At a bend in the road, you’ll find a farm that’s truly magic.
This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our magazine library. Want Traverse delivered to your door or inbox monthly? View our print subscription and digital subscription options.
When it comes to family fun, the crew at Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs knows how to have a good time. The 200-plus acre property is a playground for kids and adults alike, with goats, a friendly cat named Pumpkin (who has become so famous there are Pumpkin Fan Club sweatshirts and stuffies), a life-sized human foosball game, hike/bike/snowshoe/ski trails, lush flower gardens, live music, estate wines plus beer and cider, an actual playground with swings and a sandbox … and the list goes on. And on. And on.
The farm, tucked off Michigan’s famous Tunnel of Trees on M-119, has humble beginnings. Jimmy Spencer started with a 10-acre garden at age 17, setting out an honest box and his produce at the end of the driveway each summer when he was home from college. The roadside stand had a small red cooler and a few buckets filled with cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, beans.
To see the sprawling farm today, nearly 30 years later—with its café, winery, brewery and market—you can’t help but feel awe for what Jimmy, along with his wife, Marci, and their four children have created.
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta
On a recent visit, my fiancé and I pulled into the parking lot as ABBA sang, “You can dance, you can jive,” and towering sunflowers swayed to their own beat. We shared a Parmesan-crusted grilled cheese sandwich and kale slaw while perched on a hill with views of Lake Michigan and the farm’s vineyard; played barnyard basketball and strolled sandy trails lined with yarrow and fields of summer squash as we looked for hidden gnome houses—we were indeed having the time of our life.
Don’t Miss: Fall Harvest Weekends begin in late September and run through October with giant pumpkins (and pumpkin smashing and pumpkin bowling), apple cannons, hayrides, hot cider and doughnuts.
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta