Massachusetts apple farms are the ideal destination if you’re looking for a bargain staycation. Make it u-pick fruit farm daytrip or plan a weekend at a family orchard in New England.
Enjoy a Local Farm Visit!
Farm stays are a great way to introduce kids to healthy eating and the wonders of nature, and experiencing a pick-your-own fruit farm will reinforce the message. If school has started remotely, enhance your afternoons with a daytrip to a local apple orchard or pumpkin patch. Celebrate the fall season with festivals and entertainment.
Visit our Massachusetts picks around Stow, Phillipston and South Natick, reviewed for apple picking around the greater Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area.
Visit our Massachusetts picks around Stowe, Phillipston and South Natick, reviewed for apple picking around the greater Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area. Call ahead for hours since several are closed Monday and Tuesday. For a complete guide to apple picking orchards and farms across the country, visit our FTF Directory of Top USA U-Pick Farms.
Massachusetts Apple Farms Near the Boston Metro Area
From the Boston Metropolitan area, a few choices for apple picking and farm stand browsing offer excellent day trips for those looking for a pleasant autumn afternoon in Eastern Massachusetts.
Just 20 minutes out of Boston is Belkin Family Lookout Farms. Their farm was established in 1651 yet they keep up with the times. The Lookout Farms Brewing & Cider Company runs the popular Lookout Tap Room. Check their calendar for Trivia nights, outdoor dining, fresh cider and brews, wagyu burgers, pizza and live music. In recent years, the Belkin family have offered kid-friendly pear, peach and raspberry picking, a petting farm and plenty of picnic space. Little ones love picking apples from specially dwarfed trees that allow younger visitors easier reach to the fruit.
It’s easy to visit the oldest pick-your-own Massachusetts apple orchard, just 20 miles east of Boston. Look for Shelburne Farm in Stow, not to be confused with Stow(e) Vermont, where they stay up to date with best practices in modern farming. This farm offers a field full of peaches, Asian pears, pumpkins, and over 15 varieties of apples. Sweet cider, hot apple pies and fresh cider doughnuts stock the shelves of their farm shop. Sample one of the “almost famous” caramel apples. Facilities close when it’s not picking season, so check their website for opening dates, usually in August.
An Almost Pesticide-Free Massachusetts Apple Farm
At Tougas Family Farm in Northborough, look for 30 varieties of apples growing on 40,000 trees! That abundance gives them a very long August to November u-pick season. As a family who always buys organic when we can, we especially appreciate that they use an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system. IPM means their workers hand inspect the fruit to determine if the trees will produce well without the need for pesticides. Plus, at Tougas, count on weekend wagon rides, a small farmyard petting zoo with goats and a cute, farm-themed playground. Work up an appetite for their delicious real-fruit slushies and excellent cider donuts.
USA Today picked them as one of the “top 10 places to pick your own,” so they get super busy in the weeks before Halloween. If it’s apples — and they grow honeycrisp! — or pumpkins you want, call ahead before you drive out there.
Red Apple is One of the Top Massachusetts Apple Farms
The very popular Red Apple Farm in Phillipston is just 60 miles from Boston. Because it’s at more than 1,250 feet above sea level, this farm’s fruit is different (some say better) than the others. They feature a wide selection of pick-your-own berries, pumpkins, hard ciders, and more than 50 varieties of apples. That means an extended picking season, from late July to late October. Noteworthy cider donuts now come in blueberry and strawberry flavors, as well as the classic apple and cinnamon donut everyone loves.
Check their online schedule, because this farming family operates a place on Wachusett Mountain for weekend hayrides and barbecues. Wachusett Mountain Applefest, around the third and fourth weekends in October, features live music and entertainment, a large craft fair, and seasonal food. Kids love the Red Apple’s Black Forest maze and activity barn. We love that this place is 100% sun and wind-powered. Don’t miss their shop in the exclusive Boston Public Market. They are one of only 30 vendors, selling enticing donuts and much more daily, year round.
Is Red Apple too much for your brood? The hilltop Hollis Hills Farm, also in Central Massachusetts, raises 11 breeds of apples to pick from. Go in August for their Paula Reds, a crisp tart apple that makes a great, sugar-free apple sauce. Go late in the season for Evercrisp, a cross between Honeycrisp and Fuji that our kids love for lunch or snacking.
If You Want to Get Into the University, Try Apples from Harvard, Massachusetts
Less than 40 miles east of Boston, the Harvard region of Massachusetts boasts two apple-picking farms who have been honored nominess in the annual USA 10Best Readers Choice Awards. Start with blueberries, a favorite at Doe Orchards, where you pick your own berries while watching their apple orchards ripen during July and August. The friendly staff maintains a long PYO season, with Macouns and Empire apples ripening in late September. Even more varietals (already picked) sell at their farm stand into November. Look for their WWII-era covered bridge, moved onto the grounds. After Labor Day, pets are welcome.
Peaches are the early season draw at the 100-acre, second generation Carlson Orchards in Harvard. Pickers fight over nine varieties of ripe peaches in July and August, then turn their attention to apples. In addition to 50 acres of rolling green fruit trees, explore the 50-year old blueberry patch, raspberry patch, sweet cherries, frog pond and orchard of nectarines. This season, the Carlson’s produce 30,000 bushels of fruit from 16 varieties of apples. There’s also a focus on year round and seasonal hard ciders. No pets allowed.
Massachusetts Apple Farms and More in the Berkshires
About 2 hours west of Boston you’ll encounter the very best of the Berkshire Mountains. Tanglewood concerts, leaf-peeping and museum-going around Lee and Lenox make it a long-standing resort area.
If you’re headed that way, download a copy of the Berkshire Grown Guide to Local Food & Farms, which has comprehensive lists of farmers markets and PYO farms, with information on what’s in season when.
Contact Information for Massachusetts Apple & U-Pick Farms
Before you head out, consider what you’ll do with the apples that you pick. The most popular varieties for eating include the Macintosh, Empire, Fuji, Idared, Red Delicious, and the Jonathon. One of our favorites is the large and juicy Honeycrisp. If sauces or pies are in the plan, try the Golden Delicious, Russet, Cortland and the Mutsu. You may want to call ahead and see who’s got what left on their trees!
Belkin Family Lookout Farm, 508/653-0653, 89 Pleasant St. South, South Natick, MA 01760
Carlson Orchards, 800/286-3916, 115 Oak Hill Road, Harvard, MA 01451
Doe Orchards, 978-772-4139, 327 Ayer Road, Harvard, MA 01415
Hollis Hills Farm, 978/696-3130, 340 Marshall Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420
Red Apple Farm, 800/628-4851, 455 Highland Ave., Phillipston, MA 01331
Russell Orchards, 978/356-5366, 143 Argilla Road, Ipswich, MA 01938
Shelburne Farm, 978/897-9287, 106 West Acton Road, Stow, MA 01775
Tougas Family Farm, 508/393-6406, 234 Ball Street, Northboro, MA 01532
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