Take Your Pick: The 20 Best Fruit Farms Across the United States

Founded in 1651, the Belkin Family Lookout Farm, located in South Natick, Massachusetts, less than 20 miles from Boston, is one of the oldest continuously operating farms in the country. The farm cultivates more than 60,000 fruit trees, including apple, peach, nectarine, and plum, on 180 acres and offers pick-your-own fruit from June through October.

Located about 50 miles outside of Houston in Simonton, Texas, Blessington Farms bills itself as “a slice of the country, close to the city!” Run by former Iowa farmers Lynne and Dave Johnson, the farm offers a slate of fun activities, including catch-and-release fishing and a Farm Funland for the kids, as well as pick-your-own strawberries, blueberries, thornless blackberries, and pumpkins.

Adventure and flavor await at Showcase of Citrus in Clermont, Florida. When other U-pick fruit farms are closed for the season, this farm teems with life—with more than 50 varieties of citrus fruit growing along acres of groves. Open from November through May, the farm also offers field trips, group tours, educational amusements and a petting zoo.

At Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard in Nebraska City, visitors are free to roam 40 acres that burst forth with fruits and vegetables from June through October. Strawberries, peaches, asian pears, apples and pumpkins are all available in this U-Pick operation, but the cherries may be the biggest star at this establishment—they’ll even pit them for you before you leave the farm.

At nearly every time of year, you can find something that’s ready to pick at Froberg’s Farm in Alvin, Texas. The pick-your-own strawberry season starts as early as January and runs through May, while pick-your-own citrus—satsumas, Texas navel oranges, tangelos, grapefruit, and sweet kumquats—begins in November and lasts through January.

The Zurschmeide family has been farming at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains since the 1970s. Great Country Farms, located in Bluemont, Virginia, was started by the second generation of Zurschmeides in 1993. The 400-acre farm offers a huge variety of seasonal pick-your-own produce, including strawberries, cherries, black raspberries, blackberries, peaches, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, and pumpkins.

How could you not be happy here? Happy Valley Farm, located in DeSoto, Kansas, features pick-your-own blueberries, blackberries, bush cherries, gooseberries, and grapes. The family-owned farm also offers an assortment of produce picked at neighboring farms. All year round, you can fill your own jar with honey from the farm’s resident beehives, and come fall you can press your own apple cider.

Nestled in the rich farmland of the Hudson Valley, Hurds Family Farm is a seventh-generation family-run farm in Modena, New York. At Hurds, more than 20 varieties of apples are on offer as well as pumpkins and, starting in late November, both cut-your-own and precut Christmas trees. Throughout the fall, enjoy a corn maze, hayride, petting zoo, and other kid-pleasing activities, then head over to the family’s 18th-century Dutch threshing barn to purchase gifts and refreshments.

Located in the historic hamlet of Boxford, Massachusetts, Ingaldsby Farm offers a seasonal selection of pick-your-own produce. Just some of the crops include strawberries, blueberries, peaches, green beans, snap peas, tomatoes, corn, apples, and pumpkins. The farm’s shop features baked goods, local crafts, and artisanal foods, and in early spring, the farm sells colorful annuals.

Take a hayride any time of year and pick your own tasty treats at Johnson’s Corner Farm, located in Medford, New Jersey. The farm offers pick-your-own strawberries, sugar snap peas, cherries, blueberries, sweet corn, peaches, string beans, apples, and pumpkins. At the Discovery Barn and Animal Farmyard, little ones enjoy a fun, hands-on farm experience.

If your idea of summer delight includes a freshly baked cherry pie, the 13-acre farm at Cherry Lane Orchards has plenty of fresh tart cherries to fill your pie plate. Located in Sturgeon Bay, the orchard specializes in a pick-your-own experience but also sells pre-picked sweet and tart cherries for those who want the fruit without the fuss. 

Started in 1965 as a roadside produce stand, Remlinger Farms has grown into a 200-acre tourist destination that annually welcomes more than 200,000 visitors from all over the world. Located in Carnation, Washington, the Remlinger family farm offers the “first and best fruits” in its pick-your-own operation, which includes strawberries, raspberries, and pumpkins. The farm also features a full-service restaurant, bakery, ice cream parlor, large picnic areas, and the Country Fair Fun Park.

Run by a third-generation farming family since 2004, Rittman Orchards, located in Doylestown, Ohio, offers a variety of u-pick items, including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, and pumpkins. A huge range of fruits and vegetables are sold in the farm’s market. The family recently opened a cider mill and winery, Bent Ladder Cider and Wine.

The Shafer Farm is a 76-acre jewel nestled in the rolling hills of Southwestern Michigan, located in the town of Baroda. Now being operated by local farmers Doug and Suzy Forraht, the farm is known for its tree- and vine-ripened fruits, including five varieties of peaches, 10 varieties of apples, Concord and Niagara grapes, and many sizes and shapes of pumpkins, squash, and gourds.

Apples are truly the stars of the show at Soons’ Orchards, located in New Hampton, New York, just a short drive from the well-known Woodbury Commons outlet mall. Soons’ offers more than 28 varieties of apples as well as pick-your-own peaches and pumpkins. Hayrides, homemade apple cider, pies, doughnuts, fudge, and jams and jellies round out the farm’s attractions.

The Carter family has been farming in Georgia’s Henry County for eight generations, five of them here at Southern Belle Farm in McDonough. The pick-your-own season starts in April with strawberries and continues throughout the year with blackberries, blueberries, peaches, grapes, and pumpkins. Fall brings the farm’s popular four-acre corn maze as well as hayrides, the corn cannon, and plenty of good, wholesome fun.

A farmer since 1977, Vern Stade is considered a pioneer in the agritourism movement, offering a variety of fun, entertaining, and educational activities at Stade’s Farm & Market in McHenry, Illinois. The farm’s Shades of Autumn Fall Festival in September and October is eight weekends filled with family fun and entertainment, including the rides and other amusements of Farmtractions Park. The pick-your-own season begins in June with strawberries and continues with sugar snap peas, raspberries, green beans, tomatoes, apples, and pumpkins.

Underwood Family Farms‘ fresh, locally grown California produce has become so popular that the family now offers two locations, one in Moorpark and the other in Somis. The two locations offer a dizzying variety of fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruits, including arugula, beets, blackberries, blueberries, bok choy, broccoli, broccolini, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, cilantro, fennel, grapefruit, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lemons, lettuce, oranges, parsley, peas, radishes, raspberries, spinach, strawberries, tangerines, and pumpkins.

Pick your own apples and then sip a little wine or hard cider at Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery, located in the heart of the Hudson Valley’s fertile Black Dirt region in Warwick, New York. Warwick Valley offers an astounding 60 different apple varieties to pick from as well as a huge assortment of wines, fruit wines, hard cider, and spirits. Live music and festivals highlight fall weekends.

Silicon Valley is home to more than just tech firms: Webb Ranch is a picturesque spot for horses and fresh produce, located on more than 230 acres in Portola Valley, California, near Stanford University. Established in 1922, Webb Ranch offers certified organic fruits and vegetables on a seasonal schedule as well as riding instruction and scenic trails. Berries are a specialty, including olallieberries, raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, boysenberries, and marionberries.