My biggest gripe was that this is a family centered destination and there is nowhere for nursing mothers to feed their babies? A worker suggested I feed my baby in a port a potty. I had to go all the way back to the car to feed her. :( A lot of the food stops are closed at the end if the season. The funnel cake place wasn't taking orders because they set the oil too low or something and couldn't give a clear time they would be ready. However! There were some cute photo stops and my kid had a blast in the big corn pool I have never seen anything like it. They also have the BEST applesauce I have ever had. read more

In my opinion the pricing is out of whack. You must buy admission to the barnyard in order to go pick apples on their twenty acre orchard. Basically thirty bucks for two adults before you buy apples for $65/bushel. If you want a bag of apples just get them from the store. read more

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What a day! Was so fun and I recommend anyone who wants a fun date or has kids. It's in a great location! Very pretty in the fall and worth the trip and every penny. Things are a bit pricey but if I don't have to haul pumkins - hell yeah I'll take it pumpkin valet read more

Loved visiting this place with my family. My son loved all of it which came as a surprise because he's only one year old but the hay ride was his favorite part on top of feeding the cute farm animals. There is so many activities to do here with your kids or even as an adult a lot if it is enjoyable. We picked some pumpkins plus took home some of their delicious fudge and caramel apples home. Can't forget to mention the beautiful sunrise we saw here was so serene. Will definitely be coming back to look at the Christmas trees. Also will be recommending this place to all my friends and family. read more

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Just cannot say enough good things about the Center Grove Orchard. If you go to their website at centergroveorchard.com you'll see that there is MUCH more than a store on site. All sorts of activities for families, including a corn maze, Jumping Pillows, Pedal Carts, Super Slides, Goat Walk, and unlimited CGO Express Train rides. (Sorry ... I copied that from their website.) But, now I wanna talk about what's offered in the store. APPLES. And more apples. Pies, jams, salsa (best I've had in the area), dressings, dips, they have it all. The website claims 11 venues around the farm to enjoy. I haven't found all of them. But, inside the store they have the best dang coffee around, and awesome pies (with ice cream of course if you're interested.) Oh yeah, take home a couple frozen chicken pot pies. THE BEST Yep, you knew this was coming. If you follow me, you know I check out the restroom at places we visit, since I feel the condition of these facilities are as important as the food. On this busy afternoon, after what I'm sure were many men and young men in and out of the men's room, I can report the restroom was tidy with just a few areas of water dripped on the floor. Good job Center Grove! So, make the journey, you'll be glad you did. read more

Center Grove Orchard - Country Store at Center Grove Orchard - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Cambridge, Iowa

This is fun for the whole family, couples, and singles. There is enough to do for a whole day! I went on a blustery, cool day and the place was empty. I went a few days later on a nice sunny day and it was packed! Either option provides endless play options. I highly recommend you add this into your fall family traditions! read more

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Past years I would've rated this a 5. Things seem to have gone down a bit since our last visit. Food on site has always been a little expensive for what you get but it's always been good and fresh such as hand cut fries made from potatoes on site, this year the fries were clearly crinkle cut out of the freezer fries and not even crispy. Just to top it off the burger stand closed at 5 pm while people were still in line. No warning, no finishing out the line when there was a few people left. The chicken strip and ice cream shacks remained open the rest of the time we were there. Prices have gone up on many things but that's everywhere and not unusual. The farm store at the entrance is still pricy but the products are absolutely worth it. I would say it's still worth it, just expect the experience to be a bit expensive and recommend eating before you go. read more

Center Grove Orchard - Chicken strip and fries from the strip shack. - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Cambridge, Iowa

Great place to go on a date. Lots of comments about the pricing so I'll share what we paid for and did. 2 adult tickets for about $30. Hay ride, train ride, corn maze, look at farm animals, fun pictures, blow bubbles, slides, corn pool, apple/product sampling were all free. Paid about $5 for 2 of the best apple cidar donuts and apple cidar. They are also able to accommodate for people who use wheelchairs! read more

This is a very popular place to go during the fall for all things pumpkin, apples, animals and family friendly activities. I have also been here in late spring to pick strawberries, however, that was a very expensive experience that I would not recommend. read more

What a great orchard/pumpkin patch! They have a lot of great options for family's or people of every age range. Definitely one of the better ones I've been to. read more

Stopped in here from out of town on the Saturday before Halloween, not the best idea because it was super packed. They do have ample hay rack rides to get around so that was nice. We also saved a couple bucks by ordering tickets online but if you wait and pay there you can save more with a military discount. We did get a ticket with admission to launch apples that was pretty darn fun. They have a lot to do and eat here but being so crowded we felt we missed out though we still got around fairly easily. If you have kids this is a fun place and you should go! No gluten free snacks for my wife so don't plan on eating if you need that. Of course you can enjoy an apple! read more

Such a small world, found out about this AHMAZZING place from my husbands boss. Come to find out my childhood best friend is personal friends with this owner! Super cool! The first time we ventured out to Cambridge, Iowa to see what the hype was about this Pumpkin farm, my older sister was driving 20 hours from Northern VA, with my 81 year old father for a fall visit. After two days of driving, (yeah my sister is a saint), , checking into the Hilton and meeting us for dinner at Johnny's Italian steakhouse, the very next morning up bright and early, we all headed to Cambridge, @ _CenterGrove Orchard! When we arrived we were actually blown away by what we saw. Sure, we've been going to pumpkin farms since my oldest daughter (now 20), and have enjoyed those in the past. But nothing could prepare us for the overwhelming presence of a magnificent orchard, filled with the scrumptious smell of apple bread baking, apple cider donuts (which are to die for) A dozen cost $10.99. Pictures will be added to showcase the extraordinary efforts by this family owned orchard to bring utter joy and IOWA goodness to everyone stepping into their property. Everyone is greeted and welcomed. No exceptions. Visually the props and activities all geared towards the kiddos was outstanding. My sister and I ventured into what is called a "corn pool", and we immediately began laughing uncontrollably. As we watched our girls bury each other with part of the two tons of corn kernels, we ourselves delved into a sense of wonderment. Two grown women, sisters who were tired from the week behind, had a moment that will forever be a wonderful memory all due to CenterGrove Orchard. Our girls had the time of their lives. Running to the amazing assortment of activities, corn pool, lasso throwing, apple slingshots, an enormous jumping pillow - two sizes. One for over 52 pounds and a smaller one for the littles. An awesome slide, a hay rack ride to another area of the Orchard with tractor pulling ropes to corn mazes to get lost in. With the cool crisp Autumn surrounding you, you could get a bit chilled. No worries though, hot apple cider is only a few feet away. Campfires to stand by and warm up is another fantastic idea by this orchard. We will definitely be back next year and would recommend buying season passes. So worth it. One word of caution, and nothing at all to do with the establishment itself. The location is very rural for obvious reasons, so a lot of deer around this area, so please be extra cautious as we had two run out in front of us on the way home. I typically drive 5-10 under the speed limit on rural roads which actually saved us from a direct hit. Just be careful! CenterGrove Orchard is an outstanding establishment. It's always a great time when your kiddos are having such a fabulous time, but I can honestly say we as a family all collectively enjoyed our visit & so pleased we took our out of town family to CenterGrove Orchard!! read more

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Holy moly. Be prepared to pay big bucks for everything! I went to order online tickets advertised as 3 dollars cheaper. When you go to pay for it, there is a service charge which charges you an extra dollar on each ticket. No warning whatsoever that it's really only $2 dollars off. Ice cream sundays, 13.95? A burger 17.95? Wonder if they would sell more if they actually catered to what most families can afford. The things for the kids to do are fun....riding little tractors, a train to ride, zip line, etc. During the week some things are closed down, like the apple launch. Bring your own lunch, even a small apple slush is $5.00. There is a pumpkin patch and apple orchard....apples are expensive too. read more

This place was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be. The orchard, pumpkin patch and sunflower fields were out of a story book and equally magical was how the hay ride transported you around to all the different areas. The hot apple cider mixed with bottle feeding baby goats was the exact autumn vibe I was going for. Thank you for a wonderful time!!! Was well worth the drive from the quad cities!! TIP: If you time it right the sun sets right on the pumpkin patch (last stop on the hay ride). read more

Center Grove Orchard - Pumpkin patch at sunset with all our loot - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Cambridge, Iowa

I don't even have words to describe how I feel truly how disgusted and appalled at what I saw this baby animal mauling. Newborn pigs laying on the concrete baby goats by 11 o'clock having been fed by hundreds of children small amounts of God knows what on the concrete no place to escape a pen you could sit down and hold them they must've been held by at least 100 and it wasn't even 11 bleating crying for help to be let go With hundreds and hundreds of people waiting in lines to touch them more. A room with chicks, ducks, kittens, in small wire boxes, tiny puppies that had to be no older than eight weeks being passed around from child to child. I've never seen such an atrocity. I have raised goats calves dogs for over 25 years have had 30 chickens and ducks every year for the last six I have never been so sad and disgusted. the way they were caged housed and handled was mortifying. I'm sorry I couldn't take more pictures that I didn't. I was just too sick to my stomach. read more

Center Grove Orchard - Tiny baby puppies being passed around for hours to the hoards and hundreds of children wasn't even 11 - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Cambridge, Iowa

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How about a fun day at Center Grove Orchard bring the whole family, grandma and grandpa all the way down to the little ones ? There's some thing for everybody and the food is great! There is so much to do you can spend all day! read more

Always busy. Fun with littles, I'm not sure with old kiddos since I have not been with older kids.

If you have kids this is a great place to take them! So much more than your average orchard/pumpkin patch. They have animals, peddle tractors, slides, and our favorite THE CORN POOL!!! You can easily spend the entire day. We went on a Friday, and even with the cold and windy weather there were lots of people. Only drawback would be lack of food options/lines, so grab a lunch before and maybe just grab a snack or treat while you're there. read more

The adult entrance fee seems high when a lot of the activities are for children (as is expected for an orchard) so for two childless adults this was not a cheap day since several activities have additional fees once you enter, but I do really love the orchard. I think I'll just stick to shopping in their store until I have a child that can appreciate the kids stuff. read more

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This place is fantastic! Whether you're looking for something small kid friendly, for just adults, for young adults, this is a great idea! There's so much to do, that even when it's busy you still don't just stand around waiting forever. Apple picking, pick your own pumpkin, the farmyard, corn pit, fall themed activities, etc! Add on to that the store with amazing, delicious baked goods (pies, breads, DONUTS), fresh picked apples, mixes and jams/butters to take home, and a counter for homemade fudge and caramel apples - this place has something for everyone. It's about 45 minutes from where I live, and my husband and I take regular trips every fall to go visit and get the apple crisp mix, fresh apples, and amazing apple cider donuts. You cannot go wrong with a visit here! read more

This orchard is a really well run establishment. There are areas that require payment but others do not, particularly the food areas, the pick fruit areas, the gift shop, and the hay ride. If you want to participate in the other activities like the animal areas or the games/rides areas, then you will need to pay a fee. May sure to grab a sticker from the silos so the employees are able to identify whether you are a paying or non-paying customer. These stickers give you exclusive access to certain areas. Also make sure to pick up a map so you know where you are going. This place is huge! There are a lot of things here to do for little kids. The parking lot was very full but thankfully we did not have to pay to park. There were a variety of apples and pumpkins to pick. A great place to visit for something to do with or without kids. read more

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Don't go on a weekend. Just don't. Went to CG for the first time in two years yesterday, a beautiful fall day in October with sunny 60 degree weather. Center Grove was absolutely overrun with people. There were literally thousands of people there making navigating very difficult. The shop was jam packed and it took a good 30 minutes to buy a pie. You should know what you're getting yourself into when you go to Center Grove. It's basically an amusement park farm. Yes, there are animals, and a corn pit, and a huge bounce house, and rides, and a corn maze, and a giant slide, and apples, and pumpkins, and pig races, and hay rides, and, and, and. You see what I'm getting at? It's not that down home farm feel or a real chance to appreciate the Iowa countryside. If you want to connect with the environment and have a little peace while picking apples, I'd recommend somewhere else. If you're looking for a place to take your kids to blow off steam for a few hours, this is it. read more

Really cute family place. Lots to do! Food is expensive, so eat before you come. But lots to do for little ones.

The place to take the family in Central Iowa for a fun-filled autumn day. The staff is extremely kind, friendly, and helpful. A few of the things to do: a "corn" sandbox, horsey bounces, tractor go-carts, corn maze, train ride, tractor hayride, tractor pull, apple laucher, "feedsack" slide, and the list goes on. You'll spend the whole day enjoying everything or will want to come again and again! There are many reasonably priced food stands around the grounds and lots of spots to sit and rest! On the way out, you will want to buy some freshly picked apples or maybe some treats made from their apple, pumpkin, or corn crops! Each year this orchard gets better and better to visit! read more

Center Grove Orchard - Try a train tide for a very scenic view of the orchard! - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Cambridge, Iowa

Center Grove Orchard is a great place. Lots of enjoyable activities and plenty to do. I would recommend it to any family. However, there are some things both good and bad to consider: Let's start with the good: -As I said, TONS of activities. Many of them are geared for kids, but the hayrack rides, pumpkin and apple picking, and the animals are fun for people of all ages. -The food options are great. The line will be long anywhere, but you can find almost anything to eat. -Apple cider slushies and apple cider donuts. Both are incredible and worth every penny. -Customer-service. They will shuttle you to your car, as well as shuttle your heavy pumpkin (for a very reasonable cost) if you need to. -Apple options. Depending on what time of the year you go, there are delicious options for apples you can hand pick off the tree. The bad: -Organization. Look, I know there's a ton of people on weekends in October, but a few barriers and ropes would serve them well. In the general store area, it is chaos. The long lines spill into the area where people are buying things... and into lines for food. It's chaos. -The price is rather steep. $12 on the weekend is high, when you think families bring their kids, will eat, buy pumpkins and/or apples, and potentially other take-home snacks. Between my wife and I buying admission, lunch, one medium-sized pumpkin and a small bag of apples, we easily spent over $60. They can charge whatever they want. It doesn't matter, but just know, it'll cost you a good amount to take your family. In my opinion, the good far outweighs the bad, but all in all, the Orchard is a great way to spend your day. read more

Can we have this in Vegas?! I had sooo much fun, like a little kid, seriously! lol So many things to do, pumpkin patch, kids' activities/games, trampolines, apple sling shot, slides, mini zoo, corn maze, tractor/train ride, pig race, corn pool, donuts, apple treats, and many other things. You only pay one fee at the entrance, I think we paid $12 per person, kids are less. If you want to do the sling shot or feed the animals you pay 50 cents to $1 dollar, plus the food you want to buy. This place is so worth it. read more

There are so many things to do, and this place is amazing for all ages, kids to teenagers to adults.

Open Sept- Dec. Weekends in October get crazy! Come during the week if you can. Very cute place! Lots of fun stuff for kids- animals you can feed, race tracks, giant bouncy pillow thing, huge slide and you cant beat the barn sized corn pool (Always the favorite!) Lots more activities and fun things to explore, like a corn maze and one room school house. Pumpkin patch and fresh apples. You can pick them yourself and take a hayride pulled by a tractor to get there. OR you can just get the ones already picked by the barn :) Make sure to buy the apple cider and fresh cider donuts, they are delicious! read more

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The application for employment to work here is pretty silly & mostly unnecessary. ‍ Too many "personality" questions that only offered 2 choices for answers, & most or a lot of people have more nuance or variety or balance than to be able to answer a lot of the questions. Sometimes the 2 choices were not even opposing or opposite. I do like apples, though. read more

This is our absolute favorite place in the fall in central Iowa. You can spend the whole day here, with kids of all ages! The big slide is always a favorite! It seems like they have new additions each year. Don't miss the upstairs of the barn - my kids love the interactive play market and farming. The corn maze is hard - but there is a smaller scale maze for younger kids. The combine slide was also a favorite. Before you leave, make sure to buy some apple cider donuts - they are our favorite treat from Center Grove. read more

Center Grove Orchard is, by far, the best Central Iowa fall family destination. They have it all: apples, pumpkins, kids' activities and food! For kids there are slides, a corn pool, a semi-petting zoo, a jump dome thing (not sure what to call it), a train ride, manual riding "tractors".... We brought our kids (11 years down to 16 months) and they ALL had a great time. The property is large, so it never seems crowded, even when it's busy. There are places to eat/snacks available for purchase. They have a great selection of apples/products to buy before you go. You might find a new favorite! read more

I waited 1 hour for a #1 chicken strip meal; they had the food ready, but just sat there.The apple sauce was warmer than the fries, and they were very salty. It is a fun experience, but bring your lunch. read more

Worst customer service experience of my life. Went to Center Grove orchard with a couple of friends on a Thursday around 5. Every single food stand was closed except the Hay Cafe in the main building. When we entered the cafe the staff told us that the Shuck's was open out in the farmyard. So we walked out there to find out it was closed. When we came back to the Hay Stack they told us that they were out of 2 of the items. I decided to get Mac and cheese. The employee was BEYOND rude and had absolutely no answers to any of the questions I had about the food. When I asked her she would shrug her shoulders and starts at me with a sassy look. We decided to go back out to do some activities before leaving and all of the activities were closed. I have been to Center Grove once about 2 years ago and it was great, but this was an absolutely horrible experience. read more

Not too far from Ankeny. Awesome place to bring the kids to play in the corn pool, play with animals, and ride tractors. We came on a Saturday morning and place was packed. You can pick your own pumpkin for a decent price. It was around .39 cents a pound. They also have many food stands and store with variety of apple and pumpkin items. read more

For the last 4 years our family (a party of 9-no big deal) has gone to Center Grove to celebrate my son's birthday and the start of fall. It has become a tradition. We were excited to go this year as some members were unable to last year due to COVID. We saw that they offered a campfire for either 10-2 or 3-7. I reserved a campsite for today from 10-2 ($50) and also ordered 9 roast boxes (hot dogs and s'mores) for $45 in addition to the 9 tickets I bought to get in. I received an email asking how many people we expected and the name of our group. I hit reply immediately to let them know our details. We arrived today at 10 and were told we were early (huh?) and that we were to go to campfire site 5 but that since it wasn't ready to go entertain ourselves (Ali was great. She tried so hard to figure out what was going on). We looked at all the animals and fed the baby goats (awesome! I highly recommend!). At 10:30 (30 minutes after our reservation time) we headed to campfire site 5-there was a young lady prepared to start our campfire, our roast boxes were also there but we noted our name was listed on the chalkboard-not a big deal. It took 20 minutes to get our campfire going (it was windy-fine) our family wanted to participate in some activities and the young lady said we could go and she would manage our site. As we were heading to the Apple slingshots another family seemed to be hovering around our site. We came back at 10:50 and let them know it was our site and they said it was theirs after they had rummaged around in our roast boxes and made themselves at home. The young worker was nowhere to be found. The Center Grove number wasn't working so I called the event coordinator and she said she was figuring it out and would be right down. 15 minutes later and she hadn't shown up. I called again and she said she would be down to start a fire for our group (uhm-we had already had a fire but she gave it to someone else) she came down at 11:21 with fire wood to start a new fire (our campfire time was from 10-2) and no roast boxes to feed our family. I told her that we had wasted an hour and a half and I wanted my money refunded for the $95 I had spent on the campfire. She said she would tell her boss and let me know about a refund in 2-3 days and that they had dropped the ball. I'm not waiting 2-3 days to see if you decide to refund me for services that weren't provided due to YOUR mistake. Again-unacceptable. I had my husband take over at that point and we were able to get our money refunded for that. Thrilling. I still paid $152 to get in while we wasted an hour and a half of our time waiting for them. Also the potty barns smelled so bad it was nauseating. And the smell blew all over the hayride line and the food services line. And in the past if you paid for the pumpkin valet you pulled up, gave your ticket and they loaded up your pumpkins. My son had to get out, find our pumpkins and load them himself. That was a disaster. The store was good, the sunflowers looked nice but we have decided to find another place to go next year. We won't be back. read more

This place's customer service was horrible. The workers were rude and had attitudes every place we went. Our cookies that we had bought were cold, and we simply asked for new ones; one of the workers got mad and tired to argue with us about cold cookies we payed for! Also, we did not know we had to pay for the sunflowers so the lady approached us and asked if we payed, we said no and proceeded to pay for them, no problem. But as we left and walked out with our sunflowers another worker approached us asking if we payed for them after we had already got asked and payed for them and said nothing to the white lady in front of us! It was very sad to experience this. This place needs to do better and treat ALL of their customers equally; stop targeting people of color and making us feel uncomfortable! read more

First time visit today. I am sitting in silence for as long as I can now, as my ears are still ringing. THINGS TO KNOW: 1) When you are guided into a parking area and there are parking spaces filled on the left and right and your center aisle doesn't seem to be moving anymore....it is probably because someone decided to start parking spots in the center aisle too. We sat for 10 minutes before we realized that people were leaving the cars ahead and walking into the buildings.2) Make sure to put your patience pants on before you leave the house. My honey said there were more things happening at the Orchard than at the State Fair...and he is correct. I had 2 small children run into me with food and drinks in their hands and no adult in site. The amount of yelling and screaming and conversation might be normal for large families, but it is stressful if you are not around it all the time. 3) Bring money....because in addition to the entrance fee there are so many things you will HAVE to do and buy. There are wonderful jars of salsa and pies and sauces that would make excellent hostess and holiday gifts this season too. Most of all, know that there is a ton of people watching for us adults...while the kids burn themselves out. We will all sleep well tonight. read more

Center Grove is an awesome place to go for apple picking! They completely fit the bill and can satisfy your every fall need. They have several different types of apples, a huge plot of land to explore, a corn maze, games, and a store filled with amazing pies and goodies! Everyone here is extremely friendly and the prices are reasonable. Can't wait to go back this fall! read more

Center Grove Orchard is a utopian autumn experience. We have watched it grow over the past 10 years and it gets more amazing every year. My teenagers still enjoy it. They have an incredible volume of people and it is so efficiently run it doesn't seem crowded. Beautiful landscaping, folksy artwork everywhere, and happy and helpful employees. They are constantly adding on fun new experiences, activities, and buildings. They facilities are very clean, have tons of charm and special details. Food is very reasonable. This orchard personifies everything great about Iowa. It's truly a magical place. read more

Great place to take the kids on a beautiful fall day! They loved all the activities from picking apples, to going down the huge slide, to going through the corn maze! It was a weekend, but we didn't have to wait in line very long for anything and we had so much fun!! A must do next year!! read more