Yates Cider Mill: pressing apples on the Clinton River since the 1800s
Yates Cider Mill in Rochester Hills has run since 1863 — cider since 1876, pressed with an 1894 water turbine — where the Clinton River Trail meets fall tradition.
Some Michigan institutions are seasonal by design. Yates Cider Mill is the king of them. William and Caroline Yates started a water-powered mill on the Clinton River in 1863. They began pressing cider in 1876. A century and a half later, the mill still squeezes apples with a turbine installed in 1894. It still spins on river water. And it still causes traffic on Dequindre Road every crisp weekend from Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Cider, fresh-fried doughnuts, fudge, and a riverbank full of families and ducks — fall in southeast Michigan reports here.
The location turns out to be a trail-lover’s bullseye. Yates stands where Rochester Hills meets Shelby Township, right where the Clinton River Trail joins the Macomb Orchard Trail. So half the customers arrive by bike. Add Meadow Brook Hall’s mansion tours and holiday lights, plus the river paths stitching it all together. The Rochester area has mastered something rare: growth that kept its sweet spots.
Where to see it
Dequindre at Avon Road in Rochester Hills, where the Clinton River Trail and Macomb Orchard Trail meet; busiest on golden October weekends.