Allen's Orchard

Our take

What the record actually confirms

Allen’s Orchard sits at 5801 N. 10th Street in Marion, Linn County, in the Cedar Rapids area, and it distinguishes itself in this research batch with a specific, useful variety list: Zestar!, Redfree, William’s Pride, and Dandee Red. All four are early-ripening apples, less commonly named by other Iowa orchards researched for this batch, many of which either don’t list varieties at all or focus on mid-to-late-season staples like Honeycrisp or Fuji. Hours are confirmed as 10am-5pm daily. Confirmed activities include a farm market, orchard walks, and school and group field trips, and cider donuts are confirmed available.

The record notes a real limitation, though: the orchard’s own site (allensorchard.com) was reachable only as a search snippet during this research pass, meaning the phone number and precise street-level details didn’t render directly. A Google Business snapshot did show “Open Labor Day” hours, which suggests the listing is being actively maintained for the current season, even though no explicit 2026-dated text was captured in that snapshot.

Four early varieties, all worth knowing by name

Zestar!, Redfree, William’s Pride, and Dandee Red are genuinely useful names to have on record, since early apples like these typically ripen from mid-to-late August into early September — well ahead of mid-season staples like McIntosh or Honeycrisp and far ahead of late apples like Fuji or Pink Lady. For anyone wanting to start their apple season early, before most other orchards in this batch have much ready, Allen’s named variety list makes it one of the more specific early-season options identified in this research. That said, the record doesn’t say whether these four are the full extent of what’s grown here or simply the varieties highlighted on the listing — there could be more that just weren’t captured in the snippet reached.

A confirmed opening date, without the phone number to match

The Labor Day opening detail from the Google Business snapshot is a real, useful signal — it suggests the farm market and orchard were actively gearing up for the current fall season around the September 7 holiday. But this record’s most notable gap is the absence of a confirmed phone number, which is unusual compared to nearly every other orchard in this batch. That makes it harder than most to simply call and confirm details before visiting; a search for the current Allen’s Orchard listing or a visit to allensorchard.com directly would be the practical workaround.

What’s still missing

No u-pick pricing is given anywhere in the sources checked. No cider mill is confirmed (only cider donuts). And while the early-season variety names are a genuine strength of this record, there’s no season-end date, so it’s unclear how far into fall Allen’s stays open once those early varieties have been picked over.

Bottom line

Allen’s Orchard’s specific, early-ripening variety list — Zestar!, Redfree, William’s Pride, Dandee Red — makes it a strong candidate for an early-September trip near Cedar Rapids, and the Labor Day opening signal suggests an actively maintained operation. The catch is a record with more sourcing gaps than most in this batch: no confirmed phone number, no pricing, and no season-end date, so a direct visit to allensorchard.com to re-confirm current details is worth doing before the drive.