A few of my favorite (semi-local) places to visit during the Fall season are Oak Glen and Julian! These are two small towns in Southern California known for their apple orchards and cozy little small town vibes. A few years ago we spent the weekend in Julian and I’m hoping to visit again within the next month or so. BUT a few weeks ago, we did make it up to Oak Glen for the day!
Oak Glen is famous for it’s apple orchards and autumn festivities in particular. The two lane road is full of different farms for apple picking, eating, and shopping. Almost every farm operates as a “U-Pick” for apple picking and my kids absolutely LOVED it! This was their very first time! Peak apple picking season starts after Labor Day and then runs through October, so I always try to make it a priority to do early October to make sure the orchards are still full!
My daughter had a 9 am soccer game, so we didn’t actually make it to Oak Glen till around 1 pm. If you’re able to, I’d definitely recommend going earlier, just so you have the chance to hit more farms/eateries, there are a few places that serve specialty coffees and I was dying to get one, but if I drink caffeine anytime after like 11 am, it’s over for me lol. I will not sleep that night, I’m pretty sensitive and like to plan my coffee intake much earlier in the day. But they all sounded SO good!
When we got into the main stretch of farms, we drove down the entire two lane highway top to bottom to decide where we wanted to go. We did get hit with a little bit of rain, so we decided to stop for lunch before apple picking. Which reminds me, majority of farms and shops and restaurants close at 5/5:30 pm. So definitely keep that in mind as well! The town definitely shuts down early.
We stopped at Wilshire’s Apple Shed for lunch- their wood fired pizza was AMAZING! I also got a warm apple cider that definitely hit the spot and made my fall-esque dreams come true, enjoying it while I watched it drizzle outside!
After eating, we shopped in their country market that was right next door and connected to the little cafe, I absolutely had to buy a jar of their homemade pumpkin butter!
Then it was time to go apple picking! We stopped for apple picking at Los Rios Rancho, they had a pumpkin patch as well and offered a variety of different types of apples for picking. We went to the Granny Smith lot and then the Fuji lot for apple picking! And filled one bag full of each apple!
**TIP: if you go to one of the bigger apple farms, there are usually lines to wait in before you enter the actual lot of apple trees, you want to confirm that you’re in the right line for the right type of apple you’re hoping to pick. There were a lot of angry people towards the end of the day that didn’t get to pick Fuji apples because they didn’t know where the line was and then the line closed by the time they got there. I knew I wanted Fuji so we went straight there first.
After apple picking, they had a ton of food trucks parked in the dirt lot, so we stopped and got fried oreos at one of the trucks before heading out!
One thing I wish we did, but we didn’t have time for was Snow Line Orchard, apparently they’re famous for their apple cider donuts. We did drive to that orchard but the line was INSANE to get in and it was a very tiny, tiny parking lot that a ton of cars were waiting for parking in. Definitely something I’d consider hitting earlier in the day if you can before it gets too packed! They do have a little cafe and had live music when we drove by!
We got to our car around 5:30 pm and made the trek home! It was such a cozy, fall day! One I was desperate for since it’s been SO HOT in California lately!
Day Trip Summary // Places to Visit
+ Wilshire Apple Shed : stop by early for coffee and definitely drop in for lunch- pizza and apple ciders!
+ Snow Line Orchard : go get the apple cider donuts ASAP!!
+ Los Rios Rancho : for apple picking and food trucks!
I hope this inspires you to have your own Fall filled adventure!
