the best apple picking near charlotte nc at 7 local orchards

Looking for some fall family fun? Spend a day dedicated to fall’s favorite fruit at our 7 favorite spots for apple picking near Charlotte, NC. From quick U-pick trips to full-day adventures, the Queen City area has plenty to offer for apple orchard fun! Details updated for the 2026 season.

There are a few activities that just scream fall: pumpkin patches, hayrides, corn mazes, leaf peeping and, of course, a trip to an apple orchard. And don’t forget, no trip apple picking is complete without some fresh apple cider donuts!

Some of our favorite kid-friendly activities in Charlotte are visiting local farms. We pick strawberries in the spring, get sunflowers and wildflowers in the summer, and explore apple orchards and Charlotte pumpkin patches once fall rolls around.

Whether you’re after a quick, kid-friendly U-pick trip close to home or you want to make a whole day of it out in the Apple Capital of North Carolina, the Charlotte area has options for every kind of orchard trip.

A couple of these orchards are less than an hour away. This makes them perfect for a half-day (morning or afternoon) outing. The rest are clustered around Hendersonville and Flat Rock, about 1.5 to 2 hours west of Charlotte.

This area produces over 80% of North Carolina’s apples, which is why it’s earned the nickname “Apple Country.” Henderson County even throws an annual apple festival in early September to celebrate. Consider pairing your visit with a night away if you want to make it a full weekend.

I’ve rounded up our tried-and-true favorites so you can plan your own apple-picking day trip this season. I’ve organized this list by driving distance from Uptown Charlotte. (So you can adequately plan if you need a half or full day for your apple picking adventure). Consider this your go-to guide for apple picking near Charlotte NC!

When is apple season in North Carolina?

Apple season in North Carolina kicks off in late August and runs through October, sometimes into November for a good year. (Coincidentally, around the same time to see fall colors in North Carolina!)

So despite the flannel-and-pumpkin-spice mood you’ll be in, don’t expect that first-frost chill just yet. Late August and September still feel a lot more like summer than fall here. Early varieties like Gala and Ginger Gold are usually first up, while favorites like Fuji, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady don’t peak until later in September and October. Dress (and hydrate) accordingly.

Just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, Carrigan Farms has been a fixture of our fall line-up for years for both apple and pumpkin picking. Each visit starts with a tractor-drawn hayride out to the orchard. Guests then get a half-peck bag to fill with their choice of apples.

Carrigan Farms grows several varieties of apples including red delicious, golden delicious, Evercrisp and gold rush. All of their apple trees are grown on dwarf rootstock. This means you don’t need a ladder to pick, making it an ideal orchard for little kids.

The hayride also swings by Carrigan Farms’ petting zoo which is always a highlight of our kids’ visit. 

Long-time readers know that I have a certain fondness of Windy Hill. A trip there has become one of our favorite fall traditions! Just under an hour South of Charlotte, its location is perfect for a morning or afternoon adventure.

Windy Hill’s crop features Stayman Winesap apples, an heirloom Southern variety that’s good for snacking, baking or turning into applesauce. You’ll need to make a reservation to go into the orchard and pick your own apples. The orchard will release additional reservation spaces throughout the season depending on the crop!

If you miss out on a reservation or aren’t interested in picking your own apples, Windy Hill is still worth the day trip to shop their farm stand and sip something at their cider bar. Windy Hill’s farm stand is open August through December and features fresh pressed apple cider, pre-picked apples, cider donuts, apple pies, wassail, hard cider, caramel apples, jams and jellies and more.

Beyond the farm stand, Windy Hill is also home to an award winning hard cider bar. The cider bar is open on weekends during the fall season and features flights of their various flavors. They also serve snacks like pretzels, pork skins, and kettle corn.

About an hour and a half west of Charlotte, Apple Hill Orchard is a working orchard that has been in the same family for five generations and has earned a loyal following. Apple Hill features 18 different varieties available for guests to pick. They also have a farm stand with goodies like jams, jellies and local honey. Their on-site bakery serves fried apple pies, cakes and breads made from the fruit grown in the bakery’s backyard.

While the drive to Morganton from Charlotte is a little longer than up to Mooresville or down to York, visiting Apple Hill is still totally doable for a day trip! We would recommend stopping in downtown Morganton before or after you visit the Orchard to grab lunch or dinner and a cold one at one of our favorite North Carolina breweries, Fonta Flora.

The Orchard at Altapass is a 100-year-old, non-profit heirloom orchard perched right on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 328.3. It grows 30 apple varieties and offers stunning mountain views from the back deck. This is the perfect pit stop if you are headed to the mountains this fall for leaf peeping!

Heads up for 2026: a late spring freeze means Altapass isn’t expecting to have apples available for u-pick this year. The good news is admission is free either way, and there’s still plenty to do. There’s a butterfly garden, hiking trails, an education center, and weekend live music where you might catch some local clogging or square dancing on the pavilion floor. 

Perched on top of Mount McAlpine, Sky Top Orchard is worth the trip for the panoramic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains alone. Founded in the late 1960s and still family-run, Sky Top grows near 30 varieties of apples with the rows of trees clearly labeled so pickers will know what’s ripe and ready.

Sky Top is home to a variety of activities beyond apple picking. This includes hayrides, a playground, barnyard animals and an apple cannon. There’s also a full bakery on site and the fruit stand stays open past u-pick season if you just want to stock up.

Set on 400 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Jeter Mountain Farms is one of the newer additions to North Carolina’s Apple Capital. It has quickly become one of the most popular u-pick destinations in the area because of the variety of activities and fun the farm offers.

Beyond the 20 varieties of u-pick apples, the farm has a BBQ smokehouse and burger spot, a coffee house serving locally roasted beans, an ice cream stand, and a cider barn taproom pouring hard ciders you can’t find anywhere else, including a Jeter Mountain original blend. There’s also a kids’ play area and live music, so plan to stay a while.

A quick heads-up on planning: You’ll want to reserve a u-pick time slot in advance. (You can also do this on arrival if space allows, but weekends fill up). All u-pick experiences need to start by 3:30pm even though the farm itself is open until 5.

Opened in 1969, Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard was the very first u-pick apple orchard in Henderson County. It’s now run by the fourth generation of the Stepp family. With over 25 apple varieties spread across seven separate orchards on the property, there’s a lot of ground to cover. On weekdays you can actually drive between orchards, though weekend crowds mean you’ll be walking instead.

Beyond apples, Stepp’s has a 5-acre corn maze, u-pick pumpkins later in the season, u-pick flowers and grapes (in spring and summer months), a jumping pillow, and an apple cannon. The bakery’s apple cider and pumpkin donuts are worth the trip alone, so budget time — and stomach space — accordingly.