Pick-Your-Own Apples: Where to Do This Fall Tradition

Across the country, from Virginia to Oregon to throughout the Northeast, picking apples is a favorite family activity on a crisp fall day. In many regions, family travelers don’t need to travel far to find an orchard. In New England you’ll find orchards in every state.

Some pick-your-own apple orchards expand their appeal by adding other farm and harvest activities, so you can make a day of visiting them. Red Apple Farm, in Phillipston, Massachusetts, is a fourth-generation family farm where kids can not only pick apples but also meet farm animals, go for hayrides and eat pizza baked outdoors in a wood-fired oven.

Red Apple Farm is in Central Massachusetts, and sits close to the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed (yes, he was a real person), who set out across the new frontier to plant apple trees and was responsible for orchards throughout the Midwest that survive even today.

You don’t need to live in a rural area to go apple picking. Maryland offers more than a dozen pick-your-own apple orchards. Close to Baltimore, Weber’s Cider Mill Farm sells their own apple cider, while Homestead Farm in Poolesville is a short drive from Washington, D.C. Six pick-you-own apple orchards are within easy reach of Portland, Oregon.

Many orchards grow a variety of fruits you can pick yourself. In Virginia, both Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville and family-owned Showalter’s Orchard in the Shenandoah Valley grow peaches that ripen June through September.

To find a pick-your-own apple orchard near you, visit here.