Crane Orchards

Lots of fun and great apples too. At .90 cents a pound it’s hard to resist if you like apples. They have a huge list of what whats ready to pick with a check mark on the big sign you walk the orchard its fun they have wagons if you want or just grab a bag and fill it up with how much of what you want then weigh in and pay up. The people who hand out the bags are very friendly and tell you how it all works. Really cool thing to do and like I said great apples.

You want to U-​pick — go to Rob Crane’s address just down from restaurant (same side). Sincerity, family oriented & friendly ! ! !
If you’re driving west from downtown Fennville — skip the first Cranes you come to (on the right) — Gary’s is — ONE ANGRY ORCHARD! They would rather yell at you than than tell you what should and should not be picked

Wrote this months ago but forgot to post…
Can’t give a true review as it is closed until July 12^th, but I’m sure had it been open I would give it 5 stars as the fruit trees and orchard look awesome. I was so disappointed when we arrived to a closed gate and sign, especially since we had called the restaurant and been told the orchard was open. After stopping into the restaurant and speaking with a different worker we found out the orchard and restaurant/​bakery have different ownership with no affiliation. Very surprised to hear that. Oh well, will def try to come back another time.

A nice property but workers were VERY RUDE. Would never go back. Nothing was roped off as «not ready to pick» and we walked over by some trees and got yelled at for standing there. Paid for the couple apples we had and left. Go to Overhiser orchards instead. Much, much nicer people and cheaper too.

My husband and I made a quick stop here traveling through Michigan. We were instantly informed as to which types of apples were available thanks to their large helpful signage at the entrance. Their grounds are pretty amazing! A huge variety of apples are grown here however, there were only a few varieties available at this time. We were a little hesitant because of this but the friendly staff welcomed us to do an apple tasting and after that we were sold. Those apples were pretty tasty! The staff clearly pointed out the logistics for picking, explained to us what we needed to look for in picking the juiciest apple, and sent us on our way. We were given bags at $.35/​each but you could use your own. Off we went and at $.85/​per pound we purchased a TON of apples! We gave a bunch to family and co-​workers and everyone raved about how sweet and delicious the apples were. We purchased both the Golden Supreme and Blondie varieties and would highly recommend both options.
On a side note, there is a restaurant and bakery on the grounds. We were too full from breakfast but would have loved to have stopped here for lunch, cider, pie, or apple cider donuts. We made a quick stop in just to check it out. There is a bakery with items to-​go on one side full of pies, baked goods, and gallons of cider. The other half of the building included the restaurant. Here is a link to the venue for more details
. This along with a visit to the orchard would be a great stop traveling through town or a good way to spend a few hours with family. Can’t wait to come back!

The owner was so rude! She was bossy right off the bat. She proceeded to say we were ignorant when we turned the car around when she told us to. Then she told us, «what did you not understand about this», as she threw her arms up in the air. We had a car full of kids when she spat out, «get off my farm or I will call 911». I will never return.

Brought our 20 mth old out and picked apples as a family. What a fabulous couple of hours. Bring your own bags to avoid paying for theirs. Check ahead of time to see which apples are pickable (we were looking for honeycrisps and were a couple weeks early). And, take apple samples from the employees at the booth to figure out which ones you love. The apples were priced at 85¢/lb which seemed a good deal compared to the 2 $/​lb in the grocery store — plus you have the quality control over the product you are choosing yourself ;) What a great place to spend some family time!

I love Crane’s U Pick and going supports a local business. I will admit to being biased as I am (at one time) a local.
The first review felt they were disorganized which has not been my experience here at all. Even when busy, I found the opposite to be true. I like that they provide samples so that you can try the apples to see what variety you like. Then staff directs you to the area of the orchard to pick. Areas are labeled as well.
In the fall they also have two corn mazes. It is an additional cost, but is not expensive. And again, corn maze!

This is Pure Michigan at its finest. During apple pickin’ season, we go down and load up with some enormous pile of apples. The super friendly staff tells you what’s in season and lets you sample the different varieties so you can set your sights on the ones you really want.

Oh man, why the low rating?!
We stopped by Crane’s U Pick Orchard to pick some apples.
First off, there’s a few things you should know, if you’re an apple newb like me:
Not all apples are in season at the same time. The Honeycrisps won’t be able to be picked at the same time as the Fujis. So, if you’re after a certain type of apple, be sure to come when they are good for harvest.
They let you sample the types of apples that are available for picking, BEFORE you pick them. Protip: Red Delicious are the suck.
Cash/​Check only.
If you use their bags, it costs extra.
When we went, we picked Janagold, Matsu and Ida Red apples. Janagold are great for eating raw AND for making applesauce (which I plan to do in a week or two), Matsu are like golden delicious (great for eating) and the Ida Red are great for pies.
We got around 15lbs of apples for ourselves and lugged our haul to our car. This was one of the best parts of our trip and we had a great time. I never knew picking our own fruit could be so much fun!

We visited yesterday after a trip to the Allegan Antique market. It was a beautiful day. staff was friendly and accommodating. we got a really fun ride in a golf cart to the Red Haven peach section (I thought i was gonna bounce out. better than an amusement park!) Why the whining about 30 cents for a bag? Bring your own bag to a u-​pick. those bags are expensive and I’ll gladly pay 30 cents for a bag when I got gorgeous peaches for 65 cents a pound. The gorgeous 25 cents each flowers were a bargain too!

We took a mid-​late August trip to pick up about 10 pounds of one variety of peach and about 10 pounds of a couple of varieties of apples (Dandy Red and Ginger Gold). We can’t wait to return.
We were greeted warmly at our arrival on a Sunday morning. We had our own bags. We were offered samples of the 2 types of peaches and 2 types of apples. We were given directions on exactly where to find the fruit. They supplied a lovely wagon for us to tote our fruit and toddler in. It seems perfectly fair to charge for bags when the peaches and apples we bought were only 70-​cents a pound. All of our questions were answered. We asked about uses for the fruit and how to best store it.
We can’t wait to go again. It’s a bit of a drive for us (about an hour), but well worth it. We didn’t have very good service at the pie shop at the orchard, but that’s a separate Unilocal posting.

Overall I’m pretty ambivalent about my experience at Crane’s. The people running the U Pick seemed a bit disorganized and didn’t really give us a good idea of where the different varieties of apples were. Instead we had to wander around the orchards ourselves trying to locate the varieties we were interested. My boyfriend and I went apple picking a bit late in the season so there were not tons of apples left to pick. I think this had to do with the warm weather which encouraged people to go out apple picking. The biggest rip of was that they charged you 30 cents for a plastic bag to put your apples in. The staff working there seemed uninterested and borderline rude. Next year when I go apple picking I will definitely be going to another orchard.