Absolutely loved this farm! Rustic and hidden away and left with such a happy heart. Sons Kevin and Nathan (hope I'm remembering their names right) couldn't have been nicer. Busy as can be but still patient even answering questions. Grounds have adorable little tents with stoves in them to keep staff warm along with fun activities and a warming room for guests. Give them your business. This is "shop local" at its finest. Thanks Pioneer Farm!! My first Christmas memory of 2023. read more

Anyone who doesn't love this place is a grinch! - - -The farm looks as if it came straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie. -They offer a variety of tree species and you get a perfect hand drawn map of the property. -The saws are the sharpest saws I have ever used at a "cut your own" tree farm. Took me all of 15 seconds to cut down the tree -Everyone is super friendly and definitely in the holiday spirit -There are warming sheds and open fires -The property is small(ish). It's easy to navigate. The day we went it was cold and rainy and it was a perfect amount of walking. We've been to a half dozen local farms and this one takes the cake. It's not too commercial or chaotic. It's perfect. Small draw back - we came at the last weekend of the season and my husband thought all of the trees were either too small or too imperfect. Let it be known that I found about a dozen lovely firs (all at around 6ft tall) that I loved. We ended up finding a lovely tree (on the smaller side). Pioneer Tree Farm will be our first stop next year. read more

Pioneer Tree Farm - Christmas Trees Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

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Love this charming little Christmas tree farm - they open their doors during the Christmas season to people to tromp through their fields and cut down a Christmas tree. It's a small property, with a limited selection, thus they have a very limited season. The trees are grown organically. They have a nice sized warming shed, where they sell hand made items (grape vine wreaths etc.) and serve hot chocolate and have a little bit of educational information on the environment. Outside they always have the requisite tractor rides and fire ring. This year they had a wood working display, using antique tools. The man doing this work was more than willing to sit and talk about tools with hubby. They do work with McHenry County Defenders - if I'm not mistaken, some of the proceeds from the sale go to this group. With warm and friendly volunteers, it's always a pleasant visit. Sorry - the tree season is over for 2009. They are working to replant using hardier species, so expect more tree availability in coming years. Would I recommend: Yes - and bring your (leashed) dog too. Would I return: Yes - best tree farm we've found. read more

This is our 3rd year here. I'm not sure what's with the negative reviews, but we've had luck with finding trees. Sure, you've got to hunt around for a few minutes, but that is part of the fun. We don't want a giant one because our ceilings are only 10 feet. Our parents go as well and always find the perfect tree! Stays alive until well past Christmas with daily watering. We love the friendly volunteers and employees, the tractor rides, and the old-school farmyard area is a hit with the kids. It's small and cozy. You can dip and make your own candles and get free hot cocoa in the warming house. It's perfect for drinking around the big community campfire. read more

Our family has had a tradition of cutting down a tree for the last 20 years. Now that the kids are grown and moved out on their own, it is still something we come together to do. We went to Pioneer Tree Farm for the 1st time this year and all I can say is Wow, it has been our loss for not finding it sooner. What a great family experience! What hospitality by the owners! Spent hours there after cutting down the tree having hot chocolate, making candles and learning basic wood working skills. Even fed the chickens. The owners are warm and welcoming and made a good experience great! read more

Super charming with a true family vibe, and had tons of trees that looked great! Cash only; $70 for any size or type of tree.

I'm so disappointed in this this Christmas tree farm. We went to cut down our tree with our 4 year old and 5 year old and if they weren't with us we would have left without a tree. We searched for over an hour to find the best dying tree option because we didn't want to disappoint the kids. Turned out we should have left without a tree. We can't even keep gifts under our tree and removed the tree skirt because our tree is raining needles. We are afraid to plug in the lights in fear it will start a fire. (Should note we have a real tree every year so we are caring for the tree properly). I've already cleaned up under our trees 2 times today (it's now 11 AM) and there are tons of needles on the ground again. See pic. When we left the farm both my husband and I felt the workers and owners knew their trees were unhealthy and selling them anyways which is unethical and the opposite of the Christmas spirit. You can't just label something "organic" because you aren't properly caring for it. Next year we will drive further for a better tree. Luckily despite all odds this was our first time cutting a tree as a family and something we will do again (elsewhere) because it was a fun family activity. If you are looking Charlie Brown Christmas tree this is your place! read more

Pioneer Tree Farm - 3rd time cleaning under our tree today. Unable to keep tree skirt or gifts under tree due to it raining needles - Christmas Trees Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

This is our 3rd year in row going to Pioneer since we moved here 3 years ago. What can I say, my 7 year old daughter loves this place. The owner, Bill, has been here for decades and is a wealth of knowledge. The folks that help the kids make candle holders and candles are great. They use tools from the 1800s and are fantastic with the kids. This is a family farm, not Richardsons. The trees are very natural and it's all walkable. There are free hayrides, chicken feeding, campfires, tug of war, fresh homemade cookies/brownies for sale, real hot chocolate. It's a blast from the past is the best way to describe this place. My daughter has been to Richardsons for the corn maze but when it comes to Xmas trees, she likes Pioneer best. It's just a really homey feel. The folks complaining about the tree height/selection/etc. seem a bit out of touch. Most Xmas trees are around 6 feet tall (ish) since the stand plus tree plus Xmas tree topper end up very close to an 8 foot ceiling which is what most American homes have. We got an 8 1/2 foot tree simply by checking the sections of the farm that had older growth. It's not a perfect tree but it's perfect for us. There were plenty of people to help load the tree on the roof and to help safely lash it down. Another successful Xmas tree "huntSee you next year Bill! Edit: Another year in the bag! Got the full tour of the barn by the "shaving horse". As always, Bill was there to wish us Merry Christmas. The volunteers remembered us from years past and it felt like coming home again. Found a "perfect" tree for our family yet again with a fantastic hay ride and tug o war. My daughter got to make an awesome candle holder this year that is totally different than any of the previous ones. Bill, thank you so much for allowing my family to spend time on your farm. Your family and the volunteers make for a great experience. I just found out this year that you guys make your own twine for tying down the trees on the car roof. The education about the Black Walnut trees was an added bonus. I can't wait to get back to play under the chestnut tree! read more

Waste of time, any tree over 4.5 feet tall was dead on the bottom half. The people were all very nice but the tree selection was awful. We won't be back. read more

I love this place! We have come here for many years and will keep going back. Note: this is an organic tree farm. The trees are not treated, they aren't dyed, they aren't shaped. They will look funky. And they will look like trees. We bought a lovely tree this year! They have tractor-pulled hayrides to take you closer to the field and to help you bring your cut tree to the parking lot. They have saws. They have a warning tent with free hot chocolate and coffee. They also have some nice pioneer life demos (this year was woodworking and candle making) and chickens to feed. The staff/volunteers are super friendly and helpful. And all trees are the same price: $45, and some of the proceeds support the McHenry County Defenders. We paid much more for a similar sized lot tree last year that ended up raining needles by Christmas. If you are looking for a no-frills cut-your-own tree experience, this is it. And if you want to know that your tree is organic and that it will be replaced and cared for by other organic tree farmers in the future, this is the place. You can comfortably say that you are doing something good for the environment by chipping down a tree here. read more

We cut down a lovely tree. The kids loved making their own wood candle bases and dipping their own candle. Very friendly owners. The trees are organic too! We also bought some really cute hand made ornaments read more

This is a great family business. We have gone for 6 years now to cut our own trees, and the unique pioneer experience they provide to the kids is great. read more

This place is terrible. Absolutely no trees taller than 6 feet. The small trees they do have look terrible and are half dead. Nothing here is full or nice. They are all bare around the bottom 1/3 - so now your 5 foot tree is only around 3 1/2 foot. They charge $50 per ugly tree! If you want to pay ridiculous money for a table top tree, this is your place. I would never come back! Don't waste your time or money. I saw more people leave without a tree than with one. It's a joke to call this place a Christmas Tree farm!!!! If you want a nice experience and a great tree go to Richardsons in Spring Grove - just 12 miles from Pioneer. read more

We really wanted to love this place. Charming, friendly, helpful. BUT, there were NO trees that we could cut. We simply wanted a six foot tree. Most of their tree were 4 feet at most, and most look worse that a Charlie Brown X-mas tree. And they wanted $45 for these trees (they would cost $15 at a nursery, if a nursery would sell them). Nice place, nice people, NO TREES (and I don't see how this could change by next year). Go to Richardson's! read more

This place was a bust. We hauled it out there from the city, about 90 minutes, to pick out a tree. The people were charming and the setup was welcoming, but the trees were about 3-4 feet high at most. This would have been helpful info to have on the website. Apartment dwellers with very, very limited space might like the trees and the overall experiences (tractor ride, hot cocoa, some homesteading-type craft/skill demos), but for us, it was a big disappointment and waste of time. read more

This was the first time we visited Pioneer Tree Farm and we loved it! We got a beautiful 6 ft tree that I enjoy knowing was grown organically and helps the environment. The experience was great, friendly staff, wagon ride, warming house and free hot chocolate. If you are looking for a tree that had been dyed and shaped and sprayed with chemicals this is not the place for you. If you are looking for a good experience, an organic real tree and helping the environment I encourage you to check them out! read more

Cute family farm. But no trees over 4 foot and not many trees as a whole. Trees not kept shaped and either skinny or round. Workers were all very nice and helpful, but very disappointed in trees. Drove 45 minutes. If you want a large amount of trees to pick from do NOT come here!! read more

I don't normally post on these, but thought it would be in the best interest of those who would be making a long trip as we had. We drove 90 minutes to find that this tree farm had a pretty bad selection of trees. ALL of the trees hardly had any branches on them, were scraggly looking and certainly weren't worth a 90 minute drive. The workers at the farm were very welcoming, but unfortunately if you're looking for a nice full Christmas tree- this is not the place to go. Totally BUST. We actually ended up going about 5 minutes from Pioneer Tree Farm to another called Richardson Farms because we didn't want it to be a wasted trip. We certainly hit the jackpot with that farm because they had a huge and beautiful selection of Christmas trees. Along with that, several different types! read more