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Blake's Big Apple

📍 71485 North Avenue, Armada, MI 48005🗓 Season dates not yet published for 2026🏷 Free admission

Blake's Halloween site, open Friday to Sunday only, with Zombie Paintball and a haunted barn as the real draw - but no prices are published for anything, and the Funland here showed as closed for the season in August 2026.

Blake's Big Apple in Armada, MI

What you get for the price

Included with admission

Cider mill donuts and apple ciderHand-dipped caramel applesKettle corn and homemade fudgeU-pick applesU-pick strawberries (spring)Funland with animal farm, corn maze and children's play areaZombie Paintball wagon rideHaunted hayrideThree-storey haunted barnFarm store and bakerySeasonal food tent

No charge to park or to enter the farm store, bakery and cider mill. Funland and the haunted attractions (Zombie Paintball, haunted hayride, three-storey haunted barn) are separately ticketed and Blake's does not publish those prices on this location's page - the haunted-attractions page is served as an image and carries no readable pricing.

Free to walk in. Your spend here is whatever you choose — pumpkins, food, and any paid activities. That makes it a low-risk stop if you are not sure how long the kids will last.

Our take

Big Apple is the sharpest-edged property in the Blake’s group, and it is also the one with the least published detail. What the farm will tell you is what it does: an open cider mill turning out donuts and cider, hand-dipped caramel apples, kettle corn and fudge, u-pick apples in autumn and strawberries in spring, and after dark, three separate scare attractions - a wagon-mounted paintball ride Blake’s calls Michigan’s best Zombie Paintball, a haunted hayride, and a three-storey haunted barn.

What it will not tell you is what any of that costs, or when the night attractions run. The haunted-attractions page is delivered as an image rather than text, which means no readable dates and no readable prices. That is a genuine gap, and the honest advice is to phone 586-784-9710 before you build an evening around it.

Three days a week is the constraint

The site opens Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 8:00am to 6:00pm, and is closed the other four days. That single fact reshapes any Armada plan. If you are in the area midweek, the trip you can actually take is to Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill on Armada Center Road, which is open daily. The two farms are four miles apart, share a brand, and are constantly mistaken for each other - they have separate phone numbers for a reason.

The Funland question

Big Apple has a Funland of its own, with an animal farm, a corn maze and a children’s play area. In August 2026, though, the Blake’s Funland page listed Big Apple’s as closed for the season while showing the Armada and South Lyon Funlands as open. We cannot tell from the published pages whether it reopens for autumn 2026. If small children and a corn maze are the reason for the trip, treat that as unconfirmed and check before you drive; the Armada site’s Funland is the safer bet.

What the day actually costs

Nothing to walk in. There is no charge to park or to enter the farm store, bakery and cider mill, so a daylight visit costs only what you eat - a bag of donuts, a jug of cider, a few caramel apples. For a family of four, that is a genuinely cheap Saturday morning.

The night is a different budget entirely and an unknown one. Three separately ticketed haunts, each with its own price, none of them published. Zombie Paintball in particular is the kind of attraction that is priced per rider with ammunition included or extra, and there is no way to tell which from the record. Ask on the phone what a rider pays and whether paintballs are included, because that is the question that decides whether this is a $25 evening or a $60 one.

Going after dark in late October

Michigan autumn is real and a night haunt is an outdoor one. By the last weekend of October, standing in a queue for a hayride at 9:00pm is cold in a way a jacket alone does not fix - layers, and something on your hands. October is also the wet month here, and a farm lot after rain is mud rather than gravel. Wear boots you can hose off, and expect the walk back to the car to be genuinely dark.

One last practical point: no pets. Big Apple and the Armada orchard both refuse animals, while Blake’s South Lyon and Blake’s Backyard in Almont allow leashed dogs. If the dog is coming, you are going to a different farm.

Planning your visit

Best time to go

Friday, Saturday or Sunday, because those are the only days it opens - 8:00am to 6:00pm. There is no midweek option at all. If the haunted attractions are why you are going, that is a night visit on a fall weekend, and Blake's does not publish those hours on the location page, so call 586-784-9710 before committing an evening.

How long to budget

An hour for cider, donuts and the farm store in daylight. Two to three hours if you are doing the haunted attractions at night, since Zombie Paintball, the hayride and the haunted barn are three separate queues.

Crowds

Three operating days a week across the busiest six weeks of the Michigan fall is a concentration problem. Night-time haunt crowds behave differently from daytime farm crowds - they arrive after dark and peak on the two weekends either side of Halloween.

Parking

Free. Blake's states it does not charge for parking to visit the property or store. Assume an open farm lot, and assume it is dark and uneven when you leave a night attraction.

Strollers and accessibility

Not published. A haunted hayride, a three-storey haunted barn and a wagon-mounted paintball ride are all inherently physical attractions; if mobility is a factor, call the farm rather than assume.

What to bring

  • Real layers for a night visit - a late-October evening in Macomb County is genuinely cold once you stop moving
  • A phone torch for the walk back to the car
  • Clothes you do not mind marking if you are doing Zombie Paintball
  • A card, and tolerance for not knowing the price until you are at the window
  • Closed shoes for the orchard and the barn

How to spend less here

  • The daytime half is free to enter - cider, donuts, caramel apples, kettle corn and fudge are pay-as-you-go with no gate charge
  • Call ahead for haunted-attraction pricing rather than turning up blind. Blake's serves that page as an image with no readable prices, so the phone is the only route to a number
  • If young children are in the party, check whether the Big Apple Funland is running this autumn before you drive - the Armada Orchard & Cider Mill four miles away has a Funland that was confirmed open

Who it suits

Good for

  • Teenagers and adults who want a haunt rather than a hayride - this is the scare-focused half of the Blake's operation
  • Groups looking for Zombie Paintball, a wagon-mounted paintball ride Blake's bills as Michigan's best
  • Weekend visitors already in Armada who want a second stop
  • Daytime families who want cider, donuts, caramel apples and u-pick without paying a gate fee

Skip it if

Your only free days are Monday to Thursday - the site is simply shut. Skip it too if you have young children and Funland is the point, because the Funland page showed Big Apple as closed for the season in August 2026 while the Armada and South Lyon Funlands were open, and it is not clear whether it reopens for autumn. And skip it if you need a budget in advance: no prices for the haunted attractions appear anywhere we could read.

Worth pairing with

Blake's Orchard & Cider Mill on Armada Center Road, four miles away, is open daily and has the confirmed-open Funland, the tasting room and the Cider Mill Grill. If your party splits between small children and teenagers who want a haunt, the two sites together cover it - but they are separate drives and separate tickets.

Common questions

What days is Blake's Big Apple open?

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 8:00am to 6:00pm. It is closed Monday through Thursday, and also closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Haunted attractions run at night on fall weekends but those hours are not published on the location page.

How much are the haunted attractions?

We could not find a price. Blake's serves its haunted-attractions page as an image with no readable pricing, and the location page carries no figures. Zombie Paintball, the haunted hayride and the three-storey haunted barn are all separately ticketed from each other. Call 586-784-9710.

Is this the same place as Blake's Orchard & Cider Mill?

No. They are about four miles apart in Armada, on different roads, with different phone numbers and different opening days. Big Apple is the Halloween site on North Avenue; the Orchard & Cider Mill on Armada Center Road is the year-round flagship and is open daily.

Can I bring a dog?

No. Pets are not permitted at Big Apple, the same policy as the Armada orchard. Blake's allows leashed pets at South Lyon and at Blake's Backyard in Almont.

When is Blake's Big Apple open in 2026?

2026 dates had not been published when we last checked. In past seasons it has run: Friday, Saturday and Sunday (closed Monday-Thursday). Check with the farm before driving out.

How much does Blake's Big Apple cost?

Admission is free. No charge to park or to enter the farm store, bakery and cider mill. Funland and the haunted attractions (Zombie Paintball, haunted hayride, three-storey haunted barn) are separately ticketed and Blake's does not publish those prices on this location's page - the haunted-attractions page is served as an image and carries no readable pricing.

Where is Blake's Big Apple?

71485 North Avenue, Armada, MI 48005, in Macomb County. It is one of 10 patches we track in Metro Detroit.

How Blake's Big Apple compares in Metro Detroit

We track 10 patches in Metro Detroit, 9 of which are free to walk into. Entry here costs nothing, which puts it in the minority even in a region with several free options.

What sets it apart locally: it has an after-dark attraction, which most Metro Detroit patches on our list do not.

One caveat worth repeating: this farm had not published its 2026 dates when we last checked, while 5 of the 10 patches we track in Metro Detroit had. Treat any date you see elsewhere as last year's until the farm confirms it.

Other patches near Armada

There are 2 other patches we track in Macomb County. All Metro Detroit patches →

Quick facts

SeasonSeason dates not yet published for 2026
Days openFriday, Saturday and Sunday (closed Monday-Thursday)
Hours8:00am-6:00pm Friday-Sunday. Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Haunted attractions run at night on fall weekends; Blake's does not publish those hours on the location page.
AdmissionFree
CountyMacomb County
RegionMetro Detroit

Directions

Open in Google Maps ↗

Map pin is set to the town centre. Navigate to the street address above, not the pin.

Sources

blakefarms.com

Checked August 2026.