Nothing says autumn in Upstate New York like the simple joy of apple-picking. When you find yourself craving fresh-picked apples, cider, and homemade baked goods, fresh from the oven, head to Lakeview Orchard, just off Route 30 in Mayfield. Perched on an idyllic foothill overlooking Great Sacandaga Lake, this time-honored orchard is the perfect place to spend an hour or two, or even an entire day.

More than just an orchard and farm store/bakery, Lakeview offers an invigorating outdoor experience. Picnic tables and benches dot the property, and visitors are encouraged to pack a lunch and picnic among the apple trees. Two wide, grassy trails—one a quarter-mile long, the other one shorter—are kept mowed to enable visitors to stroll the rolling fields beyond the orchard. A park bench halfway through the longer trail provides the perfect place to relax and savor the picturesque views. A giant pumpkin patch adjacent to the orchard offers visitors, young and old, the chance to choose their perfect pumpkin.

“This is our fifth year running the orchard,” says Joe Amell, who co-owns the 28-acre farm with wife Kim Remington Amell, brother Wallace Amell, and sister-in-law Maureen Dignon. “Kim is our number one baker. She loves to bake and uses an old family recipe from her grandmother to make all our pie crusts. When my brother and sister-in-law come down from New Hampshire, Maureen helps out with the baking, too. A degreed baker who used to work for a Boston food company, Maureen comes up with a lot of different recipes, like our apple cider donut muffins and our apple cider donut bread pudding. My daughter-in-law, Rebecca Nichols, designed our business emblem. She also came up with the idea of creating walking trails.”

Cider, maple syrup, homemade baked goods, and an ‘apple buffet’ await you at the Lakeview Orchard store.

Enjoy a picnic lunch in the orchard.

Joe Amell admits he knew nothing about farming when he took over the orchard. “I was a mechanic, not a farmer. I’d worked at John Deere for 35 years, first as a mechanic and, then, as service department supervisor. I had no idea what I was doing, but my brother, Wallace, knew a lot about gardening and planting. The folks at Cornell Cooperative Extension were a big help, too. They’d come right out here, study the trees, and advise us on how and when to trim them, how to ward off destructive insects and fungi, and when and what to spray.”

Amell decided to purchase the orchard in 2022 after his neighbor, Pastor Albert Adamkoski—Lakeview’s former owner—died while saving his daughter from drowning in Great Sacandaga Lake. The orchard and farm buildings had been neglected for decades when the Adamkoski family took over. But under Albert’s steadfast care, things were beginning to turn around.

“Albert was a really great guy,” Amell muses. “When he began clearing the property, I helped him out a lot because I can do almost anything: plumbing, electrical, mechanical, fixing things at his house down the road, keeping his farm equipment running. We turned into really good friends. But the orchard still wasn’t up to par when Albert passed, and I realized no one was going to take it on. There was way too much work involved.”

Fearing the rambling farmland might be sold for development, Amell decided to talk to his wife, brother, and sister-in-law about purchasing the property jointly. “I knew there was no way I could do everything myself,” he says. “This really is a team project. Everyone helps out.”