The 20 Best Apple Orchards Across the U.S.

Hit the road this fall for a trip to some of the best apple orchards across the U.S. You can find sweet Gala apples for snacking, bright green Granny Smiths for baking into pies and crisps, and MacIntoshes for applesauce. Plan a family outing to pick apples or buy your own. While you're there, find your way through a corn maze, see apples being pressed for cider, get sticky with caramel apples, and hop on a hayride. Check out farm markets and sheds for more to take home; many apple orchards grow other fruits and vegetables.

A quick note: Orchards aren't listed for every state, because some lack enough winter chill hours (periods of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit) for successful apple growing. These include Hawaii and parts of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. Also, late spring frosts in 2026 reduced or took out harvests in some areas, so check availability before you go. We based our choices for the best apple orchards on customer reviews and rankings from a variety of sources.

Can't get enough apples? Learn about growing apple trees in your own backyard.

Shown here: Tanners Orchard in Speer, Illinois

Use our round-up of the best apple orchards in the U.S. (listed in the slides that follow) to find these nutritious, delicious fruits and lots of autumnal fun. Some things to note before you go:

- Check addresses on websites. Some orchards are off main roads, so don't depend solely on a GPS or a navigation app.

- If required, reserve a U-Pick time in advance.

- Be prepared. Most orchards don't have admission or parking fees, but may charge for tractor rides and other attractions and activities.

- Confirm open days and times, which may change.

- Some orchards allow friendly, leashed dogs with an admission fee. Check out the pet policy before you go.

- Use the harvest dates in this gallery as guidelines. Supplies may run low or sell out as the season progresses.

Say "Happy 40th Anniversary" when you visit Apple Annie's Orchard in Wilcox, Arizona. It's in a high-desert environment, but the elevation makes the climate better for growing apples than in low-desert areas. Since opening as a small family-run orchard in 1986, Annie's has become a family destination for picking or buying pre-picked tree-ripened Ambrosias, Braeburns, Red Delicious, and other apple varieties, as well as other seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Bring an appetite and treat yourself to a caramel apple cider slushie, cider doughnut sundae, or a slice of mouthwatering apple pie drizzled with caramel sauce, sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon, and topped with ice cream or whipped cream. Apple Annie's has seasonal events in 2026 to keep you busy and your tummy full. In late September, enjoy a craft fair and Apple Pie Pancake Breakfast. October offers an Apple Cider Donut Special Weekend. Don't miss the 12.5-acre corn maze lined with over 600,000 towering cornstalks, or The Fudge Room, which is stocked with apple pie fudge and homemade apple and apple crumb pies.

Established in 1906, Los Rios Rancho is said to be the largest and oldest apple farm in Southern California. The farm, which is in Oak Glen, grows over 32 traditional and heirloom apple varieties that you can pick or buy pre-picked and sells jams, jellies, honey, and other items. This 150-acre property also has organically grown berries, pumpkins, chestnuts, and corn in season. Apples are usually available until early November.

Don't miss the wagon rides, cider pressing, a kids' mini-farm experience with barnyard animals, and other fun, and pick up a map to guide you around. Bags, baskets, and other picking items are provided, along with instructions (visitors are asked to be mindful that some of the apple trees are over 80 years old). Bring a picnic or dine at an on-site eatery. Walk off those calories with a hike on a nature trail, a trip to see the ponds and botanical gardens, or just forget the calories and enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride. End the day with — what else? A slice of hot apple pie. (Keep the apple pies coming with one of these can't-miss recipes.)

Fuji, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Stayman Winesap, Virginia Winesap, and Granny Smith apples are among the varieties grown here. At the Apple Butter Festival on Nov. 27-29, 2026, watch the last of the season's apples cooked down in a 100-year-old copper pot. The event pays homage to a 16th-century European harvest tradition of preserving the last of the seasonal produce before winter arrives.

Visitors to Ya Ya Farm and Orchard, in Boulder, Colorado, like to pose for pictures by the farm's vintage truck before they buy apples and other fruits and produce from this 8-acre, century-old farm. You'll need reservations for the U-Pick experience, but if it's sold out, pre-picked apples, apple pies, apple cider doughnuts, and other items are typically available until the end of November.

Ya Ya primarily grows heirloom apples. Its early-to-late-season varieties include Indian Summer Crab, Mutsu (the same as variety as Crispin), Jonagold, McIntosh, Liberty, Cameo, and Winesap, among others. Watch for butterflies and hummingbirds fluttering over the flower beds, and cut a bouquet of lavender, zinnias, dahlias, or sunflowers, while they last.

Buy tickets for select dates in October to attend Applefest, and chow down on BBQ, apples, and apple cider doughnuts while listening to live Bluegrass music. Ya Ya hosts tours, weddings, corporate events, and farm-to-table dinners, as well as other events and activities. Ask how to adopt an apple tree, and come back the following year to pick from it.

Historic Lyman Orchards, in Middlefield, Connecticut, is celebrating 285 years of family farming in 2026. Come out to pick apples and other fruits in season, soak up the beautiful scenery around this 1,000-acre property, and play 45 holes of golf year-round on courses that rate among the best in the Northeast. There are courses for every skill level.

The Apple Basket Farm Market sells handcrafted, award-winning apple pies and other fruit pies, baked goods like cider doughnuts, jams, jellies, and other items. Pick your own apples or buy them ready-to-go.

Lyman, one of the largest apple orchards in the state, was voted the Nation's Best Apple Orchard in 2025. It grows over 30 varieties, including Paula Red, Cortland, Honeycrisp, Rome, Empire, Macoun, and EverCrisp. Bring the family for fun, like a trip through a sunflower or corn maze, and an interactive haunted house that's open on select dates in October. Lyman Orchards books private events, birthday parties, weddings, and more.

The fried apple pies at Mercier Orchards are the stuff of legends, so enjoy them while you're there, and bring some home. Take a tractor tour to see the beautiful countryside around the orchard, considered the most popular agritourism destination in North Georgia. Established in 1943, in Blue Ridge, Georgia, it's a fourth-generation family- and veteran-owned and operated venture.

For late-season apples, look for tart Arkansas Blacks to make pies, Ludacrisps to add a tropical taste to salads and desserts, and Pink Lady apples for all-around use. Early and mid-season varieties include Ginger Gold, Ambrosia, and others. Mercier grows, presses, bottles, and ferments its own fruits for wines and hard ciders like Grumpy Granny and sells other regional wines. Ask about sampling wines like Blackberry Winter and 1943 Reserve, which is aged in bourbon-seasoned oak barrels for a smooth, warm flavor.

Bring a cane pole and fish in Mercier's pond for bass, bream, and crappie; it's free, fun, and catch-and-release. You'll also find a bakery, candy kitchen, fruit and produce market, seasonal flowers and produce, and plenty of fresh mountain air.

Founded by Swiss immigrants, the fourth generation of that family still leads the day-to-day operations at Tanners Orchard. This 80-acre farm near Speer, Illinois, outside Peoria, has 20 acres devoted to apple trees as well as a bakery, large farm market, corn maze, and more. Wagons carry visitors to the U-Pick apple trees and pumpkin patch, and friendly, leashed dogs are welcome with a paid dog admission.

Tanners' Back 40 Fun Acres lets kids feed and pet sheep, llamas, chickens (if the chickens want to be petted), and other farm animals, and there's a large, open play area with rides, games, slides, swings, and other structures for climbing and playing.

In 2026, Festival Days take place on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October, including Columbus Day. That's when the Back 40 ramps up with even more fun, like pony rides and face painting, and guests can hitch rides in a covered wagon to the U-Pick area. Keep your eyes open — there's a chance a unicorn will show up.

Tuttle Orchards, in Greenfield, Indiana, is home to award-winning fresh apple cider, scrumptious fall-flavored doughnuts, farm-to-table meals, and treats from its stores and eateries. The first apple trees were planted in 1928, so the farm, which is closed on Sundays, is almost 100 years old.

Availability changes as different apple varieties ripen. Some are U-Pick, and others are pre-picked. Tuttle's grows 28 varieties and also sells apples sourced from other growers. More to do in the fall: Head to the FarmYard for 30 activities to entertain every age, from Grain Bin Basketball to sandbox fun, a straw bale mountain, farm obstacle course, giant slide, and more. Ask about tours, birthday parties, group outings, and large group events.

The climate in Jefferson, Iowa, brings apple season at Deal's Orchard to a close on the first weekend in November. Until then, you can find over 25 different varieties, depending on crop availability. Winesaps, Turleys, Harralsons, Grimes Golden, and Chieftains, for example, are usually ready in early to mid-October.

Check out The Apple Barn for caramel apples, cider doughnuts, gourmet fudge, homemade pies, local honey, apple butter, jams, and other items; the Barn closes in December, and some pre-picked apples may still be available. Send the kids to Apple Acres for jumping pillows, a low ropes course, mazes, human hamster wheels, a bubble barn, apple slingshots, and more. Visit the farm animals or snip a bouquet of sunflowers and zinnias if you're there before frost.

As Deal's says on the website, the farm makes its own hard ciders "from blossom to bottle". Choose the original hard cider or flavors like peach, watermelon, strawberry-lemonade, coffee (yes, really), and others. Festivals on select dates in the fall of 2026 typically offer pony rides, live music, sand art, face painting, a pumpkin patch, and other family fun.

Weather permitting, pick your own apples until November at Cider Hill Family Orchard, or buy them pre-picked while supplies last. This 38-acre property in Kansas City, Kansas, grows 18 different varieties, and posts what's available on its Facebook page. That's also a good place to look for events like Harvest Night on Cider Hill, scheduled for Oct. 23, 2026, and other news.

Catch a wagon ride to the apple trees, kick back around the fire pit, let the kids ride the orchard train, or snack on kettle corn, cider doughnuts, apple pie nachos with homemade cinnamon and sugar chips, and wash everything down with a delicious apple cider slushie. Bring a picnic to eat on the grounds, check out the fish in the ponds, or book your wedding on the property. You can reserve the big Victorian house that sleeps ten, and has a modern kitchen, for wedding guests, your family reunion, a getaway, or other events. Rent the barn, which seats 120, for a church picnic, anniversary party, or corporate event. You can also find yummy recipes for all those lovely apples on the blog.

Milburn Orchards, in Elkton, Maryland, has hosted generations of families who come for its apples, hayrides, apple cider, cider slushies, and tasty apple cider doughnuts. Sadly, late spring frosts led to a near-total loss of its 2026 apple and peach crops.

That means Milburn has a limited supply of its own apples to buy or pick, but the orchard sells apples from other growers. too, and to celebrate fall, it's hosting weekend festivals beginning on Sept. 19, 2026. Look for farm-fresh treats, pony rides, food vendors, and more, including a series of ticketed adults-only evenings called Milburn's After Dark.

Turn the kids loose to play in Milburn's Big BackYard, an interactive area outfitted with a giant sandbox, games like Hoop Toss and Mud Rollers, a tractor display and tractor playground, a bale-trail, and other fun. Plan to visit the orchard again in 2027 for more apples, weather and growing conditions permitting.

You'll find an authentic New England farm experience at Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts. This popular agritourism destination is known for its 50-plus apple varieties, along with seasonal crops of flowers, vegetables (including popping corn and Indian corn), and fruits like pears, peaches, and berries. Empire, Spartan, Spencer, Northern Spy, Winter Banana, Yellow Newtown Pippin, and other apples are typically ready to harvest from late September into October. Pick your own, or buy pre-picked apples to take home.

Red Apple Farm's Brew Barn Taproom and Restaurant offers good food and fun year-round, from beer flow yoga to karaoke, live musical performances, and trivia nights. Stop by The Cidery for fresh, hard cider made on the grounds, and pick up homemade fudge and peanut butter, local crafts, freshly baked pies, local honey and look for the famous apple cider doughnuts at the farm store. Dogs are welcome; see the website for details.

Open year-round, Hickory Ridge Orchard, in Mexico, Missouri, welcomes fall with festivals on every weekend in 2026, from the first weekend of September until the first weekend in November. You might attend a themed Bluegrass Festival, Dog Days in the Maze Festival, Moonlight Event, or Ukelele Festival, among others. Hickory Ridge Orchard is a first-generation apple-growing operation celebrating its 9th year.

Jump aboard the Hickory Ridge Express to tour the farm, shop for caramel apples, apple cider doughnuts, and other items, and see the events calendar for more attractions and activities. This 24-acre orchard grows 23 apple varieties that are usually available pre-picked or U-Pick from late July until early November.

You can also pick pumpkins and sunflowers when they're in season, stroll through a corn or sunflower maze, shoot a corn cannon, take a hayride or train ride, hike a nature trail, and visit the petting zoo and bakery. One of the only raw apple cideries in northeastern Missouri, Hickory Ridge Orchard presses over 5,000 gallons of cider each year.

In 2026, Swanson's Mountain View Orchard, like some other orchards in the Bitterroot Valley and Montana, suffered from hard freezes in April and May. While that made the 2026 apple crop smaller than usual, this family-owned-and-operated orchard typically offers Ruby McIntosh, Snappy McIntosh, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and other varieties with crisp, sweet, tart, or juicy flavors. See the website for U-Pick dates, buy apples on-site, or look for them at select Montana retailers.

Swanson's was founded in 1910 by Swedish immigrants during the valley's "apple boom," and today, the orchard sells all-natural cider (UV-treated to FDA regulations), warm apple cider doughnuts, and frozen apple cider slushies. Ask about the beef operation that allows you to reserve apple- and grass-fed beef for 2027, or buy individual cuts from the farm store. (Apple-fed beef refers to cattle fed with the nutritious peels, seeds, and other soft parts left after apples are pressed for cider.)

Book your field trip or educational tour through the orchard, which practices sustainable farming, and check out its farm-to-table schedule and other seasonal activities, such as the 2026 Apple Cider Donut Days in October and November.

Breathe in the fresh air at Nichols Ranch and Orchards in the Sacramento Mountains — it's fresh, but thin, because this small farm outside La Luz, New Mexico, sits at an elevation of 6,800 feet. Pace yourself, if you're not used to it, and enjoy the spectacular views of White Sands National Park and the Tularosa Basin.

Founded by the Nichols family in Otero County in 1882, this agritourism destination grows apples, apricots, cherries, and other fruits you can pick or buy already picked. Come for the 2026 Apple Festival on Oct. 3-4, a Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 24-25, and a Haunted Orchard experience on Friday and Saturday evenings in October, except for the first weekend.

The farm, spread over some 20 acres, has roughly 3,000 apple trees of different varieties. Pre-picked apples are kept in cold storage throughout the winter, so they stay fresh and crispy in the store. Look for apple cider, too, which is pressed from September to November. The owners appreciate that many of their customers drive a long way to visit each year, so to help them find even more fun, they've compiled a list of other things to see and do in the area here.

Shown here: Vendor tents at a previous Apple Festival.

Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, established in 1911, is located in Lafayette, New York, "the heart of Central New York." Harvest times vary, but you can find apple varieties like Ginger Gold, Paula Red, Jonamac, RubyFrost, Northern Spy, Ida Red, and others. Make time to enjoy all the attractions and dining choices, like Beak & Skiff's 1911 Distillery, the 1911 Tasting Room and Tavern, and the cafe and bakery. Shop for fresh, hand-picked apples and apple cider at The Apple Barn and homemade fudge, sparkling cider, local art, and other souvenirs and treats at The Apple Hill General Store.

Apple Grove Adventure Park is the headquarters for ticketed fun for kids, where they can race ducks, run, climb, slide, jump on inflatable pillows, play lawn games, blow bubbles, ride trikes, and find other fun. See the calendar for other events, like live music and line-dancing, at Beak & Skiff. Too much to see and do in one day? Book a stay at The Houses at Beak & Skiff, so you'll have time for a crafted dinner, arts and crafts workshop, tasting, or another event.

Sky Top Orchard, located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, sells pre-picked apples and welcomes visitors to pick their own. Availability changes with the season at this orchard in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, but many varieties are available into October. Look for Crimson Crisp, Jonagold, Cortland, Early Fuji, and Red and Golden Delicious, among others.

New for 2026: reserve a timed ticket for U-Pick, or take your chances on the apples that are left if you don't book ahead. Visit Sky Top's farm market, Pie in the Sky Pizza restaurant, or bakery, or bring your picnic lunch. There's a small fee for tractor-pulled hayrides, panning for gemstones, children's train rides, and shooting apples across the lake at farm-themed targets. (Sky Top's sheep and geese know to stay away when the apple cannon fires, but they come back after the visitors leave, to feast on the scattered apple pieces.)

Groups can book educational field trips and ride in a tractor-pulled wagon to the U-Pick area; kids can romp on the playground that has a giant sandbox, make their way through a bamboo forest, and feed bunnies, chickens, sheep, and goats.

Apple fans can find plenty of their favorite varieties at Kiyokawa Family Orchards, where over 125 different kinds of apples are grown, along with pears, Asian pears, cherries, peaches, and other fruits when they're in season. This fourth-generation, family-owned orchard has preserved a legacy of Japanese-American family farming for more than a century. Located in Park Dale, Oregon, at the base of Mt. Hood, Kiyokawa is the largest U-pick orchard in the valley. It also sells local honeys, cider, jams, and other products. Bring your own boxes or bags for apple varieties like Blondee, Golden Supreme, Honeycrisp, Crimson Crisp, and others.

Visit on Oct. 3-4, 2026, to pick apples (actually, that's when the orchard celebrates the end of its pear harvest.) You can ride in a hay wagon that weekend, hear live Mariachi music, enjoy a Mexican lunch, and let the kids play with piñatas. Sample over 80 apple varieties, order from food trucks, and have more fun on Oct. 17-18, 2026.

Kiyokawa participates in 13 local farmers' markets in the Hood River and Portland areas. It also partners with various CSA and helps with fundraisers for clubs, businesses, and schools.

Central Bucks County, in southeastern Pennsylvania, is home to Solebury Orchards. Apples and other fruits and berries grow across the farm's 80 acres, and wagons take guests into the orchards on weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays in September and October 2026, you'll need a reservation to pick your apples.

Through Nov. 1, 2026, you can also buy pre-picked apples, although Solebury's own apples may be limited, but they'll also sell apples sourced from New York orchards. Like other orchards, Solebury had a hard freeze in late April of 2026 that took out many of its crops. Some of Solebury's apple varieties typically include Honeycrisp, Pinnacle, and Sweet Maia, a new introduction.

Look for applesauce, apple cider, apple juice, and fruit butters in the orchard market, or order them by mail. Indulge in one of Solebury's signature apple cider slushies while you're there. While the apple trees and other crops recover, Solebury has added fun, new activities for 2026, including craft Sundays, story times, an apple scavenger hunt, and a new pumpkin patch.

When it's fall in Cabot, Vermont, Burtt's Apple Orchard is usually growing more than 50 varieties of apples, and it grows pears and tart cherries when they're in season. Pick up pre-picked Early Honeycrisp, Pristine, Wolf River, Zestar, and other apples from the farmstand, or pick your own while they last. Go home with apple cider doughnuts (if you can wait that long to eat them), raw apple cider vinegar, and apple pies. The farmstand also offers cider slushies, sweet corn, organic maple syrup made from the orchard's 26,000 maple trees, honey, beef, and more. Head to the ten acres of pumpkins to pick your favorites for pies and jack o'lanterns.

Children can frolic on the orchard playground, dig in the sandbox, play apple slingshot and tetherball, or follow a public loop trail through the cow pastures. For extra fun, hunt for a Golden Apple and a Wooden Apple to win small prizes.