Murphy Orchards
Apple Orchard Pixabay Public Domain
Start your New York morning off right with a visit to the historic, local, and fiercely fresh Murphy Orchards, located about 12 miles north of Lockport and three miles south of the shore of Lake Ontario. This 65-acre family-owned and operated fruit farm hold several amazing attractions, such as their pick your own fruit selection, fresh fruit store, country barn store, tea rooms, gift shop, fresh apple, and jam sales, and even historic Underground Railroad site! Learn the intriguing history of this farm, an in-production facility since the early 1800s. The home, farm, barn, and even soil is all the same as when the farm first began in the 1800s, and you will get all the best insider info on the McClew family’s secret slave smuggling room used consistently from 1850 to 1861.
Murphy Orchards specializes in social group tours and school tours, being a highly important part of the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network, New York State Heritage Trail. Get an official Underground Railroad Heritage tour, featuring the concealed chamber located beneath a trapdoor under the barn, or a general fruit farm and local Agriculture tour (reservations required).
After your tour or self-guided stroll around the grounds, browse the country store and have some mid-morning tea or lunch in the Tea Room (reservations required), you can even pick your own fruit and browse a large variety of homemade jams and jellies before you go. Sample their popular rhubarb jam, spiced cranberry jelly, red tomato jam, and elderberry jam, they are all uniquely delicious. This is a great way to get into nature, get some exercise, and immerse yourself in the local culture and agriculture, not to mention learn some more great historical tidbits of the area!
