Apple Picking in Oak Glen, California: 4 Places to Stop

by Dorothy Reinhold on October 11, 2018


Print This Post Print This Post Make a day of apple picking in Oak Glen, California -- pick your own apples, try cider donuts and hard cider, and buy a Mile-High Apple Pie to take home!

Make a day of apple picking in Oak Glen, California. Bring the family, breathe the crisp mountain air, pick your own apples, eat pie and enjoy the gorgeous scenery in this old-fashioned Southern California mountain town.

If you live in or are visiting Southern California now, get yourself to Oak Glen, a rustic, scenic agricultural community in Apple Country in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 15 miles east of San Bernardino.

It’s a perfect Fall day trip or autumn get-away — family-friendly, old-timey, with places for the kids to run around, gift shops for the adults, and apple-picking and apple-eating as the underpinning of a great day.  The crisp mountain air is matched by the crisp apples just waiting to be plucked by flatlanders, who have flocked here since apples became the main crop in the 1940s.

Apple tree in Oak Glen CA (photo by Don Graham)Oak Glen Road is a 5-mile loop with more than 30 independently owned ranches, farms and businesses, so there is plenty to explore, but I’ll start you out with the apple picking in Oak Glen tour we did with a small group of Los Angeles food bloggers.

Hand drawn map of Oak Glen, Calif.

You know we’re going to steer you to some some delicious destinations. 😀

Dorothy Reinhold standing under and apple tree while apple picking in Oak Glen Calif1. Apple picking in Oak Glen

Riley’s at Los Rios Rancho: This 103-year-old ranch is Southern California’s largest historical apple ranch. Orchards open, ripe, and ready to pick the weekend we went were Granny Smith, Red Rome and Fuji; as different orchards ripen, they will open to pickers. Grab a bag from the counter, walk to the orchard, stroll among the trees and reach up and pick your favorite fruits. When you’re done, pay by the pound. There’s a country store there, as well as meat roasting on a barbecue outside. Take a rest on their expansive grassy lawn (perfect for a picnic), or head on your way to the next stop.

Riley’s at Los Rios Rancho
39611 Oak Glen Road
Yucaipa, Calif. 92399

Oak Glen Cider Co tasting bar with bottles lined up on a purple tablecloth2. Hard cider

While at Los Rios Rancho, hit the Oak Glen Cider Company stand outside, where you can taste and buy their artisanal heirloom hard cider. It’s “hard” because it is fermented, using only apple cider and yeast, which produces a carbonated beverage that is about 6% alcohol. What does it taste like? Rootstock reminded me of an apple-tinged beer, and Gravenstein Cider and Apple Berry Cider might be more likened to wine (rose?), although each taster in our group had a different opinion. I imagined myself with a drippy grilled Gruyere cheese sandwich for lunch, accompanied by a chilled glass of their Rootstock Hard Cider, and I got a big smile on my face. They can hardly keep up with demand, and sell out each weekend, so go early.

Apple Cider Donuts in a white bag at Snowline Orchard and Winery in Oak Glen Calif3. Apple Cider Donuts

Those three little words…so good, so worth the line you may wait in to get them. Stop at Snowline Orchard and Winery, get in the queue outside, and breathe deeply of the cinnamon-inflected air wafting out from the donuttery. (Is that a word? It should be.)  Watch as their machine plops mini donuts into a lake of hot oil, where they swim for a bit, do the backstroke, and emerge, only to be dried off, dusted with cinnamon sugar and slid into a bag for you to munch on, hot, sugary and so deeply satisfying. “These will change your life,” said our blogger guide Sara De Leeuw.  I scoffed until I had one in my mouth. Then I just nodded; the universe had opened its secrets to me.

Snowline Orchard and Winery
39400 Oak Glen Road
Oak Glen, Calif. 92399

Mile-High Apple Pie from Apple Annie's in Oak Glen Calif lined up on shelves of a cooling rack4. Mile-High Apple Pie

You didn’t expect to leave Oak Glen without a bakery box heavy with a freshly baked apple pie, did you? Stop at Apple Annie’s in Oak Tree Village and rest your gaze on their shelves of tall pies. Eat a mel in the restaurant (chicken pot pie, fried chicken, ribs, fish and chips, apple pie by the slice) if you like, but don’t leave without a whole pie, either with a top crust or streusel. Buy the mini pie if you must, but I’m here to tell you there is no finer breakfast the next morning than a slice of Apple Annie’s Mile-High Apple Pie. Plan accordingly; buy the big 5-pound pie. There’s 14 acres of family fun here, as well, so bring the kids.

Apple Annie’s Restaurant & Bakery
39062 Oak Glen Road
Yucaipa, Calif. 92399-9749

Inside of Mile-High Apple Pie from Apple Annie's in Oak Glen CalifAre you ready to take a trip to go apple picking in Oak Glen? I’d go again in a New York minute!

Oak Glen Calif aerial view of the valley surrounded by hills

Great apple recipes on Shockingly Delicious

Mama's Apple Pie with Streusel Topping
Apple Pie with Streusel Topping. It’s not quite mile-high, but it’s every bit as delicious and addictive.

Sparkling sugar topping on Swedish Apple Pie slice on a white plate with fork alongsideSwedish Apple Pie. Deeply spiced apples with a sweet topping but no bottom crust. Easy as pie!

A wedge of Apple Almond Olive Oil small-batch cake on a white plate with a fork alongsideApple Almond Olive Oil Cake. A rustic, farmhouse-style cake perfect for breakfast or dessert. Natually gluten-free, too.

The Ultimate Apple Spice Cake | www.ShockinglyDelicious.comUltimate Apple Spice Cake. Moist, overloaded with apples, spiced just right, for a wonderful breakfast cake, tea cake or dessert.

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Collage of photos on apple picking in Oak Glen, Southern California

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This was originally published Oct. 9, 2017 on Shockingly Delicious, and has been republished today.

{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }

Aish Das Padihari October 12, 2017 at 11:09 am

I have not done apple picking with my kids in a long time. I should.

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Sam | Ahead of Thyme October 12, 2017 at 8:45 am

Wow, looks like a lot of fun! I wouldn’t leave without picking up a pie either!

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Dorothy Reinhold October 12, 2017 at 9:53 am

Sam,
It practically jumps in your car!

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Helene D'Souza October 12, 2017 at 2:48 am

I am eye balling the apple cider right! 😀
So wish I could do this sometime. I have not been to an estate to go apple picking as we have enough apples growing at home but I remember the days when strawberry picking fields were common. I loved picking fresh fruits, it’s such a rewarding feeling!

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Dorothy Reinhold October 12, 2017 at 8:11 am

Helene,
I think you are #winning to have apples growing AT HOME!

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Des @ Life's Ambrosia October 11, 2017 at 12:23 pm

I’ve always wanted to go apple picking! This looks like so much fun!

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Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy October 11, 2017 at 11:18 am

I am in Canada, and we have awesome apple orchards too. We just went to one last weekend. Nothing beats fresh apples in season.

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Paula - bell'alimento October 11, 2017 at 6:35 am

That pie! Wow! I love apple season. What a fun trip.

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Abeer October 11, 2017 at 3:29 am

Such an adorable article! It would be a great weekend activity for whole family!

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alyssa | everydaymaven October 10, 2017 at 11:40 pm

What a perfect day and such great resources!

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Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) October 10, 2017 at 9:18 pm

Thanks for sharing these apple picking related places!!

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Nutmeg Nanny October 10, 2017 at 7:44 pm

Those mile high apple pies look AMAZING!

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Amanda October 10, 2017 at 5:22 pm

I love going apple picking, it’s such a great Fall activity! Plus… pies!!!

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Erin Dee October 10, 2017 at 4:45 pm

Looks like a great place for apple picking! The mile-high apple pie looks incredible!!

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Dorothy Reinhold October 10, 2017 at 6:17 pm

Erin,
It was a culinary feat, that’s for sure!

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Colleen October 10, 2017 at 1:53 pm

Apple Picking is the perfect fall experience. I would go just for those donuts alone! 🙂

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Dorothy Reinhold October 10, 2017 at 6:17 pm

Colleen,
I now completely understand the whole cider donut phenomenon. 🙂

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Allyson Zea October 10, 2017 at 12:23 pm

Wow! This place look amazing! I’d love to spend the day there with my family!

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Jenni LeBaron October 10, 2017 at 11:35 am

I grew up with apple trees on our orchard and I miss picking them right off the trees! This looks like so much fun.

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Julia October 10, 2017 at 11:27 am

What a great place to spend a day! Love the scenery and those apple cider donuts – woow!

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Suzy | The Mediterranean Dish October 10, 2017 at 11:14 am

Gimme all the apples! Thanks for sharing this great post!

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Valentina October 10, 2017 at 11:04 am

Okay, with your guide I might just battle the crowds to do this! Looks like so much fun. What a gorgeous day that must have been — they sky is SO blue. What I really want now is YOUR apple pie!

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Megan Marlowe October 10, 2017 at 11:01 am

I am not sure I have EVER seen a pie that high! Holy moly, does that look delicious? I just went apple picking last weekend and enjoyed some apple cider donuts after working up an appetite picking all those apples! Such a fun time of year!

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Dorothy Reinhold October 10, 2017 at 6:19 pm

Megan,
I hadn’t either. I think the trick is they pre-cook the apples a bit, so they don’t collapse in the baking and create that usual air pocket right under the top crust.

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Lisa Ross October 10, 2017 at 10:13 am

Thanks so much for coming up! It was a pleasure to meet you. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Dorothy Reinhold October 10, 2017 at 6:20 pm

Lisa! Your hard cider was outstanding!

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