Lakewood's Backyard Apple Trees Get Their Own Day at Heritage Lakewood on October 17

"I walked in the backyard, and I'm like, 'This is it, I don't even need to see the house.'"

That's Matt Wilgenbusch, talking to CPR News about the 1927 Lakewood farmhouse he and his partner bought. The yard had fruit trees. So did the houses across the street. "There's actually three different apple trees across the street that are old and kind of heritage," he told CPR. Another block or two down, he counts "three or four or five other varieties."

Wilgenbusch is a landscape architect. Since moving in, he has sent spring leaf samples from neighborhood trees to a lab in Washington for DNA analysis. He's grafting heritage varieties in his own backyard, and he gives each neighbor a printed sheet explaining what kind of tree they have and its history. His list so far: Beacon, Cortland, Jonathan, Delicious, Macintosh, Golden Delicious.

This weekend, Lakewood celebrates its apple history with the 50th Cider Days. Many of the trees that history is about are still standing in yards across the city. The October date built for those trees comes two weeks later, on a quieter Saturday at the same park.

Lakewood's orchards became neighborhoods, and some trees stayed

Lakewood didn't plant these trees for decoration. In the early 1870s, homesteaders grew apples for their own use. Valentine Devinny, who ranched near West 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, had opened a "you-pick-it" orchard for Denver residents by 1890. Orchards packed West 13th Avenue between Wadsworth and Kipling in the Eiber neighborhood. More ran along Wadsworth between First and Sixth avenues.

This part of rural Jefferson County was known as the Front Range "Fruit Belt." Denver residents rode the Denver and Intermountain Railroad out for a day of apple picking, on roughly the route RTD's W Line to Golden follows today.

The trees outlasted the orchards because of how the land was developed. CPR reports that the land was subdivided for houses in the 1930s and '40s, and some homes were built around existing trees that kept growing. That's why an old Jonathan or Cortland can turn up in a suburban front yard, and why the trees along Tenth Avenue are worth a closer look. CPR notes that Colorado once had hundreds of apple varieties and most have been lost, including in this area. Wilgenbusch's tree-by-tree records are an effort to identify what's left on his own streets.

The Heritage Lakewood site has its own farm history. In 1936, May Bonfils began buying the land around Kountze Lake. She finished her mansion in 1937 and raised prize sheep and Angus cattle on what became Belmar Farms. Five farm outbuildings survive, including the Calving Barn, Caretaker's Cottage and Auction House. The Calving Barn became the Belmar Museum, which opened in 1976. The antique presses come out at that site twice this month.

Cider Days turns 50, and Saturday morning is already sold out

Cider Days runs Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park, 801 S. Yarrow St. Organizer Mike Pingel told CPR the festival draws more than 10,000 people and takes planning all year. Entry is timed, and those times are filling up. In late September, the city's ticket page showed every Saturday entry from 10 to 11:30 a.m. as sold out. Noon and later slots could still be reserved.

What to know about tickets, from the city's ticket page:

• Price: $17 per adult since the early-bird rate ended Sept. 21, $10 per child ages 1 to 12, free for infants under 1
• Entry: half-hour windows with a 30-minute grace period on either side, and no refunds
• Same festival both days: one admission covers every activity and performance on the day you choose
• Getting there: Ohio Avenue will be closed, so the city routes event parking through Alameda Avenue or Virginia Avenue. Parking on site is limited, and the city suggests transit, rideshare or the free bike valet

New this year is a full-scale apple-launching trebuchet. CPR reports it's set up as a launching competition using discarded, non-edible apples. The city is also selling a limited-edition 50th-celebration mug in small quantities all weekend. The usual favorites are back: antique cider pressing, blacksmithing, tractor pulls, wagon rides, a miniature train and trick pigs.

The music schedule can help you choose a day:

Several of the historic buildings host demonstrations. You'll find WWI sock knitting in the Auction House, blacksmithing in the Tractor Shed, rug hooking in the Caretaker's Cottage and vintage homemaking in the 1930s House.

Cider Days celebrates Lakewood's apple history as a festival, with crowds, timed entry and apples that are already pressed. If you have a tree full of fruit at home, the festival has no place for your apples.

October 17 is built for the fruit in your yard

On Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Heritage Lakewood brings out its traditional wooden presses again for Cider Pressing. You bring the apples. The city's instructions under "What to Bring" are short: "Apples! Lots of them."

How it works:

1. Reserve ahead. A reservation is required. Booking opened in July, July 9 for Lakewood residents and July 11 for nonresidents, through the city's CivicRec page linked from the Cider Pressing event page. Check there for any remaining times.
2. Know the price and party size. It's $25 per reservation for up to six people. Groups larger than six need two reservations.
3. Plan for 20 minutes. Each slot gives you 20 minutes to press as many apples as you can. If your tree had a big year, the city suggests booking a second slot.
4. Bring containers. The city recommends one or two jugs, and says juice jugs and water gallons work well.
5. Arrive 10 minutes early. You'll check in and sign a waiver. A volunteer is assigned to each group to help run the press.

The Oct. 17 date isn't the first session this season. The city also listed a two-hour pressing on Friday, Sept. 18. CPR's photographers were at Heritage Lakewood that day. Their photos show one attendee helping two brothers run an antique press, and two people making their own cider. According to CPR, the museum runs cider making year-round alongside its blacksmithing classes and other heritage craft programs.

At $25 for a group of six, the press day can cost less than Cider Days admission for two adults and a child. And you go home with cider from your own tree. If yours is one of the older trees Wilgenbusch describes, that cider may come from one of the heritage varieties CPR describes as rooted in Lakewood's orchard past.

If you missed a Saturday Cider Days ticket

Sunday's festival is the same as Saturday's, so a Sunday ticket gets you the same experience.

If you'd rather stay closer to home on Saturday, Oct. 3, the Romanian Festival 2026 is at Belmar Plaza, 439 S. Teller St., from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free, with food, music, dance and vendors. It's free and open until 6 p.m., so it fits easily into the same Saturday.

For cider after the press day, the closest taproom we could confirm is Waldschänke Ciders & Coffee at 4100 Jason St. in Denver. It's open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. It's over the city line in Denver, so plan on a short drive from Lakewood.

For more of the city beyond October, our Lakewood neighborhood page and our summer guide to concerts, the Plaza and Big Soda Lake cover more of what's nearby.

If an old apple tree is part of why your Lakewood house feels like home and you're starting to think about your next move, we'd be glad to talk through how your home and yard fit into today's market. Reach out to The Colorado Agents and Get in Touch with Tyler and Gianna.