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Michigan grows more apples than almost anywhere else in the country — only Washington and New York produce more, and Michigan farms still turn out upwards of 900 million pounds of apples a year off 17.6 million trees. A good chunk of that crop ends up pressed into cider within an hour of Detroit, and late September through Halloween is when the mills are running at full tilt: fresh-pressed that morning, donuts still warm, lines out the door on weekends.
If you grew up here, you already have a mill your family goes to and you will fight anyone who says a different one is better. If you didn’t, or you just moved to Metro Detroit and keep hearing “cider mill” like it’s a religious holiday — it kind of is — here’s where to go, what each one actually does differently, and how to avoid spending your Saturday in a parking lot.
One thing that trips up newcomers: “cider mill” and “orchard” get used interchangeably around here, but they’re not quite the same trip. A cider mill is built around the press — you’re there for fresh cider and donuts, and the visit can be fifteen minutes. An orchard adds u-pick fields, mazes, and farm activities on top, which turns it into a half-day outing. All five places below actually run cider mills on-site, but they range from “quick stop” (Franklin) to “bring the whole day” (Blake’s, Westview). Pick based on how much time you actually have.
Franklin Cider Mill — Bloomfield Hills
The closest real cider mill to Detroit proper, and the oldest continuously operating one in Michigan. Franklin has been pressing apples since 1837, first as a gristmill, then as a cider operation starting in 1918. The Peltz family has run it since 1966 and it’s now in its third generation. You can watch the whole process through viewing windows — the same 90-ton press, the water wheel still turning.
Franklin Cider Mill
Address: 7450 Franklin Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
Hours: Daily, 8am–5:30pm, open Labor Day weekend through the first weekend after Thanksgiving
Phone: (248) 626-8261
Visit Franklin Cider Mill’s website →
Go early on a weekday if you can. This is the mill everyone in Oakland County defaults to, which means Saturday afternoons in October it’s a 20-minute wait just to get to the donut counter. Weekday mornings, you can be in and out in ten minutes with a half-gallon and a dozen still-warm donuts.
No dedicated dining room here — it’s cider, donuts, pies, and candy apples, made on-site, eat-in-the-car-or-at-a-picnic-table style. That’s the appeal. It’s not a destination event, it’s a fifteen-minute stop that somehow turns into an hour because you end up standing by the water wheel watching apples get crushed.
The donuts are cake-style and fried in small batches all day, so they never sit around long enough to go stale — if you’re timing a visit, mid-morning is when a fresh tray usually just came out. Franklin also does a caramel apple worth the extra few dollars; they roll them in nuts on request.
@donnylb
Yates Cider Mill — Rochester Hills
Michigan’s oldest cider mill, dating to 1876, and the one with the best reason to actually spend the afternoon. Yates sits along the Clinton River, and the Paint Creek Trail runs right past it — so this is the mill where you park, walk two or three miles along the river, and end at the mill for cider and donuts instead of the other way around.
Yates Cider Mill
Address: 1950 E Avon Rd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
Hours: Mon–Fri 7am–7pm, Sat–Sun 9am–7pm
Phone: (248) 651-8300
Visit Yates Cider Mill’s website →
Their cinnamon sugar donuts are the ones people specifically drive across the county for — not an exaggeration, ask anyone from Rochester. There’s also an ice cream shop on-site if you’re going in warmer September weather before it turns into full sweater season.
Because Yates keeps longer hours than most of the others — open until 7pm most days — it’s the one that works if you’re coming from work and can’t get out of the city before 5. There’s a bakery counter and a small gift shop inside too, so it’s an easy stop even if the press itself isn’t running when you get there.
@somewheresojourn
Parmenter’s Cider Mill — Northville
Parmenter’s is the mill to pick if you want more than cider and donuts out of the trip. It’s in Northville’s old Cabbage Town neighborhood, 150 years running, and it shares the property with the Northville Winery and Brewing Co. — so you can do cider and donuts with the kids in the afternoon, then come back that same night for live music and hard cider once they’re home with a sitter.
Parmenter’s Cider Mill
Address: 714 Baseline Rd, Northville, MI 48167
Cider mill hours: Daily 10am–8pm, open Aug 24 through Nov 24, 2026
Winery & Brewing Co. hours: Wed–Fri 3pm–11pm, Sat 12pm–11pm, Sun 12pm–7pm
Visit Parmenter’s Cider Mill’s website →
Worth noting: some listing sites still show Parmenter’s as temporarily closed from an older season. It’s open for 2026 — that’s a stale review-site flag, not current. You can watch cider actually being pressed Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through the viewing gate. The Chow Mill does hot dogs and kielbasa on weekends if you’re making a whole afternoon of it.
There’s also a Nut Hut for fresh candied almonds, a homemade fudge counter, and the Rouge River runs right along the property — there’s a wooden train and an old-school playhouse for kids while the adults linger over cider donuts. This is the one that works best as an actual date, not just a family errand, especially once the winery lights come on in the evening.
@redefinerealestate
Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill — Armada
An hour northeast of the city, but this is the one worth the drive if you want to turn it into a real day out rather than a stop. Blake’s runs 800 acres in Armada — orchard, cider mill, u-pick fields, a Funland area with 25-plus activities for kids, and a genuine sit-down tasting room and restaurant pouring their own craft cider, beer, and wine. Local 4 has named it the #1 cider mill in Metro Detroit.
Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill
Address: 17985 Armada Center Rd, Armada, MI 48005
Hours: Daily, 8am–6pm (closed Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve)
Phone: (586) 784-5343
Visit Blake’s Orchard’s website →
Family-owned for 75-plus years and it shows — this isn’t a roadside stand, it’s a real operation. Budget half a day if you’re bringing kids. Between u-pick, the petting animals, and Funland, an hour turns into four pretty fast.
Their hard cider program is a real differentiator — Blake’s makes its own craft hard ciders on-site and pours them in the tasting room, which most mills on this list don’t do. If you’re 21+ and cider mills usually feel like a kids’ activity you’re tagging along on, this is the one that gives you a reason to stick around too.
@visitblakes
Westview Orchards & Winery — Washington Township
Six generations of the same family have run this farm, and it’s the pick for anyone who wants the full agritourism experience — corn maze, a giant slide, straw mountain, a rope obstacle course, plus a wine bar upstairs in the old cider barn, accessible by a spiral staircase inside a silo. It’s more “day at the farm” than “quick cider run,” and it leans into that on purpose.
Westview Orchards & Winery
Address: 65075 Van Dyke, Washington, MI 48095 (corner of Van Dyke and 30 Mile Rd)
Farm market hours: Daily 8am–6pm
Fall Fun through Halloween: Daily 10am–5pm
Winery hours: Thu–Fri 5pm–9pm, weekends 12pm–6pm
Phone: (586) 752-3123
Visit Westview Orchards’ website →
This is the mill to pick if you’re bringing a group that spans ages — little kids get the farm fun and petting animals, everyone over 21 gets the wine bar once the kids are worn out. U-pick apples and pumpkins run through the season depending on what’s ripe.
Westview also runs Sunflower Days earlier in the season and a full slate of Fall Farm Fun weekends through October — live music some Saturday nights, wine dinners, and a Santa Festival once the calendar turns toward December. Of everyone on this list, it’s the farm that’s leaned hardest into being a year-round destination instead of just a September-through-November stop.
How to Actually Plan a Cider Mill Trip
A few things that make the difference between a good afternoon and standing in a gravel lot for forty minutes:
Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons, every time. Saturday between noon and 3pm is when every mill on this list hits capacity. If you can go on a Wednesday or Thursday morning instead, do it.
Bring cash. Some of these places take cards fine, but the smaller stands inside — the nut hut, the fudge counter — still run cash-preferred, especially on their busiest days when the card reader lines get long.
Layer up more than you think you need to. Michigan cider mill weather swings 20 degrees between 9am and 3pm in October. You’ll want a real jacket you can tie around your waist by 1pm.
If you’re doing more than one mill in a day, pair Yates and Parmenter’s — they’re both roughly 20 minutes from downtown Rochester/Northville and about 25 minutes apart from each other, so it’s an easy double stop without a long haul in between.
Want to pack a cooler or bring the right gear for a full day outdoors? Shop insulated tumblers for hot cider on Amazon → and shop apple-picking bags and totes on Amazon → before you head out — the mills sell fruit by the peck, and a proper bag makes carrying it a lot easier than a plastic sack.
Making a weekend of it and coming in from out of town? 🏨 Find Hotels in Detroit on Expedia → — staying downtown puts you within 30–45 minutes of every mill on this list.
Pair the trip with a fall wine tasting or an orchard tour and make it a full day: Book a Michigan fall foliage or wine country experience on Viator →
