Sutter's Ridge Apple Orchard Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

Sutter's Ridge is a small, family-run working farm in the country between Verona and Mount Horeb, about 20 minutes from Madison's west side. The appeal is a relaxed day outdoors: picking apples, grapes, raspberries and pumpkins, working through a corn maze that takes about an hour, and riding the wagon past horses and goats. Windfall apples become ammunition for the apple slingshot. The unpasteurized cider, pressed weekly from hand-picked fruit, often sells out by Sunday afternoon, so grab a jug early along with an apple cider donut.

Our take: On a Saturday, start at the Dane County Farmers' Market in Madison, then drive out for an afternoon of picking.