🍎 15 Apple Orchards Worth the Drive in New England This Fall
Great apples, cider donuts, incredible scenery, and 15 very good reasons to take a fall road trip.
There are apple orchards, and then there are apple orchards worth planning a road trip around.
New England has hundreds of places to pick apples, so narrowing this list to 15 wasn’t exactly easy. We weren’t looking for just a tree, a bag, and a parking lot.
We wanted orchards with something more: unusual apples, spectacular scenery, legendary fall treats, generations of history, a memorable farm experience, or some combination of all of the above.
Our picks were based on six things:
🍎 Apples • 🍩 Food • 🍂 Fall Experience • 🏔️ Scenery • ✨ Uniqueness • 🚗 Road-Trip Appeal
The ultimate question was simple:
Would we tell someone it’s worth driving past other perfectly good orchards to experience this one?
For these 15, the answer is yes.
🍎 DOOZY TIP: Apple varieties, picking conditions, hours, and activities change throughout the season. Always check directly with the orchard before making the drive.
NEW HAMPSHIRE 🍎
1. Gould Hill Farm
Contoocook, New Hampshire
📍 656 Gould Hill Road, Contoocook, NH 03229
🍎 THE PICK: An enormous selection of apple varieties, from familiar New England favorites to less-common choices.
🍩 THE BITE: Fresh cider donuts, baked goods, sweet cider, and an on-site hard cidery.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Apple picking, a farm store, pumpkins, live music, and spectacular views toward the White Mountains.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: The scenery. Gould Hill combines serious apple variety with one of the most impressive orchard settings in New England. On a beautiful fall day, the views alone justify the trip.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Orchard View
2. Alyson’s Orchard
Walpole, New Hampshire
📍 615 Wentworth Road, Walpole, NH 03608
🍎 THE PICK: A large selection of apples, including familiar favorites and less-common varieties, along with other tree fruits.
🍩 THE BITE: Cider donuts, cider, pies, and seasonal farm treats.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: A sprawling property with ponds, rolling hills, and beautiful views across the Connecticut River Valley toward Vermont.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Alyson’s gives you the complete New England orchard setting. Come for the apples, but give yourself time to enjoy the property and scenery.
3. Applecrest Farm Orchards
Hampton Falls, New Hampshire
📍 133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, NH 03844
🍎 THE PICK: Dozens of apple varieties at one of New Hampshire’s best-known farm destinations.
🍩 THE BITE: Hot cider donuts, fresh cider, bakery treats, and plenty of other farm-market temptation.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Pick-your-own fruit, tractor rides, live music, seasonal festivals, and a large farm market.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Applecrest delivers the classic big New England fall experience. If your ideal orchard trip involves apples, donuts, music, and plenty happening around the farm, this is your place.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Classic Fall Experience
VERMONT 🍎
4. Champlain Orchards
Shoreham, Vermont
📍 3597 VT-74 W, Shoreham, VT 05770
🍎 THE PICK: A staggering selection of apples, including familiar favorites and unusual varieties, at one of Vermont’s oldest continuously operating orchards.
🍩 THE BITE: Donuts, pies, pastries, sweet cider, and farm-crafted hard cider.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Pick-your-own fruit, a farm market, cider, and gorgeous Champlain Valley scenery.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Apples + scenery + cider. Few places combine serious apple variety with such a beautiful Vermont setting.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Overall Apple Destination
5. Scott Farm Orchard
Dummerston, Vermont
📍 707 Kipling Road, Dummerston, VT 05301
🍎 THE PICK: This is where apple picking gets fascinating. Scott Farm specializes in a huge collection of unusual and heirloom varieties.
Forget choosing between McIntosh and Honeycrisp. This is where you can discover apples you probably won’t find at your local supermarket.
🍩 THE BITE: Fresh apples, cider, and seasonal café offerings.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Historic buildings, orchard walks, workshops, events, and a farm dating back to 1791.
There’s even a Hollywood connection: scenes from The Cider House Rules were filmed here.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: If you’re genuinely interested in the apples themselves, Scott Farm may be the most fascinating stop on this entire list.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best for Serious Apple Lovers
6. Mad Tom Orchard
East Dorset, Vermont
📍 2615 Mad Tom Road, East Dorset, VT 05253
🍎 THE PICK: A smaller orchard offering classic New England favorites alongside varieties such as Honeycrisp, Macoun, Northern Spy, Fuji, and others.
🍩 THE BITE: Fresh cider and seasonal donuts.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Pick apples on a Vermont mountainside, bring a picnic, and soak in the surrounding scenery.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Mad Tom doesn’t need a carnival attached to it. The orchard itself is the attraction. It’s simple, beautiful, and wonderfully Vermont.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Small-Orchard Charm
MAINE 🍎
7. Cayford Orchards
Skowhegan, Maine
📍 99 Hilton Hill Road, Skowhegan, ME 04976
🍎 THE PICK: A family orchard with dozens of varieties and a particular emphasis on heirloom apples.
🍩 THE BITE: Fresh cider and seasonal farm products.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: An authentic pick-your-own orchard that puts the fruit and farming front and center.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Cayford is for people who appreciate the apple part of apple picking. It’s an old-school orchard experience with varieties you won’t necessarily find everywhere else.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Old-School Orchard
8. Treworgy Family Orchards
Levant, Maine
📍 3876 Union Street, Levant, ME 04456
🍎 THE PICK: Pick-your-own apples at a farm designed for visitors to stay considerably longer than the time required to fill a bag.
🍩 THE BITE: Cider donuts, pumpkin donuts, ice cream, and seasonal treats.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Apple picking, pumpkins, a corn maze, farm animals, hayrides, and plenty of family activities.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: This isn’t merely an apple stop. It’s a fall destination. Families could easily build most of a day around a visit.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best for Families
MASSACHUSETTS 🍎
9. Red Apple Farm
Phillipston, Massachusetts
📍 455 Highland Avenue, Phillipston, MA 01331
🍎 THE PICK: A broad selection of apples ranging from modern favorites to unusual and historic varieties.
🍩 THE BITE: Cider donuts, fresh cider, fudge, baked goods, and plenty of heartier options.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Pick-your-own, farm animals, hayrides, live music, a farm store, cidery, Brew Barn, and seasonal events.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Red Apple Farm is one of the most complete destination orchard experienceson this list. There’s enough happening that you can make the orchard itself the day’s adventure.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Full-Day Orchard Adventure
10. Russell Orchards
Ipswich, Massachusetts
📍 147 Argilla Road, Ipswich, MA 01938
🍎 THE PICK: A wide selection of apples, including New England favorites and heirloom varieties.
🍩 THE BITE: Scratch-made cider donuts, fresh cider, bakery treats, and fruit wines.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Apple picking, a farm store, animals, winery, and a beautiful North Shore setting.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Russell has one huge geographical advantage: Crane Beach is nearby.
That creates one hell of a New England fall itinerary:
Beach walk → apple picking → cider donut.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Fall Day-Trip Combo
11. Clarkdale Fruit Farms
Deerfield, Massachusetts
📍 303 Upper Road, Deerfield, MA 01342
🍎 THE PICK: A terrific selection of modern and heirloom apples, along with pears, peaches, and other tree fruit.
🍩 THE BITE: Fresh cider is a particular highlight.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Less festival, more authentic working orchard and farm stand.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Clarkdale is for visitors who want to discover and taste apples they don’t encounter at the supermarket. If variety matters more to you than hayrides and entertainment, put this one on your list.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best for Apple Discovery
CONNECTICUT 🍎
12. Belltown Hill Orchards
South Glastonbury, Connecticut
📍 483 Matson Hill Road, South Glastonbury, CT 06073
🍎 THE PICK: A large assortment of apples available throughout the picking season.
🍩 THE BITE: Cider donuts are part of the attraction, but don’t overlook the apple fritters.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Rolling Connecticut hills, wagon rides, apple picking, and a farm market and bakery.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Belltown combines a beautiful landscape with a genuinely good food reason to visit. Come hungry.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Apple Fritter Stop
13. Maple Bank Farm
Roxbury, Connecticut
📍 57 Church Street, Roxbury, CT 06783
🍎 THE PICK: Modern favorites and heritage apples grown at one of Connecticut’s historic farms.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Apple picking, farm stand, animals, local produce, and a quieter rural atmosphere.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: History. Maple Bank dates back to 1730, giving visitors something increasingly rare: the chance to experience a working New England farm with nearly three centuries of history behind it.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Historic Farm Experience
RHODE ISLAND 🍎
14. Rocky Brook Orchard
Middletown, Rhode Island
📍 997 Wapping Road, Middletown, RI 02842
🍎 THE PICK: An impressive assortment of apple varieties packed into a relatively small orchard on Aquidneck Island.
One particularly interesting variety is the Rhode Island Greening, an apple deeply connected to the state’s agricultural history.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: A smaller pick-your-own orchard that puts the emphasis on apple variety rather than elaborate attractions.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Rocky Brook has something every great travel stop needs: a sense of place.
And because you’re on Aquidneck Island, it’s easy to combine apple picking with a Newport-area fall adventure.
🏆 DOOZY PICK: Best Taste of New England Apple History
15. Sweet Berry Farm
Middletown, Rhode Island
📍 915 Mitchell’s Lane, Middletown, RI 02842
🍎 THE PICK: Seasonal apple picking as part of a much broader fruit-growing operation.
🍰 THE BITE: A farm café, baked goods, desserts, prepared foods, and a substantial market.
🍂 THE EXPERIENCE: Conserved farmland close to Newport and the beaches, with seasonal picking, flowers, a café, and market.
⭐ WHY IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE: Sweet Berry is less about hardcore apple collecting and more about the whole outing.
Pair it with Newport and you’ve got another easy fall road trip.
🏆 The DOOZY Picks
🍎 Best Overall Apple Destination: Champlain Orchards, Vermont
🏔️ Best Scenery: Gould Hill Farm, New Hampshire
🍏 Best for Serious Apple Lovers: Scott Farm Orchard, Vermont
🍂 Best Classic Fall Experience: Applecrest Farm Orchards, New Hampshire
👨👩👧👦 Best Family Adventure: Treworgy Family Orchards, Maine
🚗 Best Full-Day Orchard Adventure: Red Apple Farm, Massachusetts
🌊 Best Fall Day-Trip Combo: Russell Orchards + Crane Beach, Massachusetts
🥧 Best Apple Fritter Stop: Belltown Hill Orchards, Connecticut
🕰️ Best Historic Farm Experience: Maple Bank Farm, Connecticut
✨ Best Small-Orchard Charm: Mad Tom Orchard, Vermont
🍎 Best Taste of New England Apple History: Rocky Brook Orchard, Rhode Island
🚗 Turn Apple Picking Into a Fall Road Trip
You certainly don’t need to visit all 15. Your bloodstream would eventually stage an intervention over the cider donuts.
Instead, choose an orchard and make it the anchor for a fall adventure.
🍁 New Hampshire: Orchard + foliage drive + small-town lunch.
⛰️ Vermont: Champlain Orchards for the Champlain Valley or Scott Farm and Mad Tom for a southern Vermont adventure.
🌲 Maine: Head to Cayford for a traditional orchard experience or make Treworgy the centerpiece of a family day.
🌊 Massachusetts: Russell Orchards + Crane Beach is a fantastic coast-and-country combination. Red Apple Farm works as a destination all by itself.
🍎 Connecticut: Belltown offers the bigger fall experience, while Maple Bank provides the quieter historic-farm alternative.
⚓ Rhode Island: Rocky Brook and Sweet Berry are both in Middletown, making it ridiculously easy to add Newport to your apple-picking adventure.
🍎 Know Before You Go
Apple picking is wonderfully unpredictable.
Different varieties ripen at different times, and weather can affect crop availability, picking conditions, activities, and schedules.
Always check directly with the orchard before leaving home, especially if you’re driving a significant distance or hoping to pick a particular apple variety.
And don’t assume September means every apple is ready.
Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Macoun, Northern Spy, heirlooms, and late-season varieties all have different harvest windows.
That’s actually part of the fun.
Visit again later in the season and the orchard can be an entirely different experience.
🍂 FALL INTO AWESOME™
Apple picking isn’t really about filling a bag with fruit.
It’s the drive through changing leaves. The first sweatshirt-worthy morning. The smell of cider donuts when you walk into the farm store. Discovering an apple you’ve never heard of. And somehow bringing home enough apples to feed a moderately sized elementary school.
It’s fall in New England.
Grab the keys. 🚗🍂
EXPLORE AWESOME™ with DOOZY TRAVEL.
TASTE AWESOME™ with DOOZY DELISH.
🍎🍂 FALL INTO AWESOME™
