It's Pie & Cider Time: 15 Apple Orchards Within Two Hours Of Ditmas Park

New York’s state fruit is the apple, and boy do we love our apple picking! In case you weren’t sure where to go this season, we’ve rounded up a list of the best apple orchards within a two-hour drive of Brooklyn. Enjoy, and if you have any favorites that aren’t on this list, let neighbors know by sharing in the comments.

Long Island
You can pick apples even if you don’t have a car. Expect to pay $15 and up for a cab from the nearest LIRR station to the apple orchard of your choice.

1. Hank’s Pumpkin Town is the place to go if you’re interested in farm entertainment. Hay rides! Wagons! Corn maze! Five acres of off-street parking! Oh, and yeah, you can also pick apples. (Drive time: 1 hr, 30 min. 240 Montauk Highway, Melville, NY, 631-726-4667. Open daily, 9:30am to 6pm.)

2. Schmitt’s Family Farm takes farming entertainment to a whole new level. Visit their 7-acre corn maze and haunted mansion, then pick your lot (or don’t, because the other attractions are good enough), and be sure to grab a pumpkin from the farm store on your way out to prove you were in the “country.” (Drive time: 50 min. 26 Pinelawn Road, Melville, NY, 631-271-FARM (3276). Open daily, 9am to 5pm.)

3. One must join the U-Pick Club ($20 per family, per year) to be admitted into Wickham’s Fruit Farm, but the fresh donuts, cheese, preserves, and the oldest cider press on Long Island are worth it. (Drive time: 1 hr, 50 min. 28700 Main Road, Cutchogue, NY, 631-734-6441. Open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm.)

New Jersey
Most of these out-of-state orchards are just on the other side of the Goethals Bridge.

4. Meander the mile-long farm trail at Terhune Orchards, and “experience the miracle of Mother Nature.” Once you’ve filled your apple basket, you can stroll around Princeton University and enjoy ice cream in town. (Drive time: 1 hr, 20 min. 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, NJ, 609-924-2310. Open weekdays, 9am to 6pm; weekends, 9am to 5pm.)

5. Battleview Orchards also offers pumpkin picking, plus goodies like apple cider donuts at their country store. Take advantage of Columbus Day to gather the farm’s nine apple varieties, as well as your future jack-o’-lantern. (Drive time: 1 hr. 91 Wemrock Road, Freehold, NJ, 732-462-0756. Open Tuesday to Sunday and Columbus Day, 9am to 6pm.)

6. Melick’s Town Farm has four locations, each focusing on a different aspect of agriculture. At the Cider Mill and Orchards outpost, you can take a hayride and see how cider is made–but check out the whole list to see which is right for you. (Drive time: 1 hr. 19 King Street, Oldwick, NJ, 908-439-3888. Open daily, 10am to 6pm.)

7. Historically, Eastmont Orchards sold their produce to supermarkets in New York City and Philadelphia–but now that they’re selling directly to the consumer, your family can get better produce at a better price. (Drive time: 1 hr. 169 County Road 537 East, Colts Neck, NJ, 732-542-5404. Open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 6pm.)

8. Bored with just plain old cider donuts? Try one at Alstede Farms with a scoop of their creamy homemade ice cream. (Drive time: 1 hr, 10 min. 1 Chesterfield Drive, Chester NJ, 908-879-7189. Open daily, 9am to 7pm.)

North of NYC
After you get your apples, make a whole day of it by visiting quaint towns like Woodstock and New Paltz.

9. Outhouse Orchards (named for the family’s surname and not for the lack of indoor plumbing) is an easy drive just above Westchester, and the orchard is small enough to let pre-teens roam free. This year, they’ve also got a corn maze. (Drive time: 1 hr, 15 min. 139 Hardscrabble Road, Croton Falls, NY, 914-277-3188. Open weekends, 9am to 5pm.)

10. You can search on Maskers Orchard’s website for the ripening schedule of different apple varieties. Next week, Ida Reds will be prime for picking. (Drive time: 1 hr, 30 min. 45 Ball Road, Warwick, NY, 845-986-1058. Open daily, 9am to 5pm.)

11-13. There are a few orchards around New Paltz, including Apple Hill Farm (open weekdays, 10am t0 6pm), Jenkins-Lueken Orchard (open daily, 9am to 6pm), and Dressel Farms (open for you-pick on weekends, 10am to 5pm). After picking your apples and pumpkins, stroll through the downtown area, which is one of the first settled towns in New York. (Drive time: 1 hr, 45 min.)

14. Wrights Farm says it all with the URL EatApples.com. The site includes recipes for applesauce and apple butter for ambitious pickers, and they also link to nearby hotels if you want to take the weekend. (Drive time: 1 hr, 50 min. 699 State Route 208 Gardiner, NY, 845-255-5300. Open daily, 8am to 4pm.)

15. Kids are encouraged to have fun at Wilklow Orchard. Besides apple picking, there’s a petting zoo, hay ride, tunnels, and crafts. (Drive time: 1 hr, 45 min. 341 Pancake Hollow Road, Highland, NY, 845-691-2339. Open daily, 9am to 5pm.)

Of course, families who can’t fit apple picking into their schedule can still enjoy crispy apples from the Cortelyou Greenmarket (Cortelyou Road between Argyle and Rugby Roads, Sundays from 8am-3pm). The sweet Empires developed by Cornell University are a personal favorite.

Whether you go out picking or grab your apples locally, happy eating!