New Era's farm country

Camels, kangaroos, sloths, and lemurs are not what you expect to find a mile off the highway in Oceana’s fruit country — but that’s the petting zoo at New Era, a village most people would zip past without a second look. Just off the exit sits one of West Michigan’s most beloved family destinations.

Lewis Adventure Farm and Zoo is a real, working fruit farm that the Lewis family has run for five generations. It started back in the 1970s as a simple roadside fruit stand, and after a fresh start in 2004 it grew into a sprawling seven-hundred-acre playground. These days it offers more than forty different attractions, from a giant corn maze and a barrel-train ride to a splash pad, and a petting zoo with over a hundred animals, where barnyard ponies and goats share the place with camels, kangaroos, sloths, and lemurs. You can still pick your own fruit, too, and the market and bakery are worth a stop on their own.

New Era’s other claim to fame is just down the road: Country Dairy, a working dairy farm that offers tours, a café, and a store full of fresh milk, cheese, and ice cream. Together they make this little crossroads a surprisingly big day out. You can check Lewis Farms’ hours and seasons at lewisadventurefarm.com.