Our First Visit to Livesay Orchards

September 24, 2024

Tara Rittler,

On the first day of fall, we took our first visit to Livesay Orchards in Porter, Oklahoma! It was a very HOT first day of fall, so Joss wasn’t terribly into it at first. However, once we sat down and cooled down with a cup of icy apple cider (and an apple donut), we all perked up.

Tickets and Getting There

It’s about a 45-minute drive to Livesay Orchards. The last half of the drive is lovely, taking you through downtown Coweta and some country roads. At least, that’s how our route went. Because it’s a bit of a drive, we wanted to purchase tickets in advance, as they can sell out sometimes. Plus, tickets are a little less expensive online than at the door (although fees may make up the difference, I’m not totally sure).

You can choose from three different ticket packages, or choose to do just the corn maze ($7 per person) or apple picking ($5 per person). We went with the General Admission package ($12.99 online). It included everything we wanted to do: the corn maze, hay ride, apple picking, sunflower field, pumpkin picking and access to the Pumpkin Playland. The only thing it doesn’t include is the apple blaster, which we didn’t mind skipping.

The Basic Admission package includes everything in the General Admission package except the corn maze.

In addition to your ticket, you’ll end up paying per pound for any apples or pumpkins you pick. Plus, there’s a nice market where you can purchase additional types of pumpkins, pickles, jams, ice cream, etc.

Pumpkin Playland

The first area we went to was the Pumpkin Playland. A lot of activities are geared toward younger kids, and we did see a lot of kids enjoying themselves! There’s a “Spookley the Square Pumpkin” hay bale maze, lawn games, apple and pumpkin trivia stops, a soccer game, playground equipment, etc. They even have a wooden cow you can “milk.”

The Spookley hay bale maze has signs throughout it that you can read, telling an anti-bullying story.

Corn Maze and Sunflower Field

After spending some time in the play area, we walked out to the corn maze and sunflower field, which were next to each other. The sunflower field probably won’t be in bloom much longer, which is one reason we wanted to go opening weekend. It wasn’t huge, but it was so pretty!

This year’s corn maze theme is “Snoopy 4 Prez!” I do enjoy a corn maze, and this one had wide, clearly-marked paths.

Although we took a photo of the map before entering the maze, we got lost pretty quickly! We accidentally found the entrance a couple times before heading deeper into the maze. Once we finally made it to the pumpkin’s mouth, we realized we were going to have to walk all the way to the left of the map, then all the way up to the top and back down the right side in order to finish. At that point, we figured we’d probably done enough corn maze and just made our way back to the entrance. So – just be aware that it is a LARGE maze if you do the whole thing!

The Snoopy 4 Prez text at the bottom of the map is a separate, smaller maze. So you may want to consider that if you’re there with younger kids.

Concessions

We definitely needed a cool-down after doing the corn maze. And I was so excited to see a sign advertising apple and pumpkin donuts and cider! I love the idea of getting donuts at a pumpkin patch, but that doesn’t seem to be as common around here. The apple cider was so good, and just what we needed. There were several picnic tables available as well. Altogether, our two donuts and cup of cider cost a little over $6, which seemed reasonable.

In addition to donuts and cider, Livesay has a Burger Barn serving up burgers, hot dogs, fruit hand pies, warm roasted pecans and drinks. I’m kind of wishing we’d investigated the hand pies now, but we didn’t make it back to the Burger Barn before leaving.

Pumpkins and Apple Picking!

Here’s our pumpkin, still on the vine!

We’ve been to a couple pumpkin patches before, but neither of them had a pumpkin field where you could pick your gourd fresh off the vine. So that was a really fun experience! We took the tractor-pulled haywagon out to the pumpkin field, and got off. You’re pretty much left to your own devices at that point. They had several pre-picked pumpkins in the field, if you didn’t want to pick yours off the vine (which is a little prickly). If you do pick one off the vine, they come off pretty easily.

I believe the pumpkins were 59 cents per pound, which sounds cheap. However, I’ve definitely picked a large pumpkin before, thinking “Wow, that is so cheap!” – not realizing how heavy pumpkins can be! So we looked out for a smaller one this time.

In addition to pumpkins, there are some cute photo ops and scarecrows in the field, so those are worth a visit, too. It all makes for a really charming experience. When you wait for the haywagon to come back, there’s a covered area with hay bales so you can sit and don’t have to wait in the sun.

Apple Picking

After picking our pumpkin, the haywagon returned. Next stop, the apple orchard! This was another experience we hadn’t done before, so I’m so glad we had the opportunity. After washing our hands at the handwashing station, we picked up a cardboard bucket and headed into the orchard! We mostly picked Granny Smith apples, as those are best for baking.

The apples were $2 per pound. You pay for both the apples and pumpkins at the market near the parking lot. Of course, we had to purchase a cup of peach ice cream (Livesay is also known for its summertime peaches). So we enjoyed that before heading back to Tulsa!