A self-described 'year-round farm destination' with a bakery, restaurant, and guided orchard tours between Charlevoix and Traverse City — but the record can't confirm whether apples here are actually u-pick or tour-and-buy only.
Friske Farm Market sits at 10743 US-31 in Ellsworth, Antrim County, describing itself on its own site as “Northern Michigan’s year-round farm destination.” The record places it about 40 miles north of Traverse City and roughly 10 miles south of Charlevoix — a useful landmark for anyone road-tripping between those two towns along US-31 rather than making a dedicated trip. The phone number on file is 231-599-2604 and the website is friske.com. Hours are listed as Monday through Thursday, 9am to 5pm, and Friday-Saturday, 9am to 6pm.
Unlike a straightforward orchard, Friske’s has built out a bakery and a restaurant alongside its farm market, plus guided wagon and tractor tours of the orchard itself. That tour format is worth noting specifically, since it hints at how apples might actually be experienced here — more curated and guided than the open, walk-the-rows-yourself picking found at many other entries in this file.
The site has a section it calls “All Things Apple,” and the record confirms wagon and tractor orchard tours as activities. But nowhere in what was checked does the site explicitly state whether visitors pick their own apples from the trees or whether “All Things Apple” refers instead to apples sold at the market, apple-based bakery items, and guided tours where a farmhand or guide does the picking. This record leaves that question genuinely open rather than guessing in either direction — u_pick is marked null, not true or false.
That’s a meaningful gap for trip planning. If self-directed u-pick is the whole point of your visit, Friske’s guided-tour framing is worth asking about directly before you drive out, since a wagon tour through the orchard is a different experience from wandering the rows yourself with a basket.
Beyond the u-pick question, this record has two other real gaps: no specific apple season start or end date was found, and no apple varieties are named anywhere in the sources checked. Combined with the “year-round farm destination” framing, that suggests Friske’s may operate more as a continuously open farm market that happens to sell apples in season, rather than a single-crop orchard with a tightly defined fall harvest window. That’s a reasonable inference from the available information, not something the record states outright.
What is clear is that Friske’s offers more of a full-stop farm-market experience than a pure picking destination. A bakery and restaurant on site mean there’s a reason to visit even outside of prime apple season, and the guided wagon or tractor tours give a hands-off way to see the orchard without necessarily doing any picking yourself. For travelers passing through on US-31 between Traverse City and Charlevoix, that combination of food, shopping, and a scenic tour could make for a worthwhile stop regardless of whether u-pick turns out to be available.
Friske Farm Market reads as a well-established, multi-purpose farm destination along a well-traveled Northern Michigan corridor, with real strengths in its bakery, restaurant, and guided tours. But this record genuinely cannot tell you whether you’ll be picking your own apples or simply touring and buying them — that’s worth a direct question to 231-599-2604 before you build a trip around the expectation of hands-on picking.
Not stated in the record — no season dates were found, only general hours of Mon-Thu 9am-5pm and Fri-Sat 9am-6pm.
An hour or more if you're taking a wagon or tractor tour of the orchard on top of browsing the market and bakery.
you specifically want to pick your own apples — the record couldn't confirm whether Friske's 'All Things Apple' section refers to u-pick or market sales and guided tours only.
Not confirmed. The record notes the site has an 'All Things Apple' section and mentions wagon and tractor orchard tours, but never states whether visitors pick apples themselves or only buy at the market — left null rather than assumed.
The record describes it as a self-described 'year-round farm destination,' though the specific hours listed (Mon-Thu 9am-5pm, Fri-Sat 9am-6pm) don't specify whether they hold across all seasons.
About 40 miles north of Traverse City and 10 miles south of Charlevoix, per the record.
Yes, the record confirms both a bakery and a restaurant, plus wagon and tractor tours.
Not stated in the record — the apple_varieties field is empty.
2026 dates had not been published when we last checked. Check with the orchard before driving out.
Pricing was not published when we last checked.
No — this orchard sells pre-picked apples from its own trees rather than u-pick.
10743 US-31, Ellsworth, MI 49729, in Antrim County. It is one of 4 orchards we track in Traverse City Area.
We track 4 orchards in Traverse City Area, 3 of which let you pick your own apples. The orchard has not published a starting price, so it cannot be compared on cost — call before you budget.
What sets it apart locally: it has a hayride or wagon ride, cider donuts or a bakery, which most Traverse City Area orchards on our list do not.
One caveat worth repeating: this orchard had not published its 2026 dates when we last checked, while 0 of the 4 orchards we track in Traverse City Area had. Treat any date you see elsewhere as last year's until the orchard confirms it.
There is 1 other orchard we track in Antrim County. All Traverse City Area orchards →
friske.com
Checked September 2026.