Belkin Family Lookout Farm

Ridiculously overpriced. $14 per adult, and apples are $2.50 per lb. All pumpkins are in bad shape, and it's the only good deal in this farm, $0.49 per lb. Me and my roommate went there today, thought it'll be cool to hang out. For some reason, all apples are on the ground; apples on trees are in restricted area. We sneak in anyways, picked 4 Jonagold apples and it costs us $10. Entrance fee $14 + 4 apples $10, paid $28 for 4 apples. There is NO fresh apple cider either. Selections in store are rather disappointing. Not worth it, find somewhere else! more

This place is an absolute rip off. I know of several other farms in Mass and New Hampshire with the same offerings and activities that won't charge you an outrageous entrance fee. My boyfriend and I saw this place online and hoped to have a wonderful fall afternoon apple picking and seeing the animals. However, when we got there, we found it cost $14 per person to get in not including the price of the apples! And it was $12 per child so not exactly cheap to take your family either. We would have spent well over $50 for lunch and apples. Listen to these reviews, be a smart consumer and find another place to go! more

FYI: This is called Belkin Lookout Farm as they bought it in 2005. Ok, where do I start? I have been wanting to go to Lookout Farm for a few years now because I know a couple of people who have gone. They did not rave about it, they just said they went and liked it, but they couldn’t give a lot of details because their kids were much older now and it was a quite a while ago. I went last Sept, on a weekday at around 11:00am. The benefit of going on a weekday was that you beat the crowds, but that’s about it. This is an orchard that actually charges an entrance fee. For what you ask? Well, just look at the website. It's all a bunch of hype. Like the other reviewer said, it is like the Disneyland of orchards, well, kind of. The cost on a weekday is $8 for all ages (under 2 are free) On the weekends, the price is $14 for an adult and $12 for kids over 2. The reason the entrance fee is less on a weekday is because all of the fun activities for kids are not available! No face painting, no entertainment, no pony rides, no bee observatory, nothing. The kids caterpillar ride was not running either. I found out after looking at the website again that it doesn’t run on occasional Wednesdays. Guess what? We went on a Wednesday. Oh, but there was a train ride, petting zoo, playground, maze and a haystack. Many local farms also have hay stacks, mazes, petting zoos, hayrides and playgrounds for kids as well as seasonal festivals (ex: Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, The Big Apple in Wrentham, Honeypot Hill Orchard in Stow) There are even better playgrounds at any of the local schools in Massachusetts. I can name a dozen farms and nursery’s in Massachusetts that have wonderful playgrounds and petting zoos, and they are free! (Ex: WWI Memorial Park in North Attleboro.) Oh wait, the fruit is $2.50 per pound! Even the fruit shipped in from out of state was at the most $1.50 per pound at the supermarket. You should be paying 98 cents to $1.50 per pound, not $2.50. Although the grounds were beautiful, there seemed to be a lot of garbage in the orchard area that inconsiderate people left from the day before. In addition to that, there were alot of decomposing or fallen/dropped apples on the paths that we kept falling over. For the steep entrance fee, you would think that they would have a clean up crew after the farm closes. There were not many apples either as a lot of trees were picked over. Oh, and let's not forget the Port-A-Potties, great fun with kids. As we were leaving, we decided to take a walk over to the orchards that was near the parking area (we were not supposed to be there) and a truckload of Mexicans drove by. I am guessing that they were illegals and they pick the fruit for this farm. Let’s hope they get paid more than $2 per hour with what Lookout charges customers! The positives are that the train ride was nice, the trees are lower to the ground so it was easy to pick for both adults and kids, the grounds were well maintained and there were lovely grapes growing for decoration. The Asian pears were juicy and delicious. We got away with only spending $16 for me and my husband since our daughter was under 2 and we did not buy any apples. It was a pleasant experience, but I would not go back and spend $100 for a family of 4 for a typical family activity, and neither should you. Pros: None Cons: Ridiculously Expensive more

Where do I begin? This place will never need Hank Paulson to bail it out since it has a GDP that likely exceeds that of most developed countries judging by the outrageous entry fee; which, by the way, does not even get you a single apple or a sip of cider. After a cute little train ride where we had to suffer through embellished lies about the history of the orchard, we were deposited on one of the 180 acres to pick our apples. The apples must have been on one of the other 179, because we could not find a single apple on any of the trees! The most efficient part of the whole operation was the cashiers who held you up at the beginning of the journey, and their counterparts who were ready to "assist" you at the exit (what a surprise!) I will only return if I find myself in need of more self inflicted pain, like the time I opted for elective root canal! more

I went to the farm yesterday with my three children to pick some apples... I was so surprised at how much it cost to pick some apples.. $34.00...admittance to the farm (does not include apples) The admission is $5.00 more pp on weekends they give each child a 15lb bag to fill at $2.50 a pound... They each got to pick 6 apples and the grand total for the apples was $28.00. The kids wanted to pick more but for that price there was no way they were going to fill their bags...outrageous! They had more fun getting ice-cream in Natick center afterwards! We will not be going back there any time soon. Pros: It is close Cons: To expensive more

I've been going to this farm since time immemorial..as a kid and now with my own children. I used to love this farm...its beautiful, had lots of activities for the kids and was just an all around good time. Since the new owners came in last year it has gone completely down the tubes. They nickle and dime you to death. The train rides which were at one time free, then a few bucks and now...wowwwww...out of this world. A family of 4 needs $100 easy for the day. A dirty farm, staff that's non-existent, awful concession and steep prices....I am not going back this year..i'm tryng Tougas Farm in Northboro instead. Nor am i recommending this farm to other families. Its too bad. The Marino brothers had a nice thing going.... more

As a long time fan of Lookout Farm I have to say how sad I am to see what has become of this one time Family stopping ground. I was so excited at the new farm in Sept of 2006. It looked like it was a new chance for the farm to shine one more time since the new owner took it over. I went over the Labor Day weekend with my 3 children to find only a dirty farm. Way over priced... It cost us almost 40.00 just to ride the train to the apples..then another 54.00 for the fruit. Are you kidding me??? The high bars are gone...where are they? The East Coast Kettle Corn makers are gone..where are they? Is this farm going to stay open????? Keep going. It was way over priced and for the money nothing to see. Pros: Lots of parking. Cons: You can only use the train to pick apples...you have to pay anywhere from $5-$10 each person. more

Make sure you mark your calendars (end of June-ish) for their "Pick Your Own Strawberry" season! They might cost a little more, but if you are a strawberry lover like me, there is no substitute!! more

This place is wonderful. I had no idea how large it was... It goes on for acres and acres, and it's all well maintained. It's a great escape from the city that's real close to the city. The apple picking experience is especially fun because they take you around on trains (now real ones, though.. they are on tires.) Makes a great day trip. more