15 Top Hayrides in Michigan (Wagon Rides, Too)

Last updated: October 2026

The best Michigan hayrides are at family farms that have been running the same wagon down the same orchard road for decades, and most of them pack it in the weekend after Halloween. Here are 14 hayrides and wagon rides worth the drive, region by region, with what’s included, what it costs where the farm posts a price, and which ones are haunted.

Michigan Hayrides and Wagon Rides

Michigan hayrides and wagon rides go together with fall like cider mills and pumpkin farms. What’s not to love about ending a perfect fall day under a blanket on a hay wagon? Do it in daylight and you get the fall color from the countryside; do it after dark and you get a light show or a haunted trail, depending on the farm.

Two things to know before you load the car. Hayride season in Michigan runs from mid-September through the last weekend of October, with a handful of farms open into early November, so a November trip needs a phone call first. And “hayride” means different things: at most of these it’s a tractor-pulled wagon to the pumpkin patch, included with admission, while a few run horse-drawn wagons or sell the ride separately.

Here’s how I’d pick. If you have little kids and one afternoon, you want a farm where the wagon is included with admission and the pumpkin patch is the destination: Fleming Farm, Fruit Ridge, Kackleberry, Uncle John’s. If you want the ride itself to be the point, go horse-drawn at Fruit Ridge or Four Green Fields, where the pace is slow enough to actually look at the trees.

Teenagers and the brave get the two haunted options in the southern half of the state. And if you’ve got a mix of ages, New Salem’s light ride is the one evening wagon that nobody has to be talked into.

Hayrides and Wagon Rides in Northern Michigan

Fleming Farm, Gaylord

4264 Martindale Rd., Gaylord, MI 49735 (Otsego County)

Perfect for finding the best pumpkin possible, Fleming Farm runs a 30-to-40-minute hayride through the rolling hills and woods of the farm with photo stops along the way, ending at the pumpkin patch. It’s a working family farm that opens to the public for a few October weekends, with a corn maze, a hay maze, and animals to feed, and the farm says to plan on about an hour.

In 2025, regular admission was $7 and the farm bundle $10 (a pumpkin, a barrel train ride, the hayride, petting zoo, a cookie and a drink), kids under 3 free, cash preferred. Weekend hayrides ran at 11, 1, and 3 with other times by appointment, and the season closed the last weekend of October. The Gaylord tourism bureau’s farm-fun roundup posts the current dates.

Uncle Frank’s Apple Town, Brutus

4391 N. US-31, Brutus, MI 49716 (Emmet County)

Between Petoskey and Mackinaw City on US-31, Uncle Frank’s is a country cider mill first, with an 1890s barn where they press cider and fry apple donuts while you watch. The weekend hayride loops you through the fall color on the property, and there’s a corn maze and a pumpkin patch to finish the afternoon. Kids will love this one; it’s small, uncrowded, and the donuts are the reward. The farm doesn’t post prices online, so call ahead for the current hayride cost and weekend hours.

Rennie Orchards, Williamsburg

11221 Munro Rd., Williamsburg, MI 49690 (Grand Traverse County)

The Rennie family has farmed this hilltop east of Traverse City since 1938, and the fall hay wagon rides run through the orchard with a view out over the county. With 19 varieties of u-pick apples, including Honeycrisp, the move is to ride first and pick a half-bushel after. There’s a hay-bale maze, a log cabin, and a teepee for the kids, and u-pick pumpkins when the apples wind down. Hayrides run on fall weekends from the third week of September through October, with private group rides by booking, and the orchard is open 11 to 4. Call 231-264-8387 to confirm the day’s schedule.

Knaebe’s Mmmunchy Krunchy Apple Farm, Rogers City

2621 S. Karsten Rd., Rogers City, MI 49779 (Presque Isle County)

Doc and Dusty Knaebe planted their first trees here in 1985, and the farm just north of Alpena has grown into the one fall stop on the Lake Huron side that people drive across the state for. USA Today readers voted it the fifth-best apple orchard in the country. The hayride winds through a fall forest and 13 acres of orchard with more than 50 apple varieties, past the sunflower field and the pumpkin patch, and the classic Farmall tractor is part of the charm.

What makes it a full day is everything else: a bakery with fresh donuts (the bacon-apple-maple is the one people talk about), wood-fired pizza, Twisted Roots hard cider in the tasting room, pony rides, a barrel train, a petting zoo, and an apple slingshot. Knaebe’s is open Thursday through Sunday, 9 to 5, and in past years has stayed open into mid-November, the longest season on this list. Check the farm’s listing with Taste the Local Difference for the current phone number and hours.

Hayrides and Wagon Rides in West Michigan

Fruit Ridge Hayrides, Kent City

11966 Fruit Ridge Ave. NW, Kent City, MI 49330 (Kent County)

This is the horse-drawn one. A team of Belgian draft horses pulls the wagon through the orchards of the Fruit Ridge, the apple-growing country north of Grand Rapids, on a 130-year-old family farm, and the wagons are wheelchair-accessible, which is rare. Rides leave regularly on weekends, so there’s always one about to go.

The rest of the farm is built around the ride: a corn maze with a GPS game, 15 varieties of u-pick apples, u-pick pumpkins and squash, pony rides, farm animals, homemade donuts, and award-winning cider. Open September and October, Fridays 5 to 9, Saturdays from 10, and Sundays 10 to 5, with other times by reservation. The farm doesn’t publish a current ride price; Fruit Ridge Market’s page for the hayrides has the phone number.

Abandoned Acres Farm, Sparta

7737 Fruit Ridge Ave. NW, Sparta, MI 49345 (Kent County)

A few miles down the same road, Abandoned Acres is the scary take on fall: a haunted attraction on a century-old farm with corn mazes and walkthrough haunts spread across 40 acres of woods, creeks, and orchard. The lineup changes year to year (the Bloody Butcher Corn Maze, Big Top Terror Vision, and the Old Eli Experience were recent headliners), and general admission was $35 in 2024, with fast-pass and VIP tiers above that. It runs Friday through Sunday nights from late September through Halloween weekend, and there’s a daytime Kids Day Spooktacular in late October with trick-or-treating through the maze for a few dollars a child.

Want MORE haunted thrills? Check out my guide to the most haunted places in Michigan.

A-mazing Acres, Edwardsburg

18430 US-12 E., Edwardsburg, MI 49112 (Cass County)

Just over the Indiana line in the far southwest corner of the state, A-mazing Acres is 90-plus acres with close to 100 activities, and the hayride is one of them: a loop through the corn and wooded trails on a working farm. Two mazes make up 15 acres of corn with a new design every year, and there’s a climbing wall, a pumpkin patch, farm animals, and caramel apples at the end.

Admission runs about $16 on weekdays and $22 on weekends per Visit Southwest Michigan, and the farm is open Wednesday through Friday 4 to 8 and weekends 10 to 8 from mid-September through late October. It’s the right pick for a group with a wide range of ages, because nobody runs out of things to do. The Southwest Michigan corn maze roundup keeps the admission current.

New Salem Corn Maze, Dorr

4516 24th St., Dorr, MI 49323 (Allegan County)

New Salem is best known as West Michigan’s big haunted attraction, with the Witches Woods and a haunted corn maze that aren’t for kids. The Halloween Light Spooktacular is the exception: a 20-minute tractor-pulled wagon ride through more than 20,000 lights synchronized to Halloween songs, built for all ages, with candy at the end. It runs Friday and Saturday evenings in October after dark.

Pricing changes yearly; most recently the light ride was sold as a $10 add-on to the haunted combos, with the daytime family maze around $8 and the haunted attractions $25 each. By day there’s a petting zoo, pumpkin patch, tractor rides, cider and donuts. Current prices and dates are on the New Salem Corn Maze site.

Four Green Fields Farm, Rodney

15693 Wilson Rd., Rodney, MI 49342 (Mecosta County)

East of Big Rapids, Four Green Fields is the other horse-drawn ride on this list and the best bargain. Owner Kevin Courtney drives the team himself, with facts about the area and a few jokes thrown in, on a loop through fields, woods, and wetland. The farm has held its prices since it opened in 2007: $3 admission, kids under 5 free, and $2 for the wagon ride. There’s a corn maze with a chip-hunt game that earns the kids a free lemonade, and a pumpkin slingshot.

Hours are short, Saturdays noon to 5:30 and Sundays 2 to 5 from late September through October, and the farm also hosts private group rides by appointment, which several visitors say is the way to do it. Call 231-580-1463 to book.

Southeast Michigan Hayrides and Wagon Rides

Kackleberry Farm, Monroe

6421 N. Stony Creek Rd., Monroe, MI 48162 (Monroe County)

Kackleberry is a seasonal fall farm that opens only for the season, about 40 miles south of Ann Arbor, with a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, and a long list of attractions aimed at ages 2 to 92. The hayride runs through the countryside at the edge of the farm, and the giant jumping pillows are the thing the kids will remember. Evening bonfires with hot cocoa and s’mores close out the day on weekends.

Admission varies by day, with tickets online or at the gate, and the farm runs a multi-day fall festival in early October. Current prices are on the Kackleberry Farm site.

Wiard’s Orchards and Night Terrors, Ypsilanti

5565 Merritt Rd., Ypsilanti, MI 48197 (Washtenaw County)

Wiard’s is the oldest continuously operating orchard in Michigan, just south of Ann Arbor, and it runs two hayrides. By day, the Country Fair has tractor-drawn hayrides along with u-pick pumpkins, a corn maze, mini golf, a petting farm, and giant slides. After dark on fall weekends it becomes Night Terrors, a haunted theme park where the Hayride of the Lost is the headline attraction, a wagon ride into the mystery of the vanishing groundskeeper that ends at a bonfire with cider and donuts.

Night Terrors runs Friday through Sunday nights in October plus a few September dates, roughly 7:15 to 11:30, with kids 14 and under accompanied by an adult. Tickets are advance-only, and recent seasons priced the packages from the mid-$30s to the $60s depending on how many haunts you add. Dates and tickets are at Wiard’s.

Mid-Michigan Hayrides and Wagon Rides

The Howling Pumpkin, St. Helen

7201 E. West Branch Rd., St. Helen, MI 48656 (Roscommon County)

A small-town farm in the middle of the northern Lower Peninsula with a sunflower field, a pumpkin patch, hay bale climbs, and bounce houses around the hayride. Head out to St. Helen on a crisp day and it feels like the fall of 30 years ago. The farm keeps a light web presence, so check its social pages for the season’s dates before driving up.

Uncle John’s Cider Mill, St. Johns

8614 N. US-127, St. Johns, MI 48879 (Clinton County)

John and Carolyn Beck turned a struggling fruit farm into a cider mill in 1972, and more than 50 years later it’s the mid-Michigan fall destination, seven miles north of St. Johns right off US-127. The tractor-pulled wagon ride loops through the orchards, the corn fields, and the pumpkin patch, and it’s the ride to pair with a cider tasting, since Uncle John’s makes hard cider, wine, and spirits on the property. There’s a corn maze, u-cut sunflowers in late summer, a bakery, and a cider-pressing barn you can watch.

Leashed dogs are welcome. The wagon ride has historically been free with the corn maze a few dollars extra; confirm the current setup at Uncle John’s Cider Mill.

Peacock Road Family Farm, Laingsburg

11854 Peacock Rd., Laingsburg, MI 48848 (Shiawassee County)

Northeast of Lansing, Peacock Road started as a private farm and grew into a small-town fall treasure. The wagon ride takes you out to the pumpkin field to pick your own, and the race to find the perfect one before the wagon heads back is the best part. Back at the farm there’s a full set of fall attractions, and the farm runs special weekday and weekend events through the season. Leashed dogs are welcome, kept close around the farm animals.

Shawhaven Farm, Mason (closed)

If you’re looking for Shawhaven Farm’s wagon ride, it’s gone. Doug and Tami Shaw ran the Mason farm and its haunted house for 20 years and retired after the 2024 season, and the 100-acre property went to auction. Uncle John’s, 40 minutes north, is the closest replacement for the daytime wagon ride.

Pro tip: Nearly every farm on this list closes the weekend after Halloween, and the small ones post their last day on Facebook rather than a website. If you’re going in November, call first, and bring cash to the northern farms.

Michigan Hayride FAQs

When do Michigan hayrides start and end?

Most farms open the third weekend of September and close the weekend after Halloween. Knaebe’s near Rogers City has stayed open into mid-November, and the haunted attractions at Wiard’s and Abandoned Acres run through Halloween weekend only.

Which Michigan hayrides are horse-drawn?

Fruit Ridge Hayrides in Kent City and Four Green Fields Farm near Big Rapids. Fruit Ridge’s wagons are wheelchair-accessible. The rest of the farms here use tractors.