Directions

Alert! Be sure to avoid traffic jams at the Renaissance Festival on Saturdays and Sundays in August and September! This affects the majority of our customers!!!!!

Sponsel's Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard is easily accessible from all directions, but knowing the best route can save lots of time! The fastest route may not be the first one you'd choose (especially on Saturdays and Sundays in August and September -see Traffic Jam at the Renaissance Festival - below). We've had over three decades of experience helping people get to us. Please let us help you!

• Determine how to avoid Renaissance Festival traffic (below). Many of our customers have been stuck in traffic for over an hour on Hwy. 169, and we have great alternate routes (below). Hwy. 41 through Chaska is also affected.

• Don't use www.mapquest.com or any other Internet services to find us. They have routinely led people miles off course out in the country.

• Print out our map and bring it with you.

• Bring our telephone number with you. If you happen to get lost or stuck in traffic, you can use your cell phone to call us for help.

It is the most direct route for many folks, and for those from the north, it is a little further in terms of mileage, but there are very few stops (some stop signs and a blinking red light). It is a better choice than County Road 42 or Hwy. 13 for anyone on or east of Interstate 35. It's a nice drive, featuring beautiful countryside, some horse ranches, St. Catherine's Church on a hilltop overlooking one of several lakes en route, Doherty's Bar (a little green house/pub that interrupts County Road 8, so that you think it's the end of the road, but it's not) and a couple of golf courses. After taking this pleasant trip, people often thank us for suggesting County Road 8. It is very worthwhile to call 952-953-7778 to hear exact details, especially so you don't get misdirected at Doherty's Bar!

When coming from the southwest (Mankato, St. Peter, Le Sueur, and Belle Plaine) and from the northwest (Hutchinson, Glencoe, Norwood/Young America), en route through Belle Plaine, take Hwy. 169 north until 1.5 miles north of Belle Plaine. Then exit to the right on County Road 66 at the Hot Spot, which is a Phillips 66 Truck Stop and Deli. Continue 1.5 miles on County Road 66 to the orchard entrance, which is Apple Lovers' Lane, and turn right up the hill into the woods. We have good signage on Hwy. 169 and on County Road 66 to help guide you. Make sure you stay on County Road 66 (all asphalt) all the way to the orchard entrance (also all asphalt). Don't mistakenly turn up hill prematurely to the right on County Road 76 (gravel) which does not access the orchard. Using County Road 66 this way will save you several miles compared to using County Road 59, to which you would eventually come if you were to stay on Hwy. 169 going north.

The Renaissance Festival traffic jam occurs between Shakopee and the Festival entrance, which is a mile or so south of the junction of Hwy. 169 and Hwy. 41. To avoid this area, a person can choose one of four cut-offs that really don't add much mileage but very often save an hour or more of delays.

To explain this, let's say a person is on Hwy. 169 coming south and has crossed over the Minnesota River out of Eden Prairie. As usual, don't exit for Shakopee or Savage, but stay on Hwy. 169 in the left three lanes as if headed for Mankato. At this point, Hwy. 169 is headed straight south, but it soon curves to the west (to the right), south of Shakopee. All of our traffic should continue past the exit for County Road 18, where there is a Walmart and a Sam's Club, among others. After that, there are four exits to use as cut-offs. The first, County Road 83, should be used only if traffic has backed up that far (see next paragraph). The next three exits, County Road 17 (Marshall Road), County Road 15 (Marystown Road), and County Road 69 (Old Brickyard Road) can all be used to accomplish the same purpose. Take any one of these parallel, north-south roads south (to the left), and stay on it about three miles until it comes to County Road 14, which is an east-west route. Turn west (to the right) on County Road 14 and go until it ends on Hwy. 169. This is beyond the Festival entrances, so you'll have no traffic jam to deal with when you turn south (to the left) on Hwy. 169 and continue until two miles past Jordan. Then, as usual, turn left on County Road 59 and follow our signs up the hill and through the woods into the orchard. Hooray! You got here!

If it so happened that traffic backed up all the way to County Road 83 (and it can happen!), then a person would head south on County Road 83 for 2.5 miles to the stoplight at the junction of County Road 42. Turn west (to the right) on County Road 42 and go 1.5 miles until it ends at County Road 17. Turn south (to the left) on County Road 17 and go one mile to County Road 14, where it's not necessary to stop, but just ramp west (to the right) onto County Road 14. Then continue 4.5 miles to the end of County Road 14 where it comes to a "T" intersection with Hwy. 169. Turn south (to the left) on Hwy. 169, continuing until two miles past Jordan, and then turn left on County Road 59. Follow our signs up the hill almost one mile to County Road 66. Turn right on County Road 66 and go almost a mile to the orchard entrance at Apple Lovers' Lane. Turn left on Apple Lovers' Lane. It's an asphalt road, curving up the hill through the woods, past some of our 30,000 apple trees on the way to our apple lodge and packinghouse.