The Kimmel Orchard located in Nebraska City, Neb. should become a visiting tradition for all families. When families have Valas Pumpkin Patch, going elsewhere would seem silly. Families should start going to Kimmel Orchard. It definitely has some of the same qualities as Valas but it is more peaceful and less dusty.

Over the years this apple orchard has changed. Before, all you would do is going on a hayrack ride and pick some apples to take home. You could also take home a baby tree so you could grow a tree in support of Arbor Day. You can still do those things at Kimmel Orchard but they have added new attributes like a tree exploratory trail and a short film about trees. It sounds boring but it was really amazing.

The trail isn’t just a small dirt road through a forest. It is a trail that consisted of several attractions along the way. Kids can climb on sculptures and as a family you can climb up to an amazing outlook. The sculptures were pretty amazing, there was a tunnel obstacle course, a spider web made out of rope that was life sized just like the one at Henry Doorley Zoo and there was also a tight rope that you could walk on and it was much harder than it looked. The overlook was spectacular you could see the entire forest around you and it felt like you were on top of the world.

The trail had little fun facts along the way about trees and animals, there was one thing where you had to guess the item by smelling it. There were a few small dirt trails off the main trail, one of them lead to a pond and by the pound was a log that you could sit on it was very beautiful.

At the end of the trail, there is this diverse play zone with xylophones made out of wood that you could play, there were several of them so some were bigger than others. There was also a little tree house that had many ropes in it. You could tie sheet to the ropes to make hammocks so that you could relax.

The trail goes in a loop back to this building which is part gift shop, part movie theater. Where they show a short five minute clip about trees in the movies, and it was actually really cool because it was a movie scrapbook. Where little clips, of well-known movies were put together that had trees involved in some aspect.

Near the back of the orchard are a few green houses that contained baby trees. You could also get your own baby tree to take home and plant. There wasn’t diversity in trees but that maybe because it isn’t tree planting season.

When you leave the orchard you can go through a shop where they sell all kinds of apple related products like candy apples, apple juice, apple pie and just plain apples. It is a great experience if you want to do something for the fall season that doesn’t included the overcrowded Valas Pumpkin Patch.