Roaming livestock is part of the experience at Bierwagen's Donner Trail Fruit. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Daytripper

Donner Trail Fruit Ranch is blast of home-cooked past

Destination: Bierwagen's Donner Trail Fruit in Chicago Park.

Overall rating: **** (out of five)

Rating for kids: ****

Rating for seniors: ***

What's the attraction: An old fashioned, family owned and operated fruit ranch.

What to do: There is the fruit stand that offers peaches and apples, nectarines and also raspberries. There are little sheep also with bells around their necks that just add to the atmosphere and some gobblers in pens kids love to watch. Up the road as you enter the ranch, is the Happy Apple Kitchen. The kitchen is open for lunch Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The menu offers burgers including a Happy Apple Burger, hot dogs with sauerkraut, salads, chili and of course dessert. In October, on the weekends, there is the pumpkin patch. They grow a variety of different kinds.

Cost: Whatever you want to buy.

Location: From Lodi, Highway 99 north to Highway 174, only four miles from Interstate 80 / Colfax and 10 miles from Grass Valley. Look for the signs that say "Donner Trail Fruit" and "Happy Apple Kitchen." End at 17473 Lower Colfax Road.