Herman's Farm Orchard, St. Charles

Location: 3663 N Hwy 94, St. Charles MO 63301

Amenities: playground, fruit picking, pumpkin patch

Website: https://hermansfarm.weebly.com/

Playground ground cover: Wood chips

This is a small orchard that is perfect if you have little kids and don't want to drive all the way to Eckerts. It's family-owned and operated and they have a large selection of fruits and veggies you can pick and/or buy (pumpkins, apples, tomatoes, squash, and watermelon). We rode the wagon out to the orchard just for the fun of it, but it is so close you could walk. They give you bags, answer any questions, and show you where everything is that you're interested in picking. 

The kid area includes a big wooden castle structure with bales of hay (good for photo ops), slides, and ladders to climb. There is also an indoor covered area full of picnic tables, wagons, and toy tractors. They have wooden tractors kids can play on and they have added a corn bin filled with toy farm equipment. Don't forget to check out the market where you can buy yummy seasonal fare.

Apple orchard

This was the setup in years past. This year they didn't have hay bales out but we went very early in the season, end of September.

Glad they added a cover over the metal slide to cool it down!

Inside the castle is a pole to slide down and a staircase to access the upper level

 Market

Hayride area

Thierbach Orchards, Marthasville

Location: 18427 State Hwy 47, Marthasville, MO 63357

Website: http://www.thierbachorchards.com/

There are a few different locations for Thierbach, so if you want the place with the "Fields of Fun" and petting zoo go to their Market in Marthasville on Hwy 47. They have an orchard 4 miles down the road, but there's nothing there except the berry patch and peach orchard.

The amenities here include a vine maze, tile maze, rope maze, 2 bounce houses, a slide, pedal tractors, small petting zoo, corn bins, and hay rides for $5 per child age 3 and up.

I was unimpressed with this place. It is run down and there wasn't much to do for the kids. I didn't think what they offered was worth $5. I think toddlers would enjoy it much more than school aged children.

The goats love to stick their head out of the hole in the fence. Hope they don't escape!

Big slide

Honeysuckle vine maze

Tractor rides

I think they could print out a nicer sign than this. 

Market