Sleeping Bear’s antique apple orchard offers a rare souvenir from the park’s early settlers

LEELANAU COUNTY, MI -- Take home a rare, autumnal souvenir from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this fall.

Within the national lakeshore is an antique apple orchard planted by European settlers in the 1850s. The park allows each family to pick one bushel every October.

The Port Oneida Rural Historic District is home to eight farms with remnant apple trees from the original settlers. You can find a map of the dozen orchards in the historic district here.

Port Oneida is part of the park and will have limited park staff due to the federal shutdown . However, the orchard is still open and accessible, as are the trails and roads.

Government shutdown update: Here’s what’s open, closed in Sleeping Bear Dunes

During the federal shutdown national parks are not staffing entry poi