Whistling Well Farm, located in the gorgeous St. Croix River Valley is a great family owned orchard to add to your fall bucket list. 

This great orchard has been owned by the same family for 50 years. When you visit, you can tell how hands on they all are in the process of keeping the business going. It's such a great non-commercialized spot to visit. As soon as you arrive, you can grab a wagon and bag from the store area and head out to start collecting apples. We usually check the website to see when our favorite type of apples will be ready. Honeycrisp and SweeTango are our two favorites from here. After picking apples, you can head back to the store area and venture towards the animals. They have goats and chickens here. 

If you prefer a quieter visit, I suggest a weekday visit so you can get in and out quickly without too much fuss. Weekends are livelier with fun kids' musicians playing on the stage, one or two food trucks to grab a bite to eat from and many more visitors. There are picnic tables scattered near the store so you can enjoy your food from the food truck or a sweet treat you buy at the store. There are no 'real' restrooms here but plenty of porta potties for use. In the middle of the orchard is a big wishing well, they collect money for charity throughout the whole season and then donate it and match the donation. It's such a neat idea. 

This is such a great spot to visit to support a locally owned small business. I highly recommend checking them out. After grabbing some apples from here on a beautiful fall day, head into Downtown Afton and grab an ice cream cone from Selma's Ice Cream Parlour.