Homestead Orchard, Woodstock

About Homestead Orchard

Homestead Orchard near Woodstock invites visitors to pick from 15 varieties of apples and pears across land farmed since 1839. Guests relax beneath one of McHenry County's oldest and largest maple trees while experiencing the orchard setting. The 1880s horse barn functions as a store stocked with hand-crafted items, glassware, and antique furniture. The orchard produces its own honey from bee hives, selling clover honey and wildflower honey alongside beeswax candles made by hand one at a time in natural light yellow or custom dyed colors. A collection of over 200 WWII books, airplane models, and Hollywood movies occupies shelf space in the barn. The orchard is grafting heirloom apple varieties including Spitzenburg, Baldwin, Wolf River, Snow Apple, Cox's Orange Pippen, and Gravenstein, some dating to colonial times. The site in Woodstock suits visitors seeking a quiet country experience combining fruit picking, browsing historic merchandise, and learning about heritage apple cultivation.