Apple Picking at Legend Hills Orchard

We visited Legend Hills Orchard for the first time last fall and immediately fell in love. We made the journey to Legend Hills again this fall for apple picking and determined Legend Hills is now part of our fall traditions. This family owned and operated farm is located in Utica, Ohio, approximately a 50 minute drive from Columbus. The rolling terrain makes for beautiful scenery while apple picking, and the farm market offers an abundance of fresh produce and other goodies that you didn’t know you needed.

Upon arrival we check into the farm market to pick up our apple bag (small – $10/large – $15), map of the orchard with the best spots for picking circled, and a fruit pole for making those out of reach apples easier to pick.

After we gather our apple picking supplies it’s time to head out into the orchard. The orchard is relatively large, so the employees always recommend driving to our destination.

Once we make it to our destination it’s time to get out and pick. I love this orchard because the mature apple trees are bursting with apples and it’s possible to find some trees with apples low enough for my daughter to reach and pick her own.

 

We find one of the best parts of apple picking is to taste test the crop along the way. It would be a bummer to be stuck with a bag of apples that doesn’t suit your taste buds because a taste test wasn’t completed.

Once we pick all the apples we need, we head back to the farm market to pay. There is an abundance of fall supplies; pumpkins, squash, and Indian corn, that we then stock up on. We never leave Legend Hills with just apples!

If you are looking for a low key apple orchard with beautiful scenery, consider checking out Legend Hills. Each time we have been there the crowds have been low, so we feel as though we are picking apples in our personal orchard.

The details:

Produce: Legend Hills Orchard offers ready-picked or u-pick: apples, peaches, strawberries, asparagus, and pine trees (dug or cut) for Christmas. They also press and market their own fresh apple cider, harvest honey from their bee hives, and sell fresh garden produce such as homegrown sweet corn, tomatoes, cabbage, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, gourds, and Indian Corn in growing season.

Directions: I plugged “Legend Hills Orchard” into my GPS and the directions led me straight to the Orchard. The address: 11155 Reynolds Rd, Utica, Ohio 43080.

Hours: The farm market is open year round from 9-6 Monday thru Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. Check the website for u-pick updates.

Some additional tips:

• It’s a working farm, so wear tennis shoes or boots.
• There is a restroom in the farm market. Be prepared though – there is no changing table for the babe.
• The orchard is set it hilly terrain. Wagon pulling can be tricky, but is doable.
• If you are up for a sweet treat when you are done picking, the Velvet Ice Cream, Ye Olde Mill is a 5 minute drive away.