Hello, peak apple season!
You can take advantage of the full bounty of the harvest season with a day trip to the Hood River Fruit Loop. It’s a 35-mile loop of more than two dozen farms and farm stands, outside Hood River.
Here are three great orchards where you can pick your own — or just take in the views and buy some apples:
🍏 Kiyokawa Family Orchards
Current hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (weekends), 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. (weekdays)
Founded in 1951 by Japanese-American survivors of U.S. internment camps, the orchard is still family-owned. They have 150 varieties of apples — as well as pears and peaches (which ripen earlier in the season).
The farm keeps an updated list of what’s available for picking. Over the course of the season, you can pick more than three dozen different kinds of apples. Right now that includes Galas, Honeycrisps, and Red Rubens. There’s even more variety in their farm stand on site.
Have a favorite apple? They’ve got a rough schedule of when you can expect them to be available.
The fact is, you’ve probably already enjoyed their apples at any number of Portland restaurants, including Baker & Spice, Kachka, and Lauretta Jean’s. They’re also at more than a dozen local farmers markets.
Gala apples. (Brooke Boyer / Getty Images)
🍎 Mt. View Orchards
Current hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
They had 15 minutes of fame with a visit from “Top Chef” contestants. But the orchard is another family farm that’s been around for 50 years and has 50 acres of orchard, with 100 varieties of apples. Also available for the picking are Italian prunes and dahlias.
Eater Portland recommends their glazed take on the apple-cider doughnut, as well as a stop for wine and fondue at Grateful Vineyard, which is on-site. (Planning a wedding? They’ve got a venue, too.)
Mount Hood, as seen from a pear orchard. (HaizhanZheng / Getty Images)
🦙 Hood River U-Pick Organic
Current hours: 10 - 5 p.m. (weekends), 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Monday - Wednesday), 10 a.m. - 4 p.m (Thursday - Friday)
If you’re looking for certified organic apples, this is the place to stop. They have Galas and Honeycrisps for the picking.
Bonus: check out their petting zoo with friendly pigs and goats. There’s also Lollipop, Primrose, and Yoshi, the farm’s alpacas, who can be fed or petted through their fence.
Picnic tables are available if you want to bring your lunch.
