Kolarik Christmas Tree Farm

Idyllic.
There isn’t a better word for this place, or my experience with it. Idyllic. A dream. Like right out of a storybook about Christmas.
As semi-​locals to the area (it’s my hometown) I was finally in town for a Christmas and needed a real, bonafide Christmas tree. So I spoke with my parents and some locals and all arrows pointed to E Kolarik Road and the Kolarik Christmas tree farm. And it did not disappoint!
After a nice drive in Leelanau County, you’ll arrive at the beautiful white farm house surrounded by evergreens. You’ll have 2 options: they’ve cut down some very nice trees that are ready to go home with you, or they’ll provide you with a handy dandy hand saw and you can trek out and cut down your own. My husband has been working on his Up North Man skills so he insisted we go chop one down, and that we did.
IF you are scared by this «cut your own» option, don’t be – it’s really very easy and took us about 2 minutes after we selected our prized pine. It’s a short jaunt (or drive) across the road and down into the farm) and then you’ll just bring the tree back to homebase. There it’ll be shaken and bundled and neatly placed atop your vehicle. You’ll even be given twine to tie it on to the roof. They were super helpful and friendly, of course.
It’s all very romantic and lovely, isn’t it? It is! We even took our baby in the carrier and still managed to carry a pretty big tree back, so really — it’s not as tough as it might sound. And it’s cool to say you chopped your own tree. And, it lasts a long time since it’s literally in the ground right before you buy it (don’t forget to water it when you get home!).
All this for the very reasonable price of $ 35.
It was snowy. We were in Michigan. It was our first real tree as a family. We cut it down. We bought some wreaths. Everyone was happy and smiling and it was just a short drive from Traverse City. I suggest making this a yearly stop for your Christmas tree then heading into Suttons Bay for some lunch and a warm-​up.
*one note — they make some really cute little swag items (wreaths, door hangers, little birch bark reindeer, etc). But they are limited in quantity. I was really excited to be adopting some birch reindeer but by the time I got back from our tree chopping excursion, they were gone! So, my suggestion is to buy them when you see them.
That tree was my favorite tree of all time and looked beautiful every day we had it up.
Will definitely return as many years as I am in Northern Michigan for the holidays.