Mack’s Apples

I agree with Scott. The nutty political signs make us want to go somewhere else. When I am desperate, I do go there and buy apples. The staff is nice to work with, but if the owner is going to keep putting up the crack pot signs, I will go elsewhere.

I love macks and all they do for the community however the political signs are too much. Please stop.

This place was so beautiful and the apples delicious. To avoid confusion based on other reviews I asked about the picking policy — each of 3 areas (which you have to drive too from main Mack’s location) charges a different price based on apple varieties at the location — also there are some rows asked not to be picked which can create confusion — as I think customers assume they buy a bag and then pick apples in the orchard. We really didn’t experience an issue with this. We paid $ 25 for a half bushel and had a good time with the kids. The owners and workers were so nice — we walked the rows with the kids pulling a wagon and then just stayed and let them run around the field by the stand. Well worth the drive. Went to main location first and picked up cider and pears at their store and to ask questions. No hay rides or petting zoo or hot cider donuts but perfect for apple picking. We will be back. The place was packed but the orchards were surprisingly uncrowded.

I was so excited to go to Mack’s today. I wanted to bring my family to a farm to get fresh apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, take a hay ride, see some animals and go apple picking. NONE of that happened here! Mack’s did not sell hot apple cider or fresh apple cider donuts. Or ANY hot, fresh appley pastries. Yes, I bought sugared apple cider donuts and a gallon of apple cider– but neither of them were made at Mack’s. They were imported from other farms… as was pretty much everything at this place besides the apples. As for the apple picking– I drove to section 3 and bought a bag for $ 12 and that was that… We went apple picking and then was told we weren’t allowed to pick that type apple because we didn’t have the right sticker. Ok– no big deal. But maybe someone should have told us what apples our stickers allowed us to pick, or asked us what color sticker we wanted so we didn’t go about like criminals. Lastly, I am pretty sure Mack’s uses pesticides on their apples. No thanks. Next time I’ll take the hour trek and go to Apple Crest like I usually do– and actually have fun there!

Shame that Mack’s is posting political signs now. My family has been going there for years and now see that the once crowded farm stand is now thinning out. Fact is that once a business alienates 50% of its customers, those people take their business elsewhere.
Along with the «Bravo Obama» sign, they should put one up that says they support racial tension, selling baby parts, a nuclear Iran, etc.
I will drive past this empty parking lot until new ownership takes over.

This review is for the ice cream stand ONLY.
I came here with my daughter on a scorching Sunday afternoon and it was fairly quiet. I ordered the death by chocolate/​chocolate lover’s (whatever they call it here) as a small sundae and a kiddie vanilla sundae for my girl, and a soda. The girl working by herself made my ice cream first (I would be making the kid’s first, but that’s me). I took one look and saw the ice cream was literally covered in freezer burn. I spent about $ 5 for this and was not about to throw it away. When the young girl brought out my daughter’s ice cream, I pointed out the freezer burn and asked if she could make me something else. She asked if I wanted more of that flavor. Did I want more freezer burn? No, I’ll get another flavor and I had to chose it on the spot because by now there was a big line and she was by herself. She did make me another cup of ice cream. And she forgot my soda I paid for.
I’ll absolutely be back to Mack’s later this year for pumpkins and apples. I have been going since I was 4 or 5, and now I can do the same with my daughter. But for ice cream, I will drive a little further to Nashua for my favorite ice cream stand.

This is a pure apple picking place. None of the mazes, animals, and cider donut draws you see at some of the other orchards, but if you want to feel more connected to nature, with less crowds, while apple picking, this place is for you.
They had the cheapest apples out of all the orchards I have been to in New England, and the most plentiful selection too. Parking is free, but you have to do a lot of driving to get from one orchard to the next, since each different section has specific apples. There is a store with nice looking treats, such as jams, maple syrup, candy, etc. However, they don’t have any fresh warm cider doughnuts if that’s your true draw to the orchard, like me.
I didn’t have a problem with people treating me like a criminal, as many of the past reviews have suggested. They also had a ton of variety of pumpkins and squashes that I’ve never seen before. I’d be happy to try this place out again in the future.

My first experience at Mack’s this weekend will be my last. The farmstand was was ridiculously crowded to the point it was hard to move. The jellies and jams were double the prices of other places, no hot cider, doughnuts, pumpkin butter in stock and rude employees.
When we went to pick apples, there was a cop sitting at the entrance, so yeah those prison analogies are right on. The bag of apples was 12 dollars and fit about 25 apples and the orchard was fine. When I wandered back towards the counter, they immediately told me I couldn’t go back on the orchard with the full bag, when I was actually trying to purchase a soda from them. Dumb high school kids that can barely speak coherently.
This place assumes all customers are dishonest and stupid apparently and the reviews that crap all over the customer service couldn’t be more accurate. This is no place to support or to experience the real old time New England fall tradition of pick your own. I’ll never be back.

Don’t go here! I live here and have been picking apples and pumpkins at Mack’s for over 20 years and this was the last time I will ever go here. I frequently walk my dog there with their permission in the summer and fall. After paying $ 36 for three small bags and seeing no less than 6 other families pile out of their cars with their dogs, I started down a path with my family and which included another dog (poopy bags in hand of course). From out of nowhere this car pulled up abruptly and this woman (the apple patrol) jumped out of her car with a handicapped plate (so not handicapped) and was extremely rude accusing us of picking in the wrong row — we weren’t. We were walking around the path with the intention of cutting over to one of the few rows we would be allowed to pick in. Then she said we weren’t allowed to have the dogs. She neglected to mention this two weeks prior when the very same woman waved to me as I was entering the orchard to walk my dog. Did I mention I saw no less than six other families with dogs? I got my check back, ripped it up, and went to Sunnycrest Farms where we had a lovely afternoon. They have no problem with families bringing their dogs as long as you pick up after them. Also, no crazy row restrictions — just pick anywhere. It was much less hectic and will be my go to place to pick apples from now on. There are many orchards in the area and three in Londonderry alone so Mack’s better watch how they treat their customers. No one wants to feel like they robbed a bank when they are trying to have a relaxing family day. If you are going to spend almost $ 40 on apples you should at least feel welcomed.

I went to Mack’s for some apple picking with my husband, brother and sister in law. We paid $ 20 for a bag of honey crisp apples. You have to get at least one bag per every two people. You are also allowed to mix in the other types of apples if you pay more for the honey crisp. There are plenty of rows to pick from. I would recommend bypassing the first 10 or so trees to find trees that have lots of apples left at this time of year. We had a great time eating and picking the different types of apples. Mack’s had several different locations throughout Londonderry, each locations with varying types of apples.

My family has gone to Mack’s on and off for around ten years, but this year will be the last. Like many of the other one-​star reviews for this place, my family and friends group felt like we were in a minimum-​security prison. There were many unpleasant interactions with the Apple Patrol, who made us completely uncomfortable.
For example, we were picking apples on one of the few rows we were allowed to pick from, but it bordered on a Forbidden Apple row. Even though we were clearly picking from the allowed apples, we were asked to get out of the row.
In another case, one of our kids was jogging down one of the rows to catch up with the rest of us, and an employee barked at him to not run.
Then, when we had picked all of the unpalatable, non-​forbidden, under-​ripe apples we cared to, we wanted to go look — key word, LOOK — at the pumpkin patch. Not go into it, not pick a pumpkin. When we were accosted and told not to be near the pumpkin patch, we explained to the young employee that we were just looking and had no intention of going into the patch. About a minute later about ten employees came over, some in a truck, others on foot, like some kind of troop movement. At that point we left, and won’t be coming back.
At no point was the experience enjoyable. The apples themselves were mediocre, at best. If you’re looking for a family-​friendly and fun place to take the kids, this isn’t it.
It is probably important to note that of the several Mack’s locations, this was site #3 which is some distance away from the farmstand. Maybe some of the positive reviews here are regarding the farmstand or one of the other sites.

Apple picking and zombie fighting in the same place!

I agree with the other bad reviews. Hands down the worst orchard ever! If you want to be judged and accused after paying $ 75 for three large bags of apples, definitely come to this prison orchard! Apples are decent but the staff are just plain horrible people! I’ve been to tons of different orchards and this place is the worst place ever! Customer service is what makes the customers happy right? they definitely need some training on customer service and how to run a business! Do not support macks prison!
FYI definitely not a family oriented place… Don’t bring your kids here!

Mack’s used to be wicked awesome! However, they got really greedy over the past several years. Their prices have gone way up and they started charging even more for the fancy varieties.
On a similar note, a few years ago they had bumper crops of everything due to nice weather and tons of rain. We couldn’t afford to get our pumpkins there because they were all so huge and they didn’t calibrate the price to take into account the extra growth. When I tried to talk to the staff about it, their answer was, «Well, it doesn’t look like we’re having any trouble selling them.» And then she just looked right past me and said, «Next!»
No longer customer friendly, they treat you as a nuisance if you have any questions at all and are all about raking in the dough.
We now go to Lull Farms and Sullivan’s. Much nicer feel!

I almost hate myself for writing this review, adding to the growing number of voices that Mack’s is the best experience for apple picking one could possibly have.
But I love to share, so here it is!
A large number of apples abound for PYO, yet the honeycrisp from Mack’s are the most delicious apples ever to land on my tastebuds. While the ones in their store are good, there’s nothing better than fresh from the tree. $ 20 for a peck will get you a good number of apples and a few hours of fun. Be sure to taste ones from a tree or two to make sure it’s a good tree.
Go the first or second weekend they’re available because the good ones will be gone after that!

Worst PYO experience I’ve had. We go apple picking every year, sometimes more than once a year, and generally always have a blast. We tried Mack’s for the first time this year, and we certainly won’t be returning.
It has multiple orchards on both sides of a very busy road, with everything else at a main site down the street. Definitely not fun driving around back and forth with young children and getting in and out of the car over and over again. In my experience, living in New England my entire life, large farms with multiple sites or large acreage offer tractor rides around the farm. No I’m not too lazy or obese to walk… it simply isn’t an option with young children on the busy road that Mack’s is located on.
Staff are not very helpful, generally giving quick, one word answers. The atmosphere of the orchard was much like a prison recreation yard with staff patrolling each aisle of the orchard with walkie talkies. I counted 10 patrols at one orchard, plus three staff manning the registers. One staff member chased us down, running from one side of the orchard to the other to tell us not to pick any apples from the trees around us as we walked past them to check out the pumpkin patch. We explained that we were going to look at the pumpkins and were able to read the multiple signs around us that read «please do not pick.». He responded, «i just had a feeling you might need a reminder.». Seriously? Grown adults with children in tote? It’s not like we were a bunch of teenagers horsing around in the trees. We joked the whole time we were out about going to «apple jail» for having any fun.
Needless to say, Our kiddos were very disappointed with the trip and so were we. We definitely won’t go back, or recommend it to anyone.
* sorry for any typos; on a mobile phone.

Too much drama from the employees. They must be hurting for money.
I went there last weekend and they barely had any apples left. Most of them were on the ground and there were so many mosquitoes around.
What made this experience worse was a middle aged blonde woman who seemed to be one on the employees there, yelling at people and kids that they had overfilled their bags and needed to buy more bags for the overfills. If I were to guess they must have been hurting for business, but it definitely ruined mine and my children’s experience hearing these employees yelling at everyone.
People go there for the experience, and if their bags can barely fit the apples they have, the make smaller bags. I will most certainly not be going back there to hear more of these employees yelling. I would not want my children being exposed to that.
Thanks, but no thanks! Next time I will buy my apples (which is cheaper) or find another farm in NH to do my family’s apple picking yearly event!

Mack’s Apples has a range of fresh flavored whole milks. My girlfriend had blueberry milk, and I had the glory that is COFFEE MILK. Take the best frappuccino drink you’ve ever had, pretend it was actually good and made of both fresh milk and real coffee, and that’s what you’ve got here. It was divine. Plus, if you wash out the bottle and return it you get $ 2 back, which drops the price to a very reasonable $ 1.75.
I also hear this place has pumpkins, and someone said… apples? Could be a rumor though.

I don’t know what the prices are for pick your own apples, but for those who are handicapped and cannot do so the prices for pre-​picked varieties are much higher than you’ll find at local grocery stores. One would think that not having to transport their apples to sell them elsewhere would be rewarded with a lower price, but apparently the owners of Mack’s are getting as much $$$ out of people as they possibly can. That said, most of the pre-​picked apples are pretty good if you can eat them right away. They do go bad pretty quickly, so that tells me they’ve probably been picked for quite some time. We’ve enjoyed their Asian pears, as well.
Weekends are crazy busy here, so come during the week if you can!

I love Mack’s. Not that I’m super seasoned with these kinds of things — I’ve only picked apples twice in my life and both times have been here. But I can’t detect anything on my checklist that Mack’s doesn’t provide:
4 orchards to frolic through that are big enough that you’re not tripping over people even in the peak season — check.
Samples of different apple types to peruse before picking — check.
Bountiful cider doughnuts — check.
Trees big enough to climb to get the *best* apples — check. (Note: this is probably not allowed but I generally can’t help myself.)
Lovely local cheeses, jams, honey, baked goods, maple sugar candy, etc — check.
It’s become a new tradition to come to Mack’s in late-​Sept/​early-​Oct with my beloved college roommate and I really look forward to it continuing on and on into forever. Yay Mack’s!