ride tractor driver both sullen, barely spoke to any of us. It would have been nice to show my son what Autumn is like in MI but this certainly disappointed.

Took my kids to Apple Charlie’s today. What a disappointment. I called ahead to find out how much a bushel of apples are. I was told $ 20.00. Upon arrival we discovered that the bag was $ 20.00, but it was only a ½ bushel. After purchasing the bag, we were told they only had two types of apples available. The final disappointment was that the only trees we were allowed to pick from were almost barren. It took nearly two hours to fill one bag. Yet there were trees fenced off full of apples. There were workers present along the fenced off areas to make sure no one entered. Apple Charlie’s has been a favorite family outing for us for nearly forty years. We will not be going again.

Apple charlies is a sinking ship. The only reason i have a star posted is because the goat, remind you, only one goat, is the coolest goat I’ve ever met.

Very disappointed. Their donuts quality is so bad and everything is overpriced. I rather buy apple cider and donuts from Meijer.

This place was always a family tradition. I took my grandbaby here September 24 2015 around noon. There were not many animals. They have two hives in the walls now so the bees have turned from a cool thing to look at into a swarming when your trying to enjoy the cider and donuts. I had 4 bed on my cup, they were on the baby’s food, bouncing off or heads, etc. We ran to the car and it was hard to get them out of the car. Yes they were that bad. I am thinking they may not be opened fully because no horse rides, craft store closed, no one in the concession, the cider making press was closed, and the place want as nice as it used to be. It was a bummer for sure. The donuts fall apart and not as good. The cider want as good as normal, and the cookies gross.

Classic Michigan cider mill with some stuff for the kids, but not over the top. Cider is solid and $ 10 a gallon, but an extra star for the Dutch Apple Pie. I am not a huge fan of pie, or apple pie in particular, but this one has a perfect Dutch crumb topping that is rich with butter and perfect with cinnamon-​y sweet apple filling.

This place has really gone down hill. The donuts literally crumble and the cider isn’t too great. I can remember 10+ years ago this place was great. What a total shock it was to go back and see its current condition. I will not be going back in the future, I’d rather remember the place as it was in the past. Time to check out some other orchards!

This is definitely not the same place it used to be. There were only a few animals that were fully in view, the others had boards covering them. I saw people feeding them under the boards since you couldn’t see them. The donut/​cider area is an absolute mess! The girl who waited on us rolled her eyes when I answered yes to wanting my plain donuts warmed. The eating area was way too loud for such a small area with very bad music. The singer was singing one thing while the band players were playing something else. It was not an enjoyable experience. Will be going to Wiards or Parmenters from now on!

I felt HORRIBLE for taking my daughter here for her first «Orchard» experience. It looked like an abandoned amusement park. I actually felt sorry for the animals that had to continue living there.

Wow! This place was awful. I mean… this was like ghetto of orchards.
I do understand that I am spoiled living in Plymouth and having lots of options (Plymouth orchard, 3 cedar, wiards…) but this place was awful.
A friend recommended we go there because they had been years prior and thought it would be fun. HUGE MISTAKE.
Let’s start with the «animal farm»… it was a walk through barn that had literally 4 animals. There were wood planks stacked so kids had no ability to see in without being lifted. Not really enough room to view the animals and they had no interest in walking out of the barn.
There were pony rides… for $ 4 for a 40 second circle. When I stepped on side to get a picture of my daughter I was scolded like a 4 year old and told not to step beyond the line «for my safety». Oh come off it!
I know at an orchard bees will be bad, but a previous reviewers statement of «just use a friendly swat» is crap. We were stung with no provocation. There was swarms everywhere and nowhere to eat the donuts without being completely devoured. I have been to dozens of orchards and I don’t remember any that don’t have an enclosed area to eat.
Prices were awful. $ 10 for a gallon of cider?! The «natural honey suckers» were sugar and corn starch, so I didn’t even give a second glance at the rest of the honey products. The donuts were not good either. The plain were too doughy and the other option of powdered cinammon weren’t anything to come back for.
Someone mentioned something about a haunted barn that opens later in the season, and inflatables that are usually there… I doubt either would help this place.
Lastly was the ridiculous waiting lines. I get this is the only place in this area but the lines aren’t from the swarms of people, even Plymouth has hundreds of visitors a day but you are in and out in minutes no matter how long the lines because they know how to operate in service. One person bagging the donuts as the orders come in and the cups are stacked on the counter for you to take. Not one person fumbling around the register looking for cups double counting the donuts, then adding your total and taking the money. All registers seemed to be following this messy and slow inefficient process, leaving the lines to grow as people endure endless waits. Even in the side store.
This whole place was a disaster. It was a waste of time and an overall completely frustrating experience. Save yourself the hassle. Take the extra drive and go to the numerous other options just up the road.

I couldn’t wait until fall came to get some delicious Macintosh apples. We drive 20 miles to go to Apple Charlie’s to get some. They must have the best around right? Wrong! Paid a enormous amount, got in the car for that first bite, and was totally disappointed. Very tart with a terrible texture. Worse than any of the off season apples from grocery stores. What the heck? Don’t you specialize in apples? Will not go here for apples again.

Apple Charlie’s is very easy to find. Go about one mile west of I-​275 at exit 11, right into the orchards. You can pick your own apples or select apples in the barn area by the sack. They have great Apple cider and fresh donuts and many family fun things to do while you are there. The hay rides are going constantly on a nice fall day. They even have an occasional haunted ride or two at night, I believe. This is an annual outing for our family. 3 stars and I’ll be back…

I have gone to Apple Charlie’s since… forever. We went two weeks ago and it’s gone way downhill. That’s sad, really, because this place used to be the best orchard around.
There was almost nothing here. The usual donuts, cider, and store were open and just as good as they’ve always been, complete with being able to see the donuts made. It’s a little pricier than previous years due to the apple crops being wiped out last year, but it’s only once a year, right? It was $ 10 for a gallon of cider. So, be prepared for that.
As for everything else, it’s in pretty bad shape. The petting farm had almost no animals on it; an ostrich, a few chickens, and a few goats that looked like they weren’t well cared for (I’m judging from the petting farm at Heritage Park in Taylor that we frequent often). There was no staff in the petting farm, which is odd because I always remember there being someone there. Kids + big holed fences… ya know. Parents aren’t as always as observant as we would hope. Come to think of, I can’t remember seeing any staff besides the staff selling the donuts and cider inside.
The haunted barn wasn’t open. There wasn’t anything going on in the «music» barn. The hayrides have bumped up to $ 4/​person and the hayride is not as long as it once was. The pumpkin «patch» is nothing compared to what it used to be. I remember growing up, there was a ridiculous amount of field to run through to pick out your pumpkins in the brush. Now, most of them are presented in the front on the grass and the ones in the field are either rotten or stepped on.
A co-​worker of mine knew the owner and said that ever since he passed, his family hasn’t set the same standards as he did and kept it up as well. That was obvious on our last trip.
Wiard’s might be expensive, but it’ll be our «go-​to» orchard from now on.

Maybe Apple Charlies’ isn’t as ‘fancy’, polished and cutesie as some other cider mills in Michigan, but it sure is fun and their cider is good!
There is a petting zoo, you-​pick apples, haunted barn, live entertainment and pumpkin patch to keep young and old entertained.
The cider itself can be found inside, where the lines snake and operations at times seem less than efficient. But I can’t give them too much grief, being the only cider mill in the area, this place gets hopping during the season.
The cider is unpasteurized (yay) and the right amount of sweet, we are a fan. The donuts have that perfect combination of a crispy outside and pillow like center. The cinnamon kind has a mix of powdered sugar and cinnamon, eventhough I prefer a mix of regular sugar with cinnamon, these donuts are seriously good. The plain ones are. very plain.
As with every cider mill, there are bees. Please don’t kill them, they are friendly creatures and if you gently shoo them away they will move, no need to go nutso on the little guys.
If you are looking for the picture perfect cider mill with cobblestones and a waterwheel, surrounded by wooded areas and a river snaking past it, Apple Charlies is not it. But if you are looking for good cider and a fun time, you may want to visit here sometime.

Been taking our family here over 13 years. Great cider, yummy donuts.

This is Downriver’s cider mill. The baked goods are great, the caramel apples not to be missed! They use fresh roasted peanuts! They also make candy apples!
But the cider is blended, meaning that they keep it the same sweetness every time you go by blending frozen concentrate from last year’s cider. I like my cider tart, not bland to the flavor of apple juice.
Lots of stuff for the kids to do and you can make a Sunday of going! The family running it is very sweet and happy to have people there!

We normally go out to Orchards in the Romeo/​Armada area, but we decided to head West this year and try something different. We mainly went here because my wife was told they had six different kinds of apples trees to choose from and were ready to be picked in their U-​Pick Orchard when she called a few days prior. Most places have around six to eight different varieties from my experience so this seemed decent.
We got there, walked around and took a look at the animals and then went towards the entrance to the Orchard. After paying and entering we found there were not as many apples to choose from as they stated. In fact there were only two; Red and Golden Delicious. I take that back. There were technically three. The third was called Winesap, but they only had maybe 6 trees of them and they were completely picked clean. I was really disappointed that we went all the way out to an Orchard just to pick the two most common apples out there that we could have gotten at a grocery store for half the price.
The sad thing was they had over half the place roped off and access to other kinds of trees restricted for some reason. And those restricted trees were bursting at the seams with apples so it wasn’t like there was a shortage or anything. Truly disappointing. Don’t false advertise or misinform your customers just to drive in business. Not cool!
What also made me mad was that the grass in the Orchard looked like it hadn’t been cut all summer. Even with it trampled over by walking customers it still came halfway up my leg and I stand just over six feet tall. And because the grass was so long the mosquitoes were on the frenzy. These things were massive! I mistook one for a bee when it landed on my cousins back for a second. I came home with bites all over the place.
Like any other Apple Picking trip we capped the day off with some Cider and Donuts. While the Cider was good, it was extremely over priced at $ 5 for a ½ Gallon and $ 7 for a Gallon. Was this stuff hand pressed by God or something to cost this much? That’s a bit of a price gouge if you as me. As for the Donuts they were not good at all. We got the Cinnamon and Sugar ones and what we got were basically Powdered Donuts that had some Cinnamon sprinkled on them. Not what we were expecting at all. Also they were like mush. I am all for soft Donuts, but when I can’t even pick one up because it breaks apart with a single touch, that’s pretty bad.
Needless to say I think my family and I will be sticking to the Orchards out East from now on. Sorry Charlie!

Apple Charlie’s: It’s not great, but it’s better than Wiard’s.
I debated 2 or 3 stars on this, but figured given the competition (Wiard’s, ahem), I’d bump this up.
So, you can go into Apple Charlie’s for free. That gives you access to some animal viewing (ostrich, goat, horse, cow, rooster) and a store (tasty donuts for $ 1 each). In the store you can see donuts and cider being made. You can pay extra for a pony ride or haunted house. You can also pay extra to pick apples. You can also just sit by the manmade lake and bask in the blue-​tinted water, listening to the ambiance and sometimes-​there live music.
In terms of picking your own apples, for $ 15, you’re given a slighty-​large mostly-​sturdy plastic bag… and you can fill that bag to your heart’s content in the open sections of the orchards. The bag does fit a lot of apples, and it’s fun to pick them off the trees.
The downside, though, is that you are given no tool with which to grab apples, so it’s whatever you can reach. This is difficult for the shorties among us, and also when you go on a crowded weekend, some of the trees have been picked clean. Also, the selection isn’t too impressive. We were told 4 apple varities were being picked, but of those, 2 varieties’ trees had been picked clean (there were maybe only 4 trees of each, anyway)… and the 4^th kind – red delicious, I think – didn’t taste good. So we only picked one kind of apple. That apple – yellow delicious – was good, and there were dozens of these trees.
My other complaint is that Apple Charlie’s pulled a bait-​and-​switch on us. When we called them to get information, and asked «Is there apple picking? How much do the apples cost?» We were told, «Yes. The apples are $ 9 a peck.» Or a bushel. Who knows? It was $ 9 whatever it was. I called, my boyfriend also called and got the same answer. So we went, thinking it was $ 9. When we got there, we were told it’s $ 15. What was the $ 9 apple bag we were told about on the phone? Oh, that’s to buy the pre-​picked apples in the store. So, of course, we shelled out the extra $ 6 to have the experience. And I know it’s not a bank-​breaking amount, but still, it felt wrong and unfair of Apple Charlie’s to do that.

Apple Charlie’s! No one has reviewed this place yet?! Oh man!
Apple Charlie’s is an apple orchard that offers so many things besides apples. There’s a main ‘barn’ where customers stand in lines to get the most delicious fresh mini donuts and warm cider. All around the barn, customers can also pick up fresh cakes, pies, breads and gallons of cold cider. The lines are usually sloppy and long so be sure to bring your patience. They charge for the smallest little cups, too, so it’d be smart to bring your own normal size cup.
Once you buy your donuts and cider, you can go to the room next door and buy bagged apples and other trinkets in the gift area. If you want to enjoy your cider and donuts immediately, you can leave the store and go to the outdoor eating area… there’s plenty of picnic tables to sit at and sometimes there’s live entertainment as well.
If you’re on the search for the perfect pumpkin, Apple Charlie’s offers pick your own pumpkins. I remember them cost .35 each pound. It’s always fun to pick a pumpkin out and try to guess how much it weighs.
During the Halloween season they also open the «Barn of Horror» although I can’t comment on it since I’ve never gone through it. Kids seem to like it, though.
If you like animals, you can visit and feed like rabbits, llamas, chickens, goats, and geese. You could also take a hayride through the orchards.
All-​in-​all, Apple Charlie’s is a great place to go for an afternoon of wholesome entertainment. To truly kick off the Fall season, you’ve got to visit.