Definitely come here for their famous walking pie! It was SO delicious and honestly the best thing…read morewe had out of all the farms we visited. I will say, though, this farm was much quieter and more laid-back compared to the others. There isn't really a ton to do besides eat, relax, and enjoy the views. So if you're looking for a more peaceful stop to grab some good food and take in the scenery, definitely add this one to your list!

Beautiful vineyard, apple orchard, winery/tasting room, and large grassy knoll for a picnic and for…read morethe kids to run around. Located in the heart of the Apple Hill area - a great stop with famous (infamous) apple pie. Pretty expensive for a large bowl (they charge extra for a small scoop of ice cream), but it's tasty and good to share, even among 3-4 friends. The lines can be long on the weekends and it can be a little challenging to be standing out in the sun waiting for your drinks. No water is available outside to sip on - only for purchase! Winery tasting room is overlooking the orchard/valley - a really nice patio/balcony area to sit. Parking can be challenging during busy hours, but there is relatively large turnover, so folks are always coming and going. Overall, recommended as part of your Apple Hill fall tour.

Absolute favorite farm at Apple Hill! This place is calm, it's got good seating, shade and some of…read morethe best baked goods and apple cider around. They don't pretend to be an amusement park and don't offer a bunch of random attractions. Instead you come here to relax, to sit with family and friends and to enjoy some delightful goodies. For our 3rd visit, we got 6 apple cider donuts ( amazing and not greasy), apple cider ( a crowd favorite), alcoholic apple cider ( pretty strong) and a apple pie ala mode ( amazing). The folks working here were nice and served us quickly. We will absolutely return next year!

4.5 stars. If Apple…read moreHill had a crown jewel, the high octane sugar rush at Rainbow Orchards would be firmly set in that center of it. Famous for setting the gold standard of high-country orchard stops, this farm stand is equal parts cozy rustic nostalgia and absolute culinary magnetism. Hot Cider Donuts: You come here for hot apple cider doughnuts. Fried fresh to order, tossed in cinnamon sugar, and handed to you screaming hot. Pure indulgence. They feature a crisp, delicate outer crust gives way to pillowy, cider-rich interior. Pair one with a cup of their fresh-pressed, unfiltered spiced hot cider (or cold), and you have achieved peak autumn bliss. Fresh-Pressed Hot Cider: The ultimate dynamic duo pairing. This isn't just liquid sugar--it is punchy, pleasantly tart, and packed with warm, aromatic spices to balance out edge sweet treats. The Bakery Stand: Beyond the viral doughnuts, the bakery churns out massive deep-dish apple pies, berry tarts, and cider-insisted baked goods that rival any grandmother's secret recipe. Fresh Fruit and Produce: Crisp-estate grown apples, seasonal stone fruit, and a dedicated tasting tent serving up crisp hard ciders for the grown-ups crafted directly from their mountain orchards. The sweeping grassland backdrop and orchard views make it a prime spot to spread out a blanket and soak in the Sierra Foothill breeze. Lines for the doughnut shack build fast. Arrive and grab a box of a dozen (you will regret buying just six) and secure a spot before crowds swarm. Rainbow Orchards delivers an unbeatable, sweet-toothed sliced of farm country charm.

It was my first time here because I was invited by friends/coworkers and for context I am in my 30s…read moreand born & raised in Sacramento but I rarely ventured outside of it ever so of course I was blown away by how different & peaceful it was out here! No homeless encampments, chaos, just lots of people taking photos and buying stuff. I really enjoyed people-watching and I love to shop so I'm sort of beating myself up for not visiting Apple Hill sooner! I will definitely be back on my own because we were on a time crunch and only visited 2 places but I'm glad this was the first stop! I just wanted BBQ so I skipped the long line I saw in the front and ordered it from the bar, the young woman working was very pleasant & kind! Everyone was actually!

On labor day weekend, I was so excited to view all the apple orchards in the area. But mostly…read moreexcited to see Boa Vista. Sadly, I was disappointed from my expectations. Beautiful views that trail wrap around vineyards- the entrance is breathtaking! Small pop up booths of local vendors surround the orchard with cute gifts and souvenirs for the harvest season. They also have a fruit stand- & i love fresh fruit but the majority of the fruit here was split open and looking dull or brown in appearance like it was close to expiring. The lines were long for the cider donuts & sadly it didn't move fast. So I never got to try to cider donuts bc when I went it was almost one hr from closing. A lot of the pies were sorted through and the ones left were scattered in type and limited so decided not to take one home. And it was overall a smaller, more crowded stand then I expected with limited variety. Im sure they have great cider donuts- but I would recommend getting here first thing in the morning. This seems to be one of the more popular stands and parking can become complicated. I will have to give it another try to see a true experience because I feel like I didn't get to gather the true festive experience here.

End of September Perfect *Sweet-Spot*-Time To Visit!…read more SITREP This time of year - last week of September - ended up being the BEST TIME to go up and visit the O'Halloran's Apple Trail Ranch's Pumpkin Patch! THE SETUP In years past, my friends and I usually ended up waiting too long to trek up the hill (HWY 50) to Apple Hill to go pumpkin-patching: searching for the perfect pumpkin and *snippin* it ourselves right off the vine. It's good to note that there is also a vibrant pick-your-own apples and pears aspect to this ranch going on through the late summer, as well as a nice cut-your-own Christmas tree season that kicks in right before Thanksgiving. PUMPKINING-PRO-TIP For this review, we're focusing on the apple-picking and the pumpkin patch. On that note, if you want to catch good pumpkins, the next two (2) are the best time to go. Whereas, the one (1) or two (2) weekends in October before Halloween ended up being too late for a number of reasons: 1. The good pumpkins had already been picked; and, 2. The weekend traffic in late October is HELL: the handful of exits in that region are heavily regulated by law enforcement and traffic cones/restrictions making for headache of a drive to get INTO the many markets, wineries and pumpkin patches in that region. THE GOODS * I always get great apples when I come here: Fuji, Grannies, Mutsu, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, etc. etc. and several other varieties (on a related note, I didn't see any pears out, so I may have been a bit too ealy); * Got a variety of medium-sized pumpkins, including 2 White Ones, a Green One, and 2 perfect Orange pumpkins! * Snipped a couple of sunflowers! THE ANIMULES! Something new that I haven't seen before (it has been 2-3 years since my last visit) they had a wonderful 4-H section set up with some animals: a bunch of chickens, a bunch of turkeys (big dudes! take a look at my pics!) and a bunch of kids (both the goat kind and the human kind, all having fun mixing up with each other. RETAILING - DOWN TO BRASS TAX (NOT TACKS) Cost me about $20 for a very mixed bag of 38-40 apples (5-6 different varietals) - an excellent deal and better than my Safeway or Amazon-Whole Foods delivery options (plus I selected the apples myself!) Cost me about $50 for five (5) largish pumpkin varieties. Again, less the options I saw at Safeway or Trader Joes in my hood. Obviously, it's not cheap these days to do a half-day trip up the hill (and it's far less expensive to go to your local grocer to grab a pumkin. But it's for the outdoor experience and to clear some headspace AWAY from Sacramento. Also couple this with treks to 2 different local wineries, and a stop at the Taphouse Bar & Grill in Placerville before hitting the road back to SacTown, all the costs aggregate together in a fun overall trip! THE LOWDOWN O'Halloran's is still a great place to all sorts of fun, seasonal produce, smell some fresh air, and have a lot of fun while doing all that.

Big fan of this spot, it feels like a real working farm not like some of the others in Apple Hill…read morethat have become so commercialized. We had a great time walking around, we did the little nature trail, which was really just a ramble through the Apple Orchard. Back at the farmhouse, they had a lot of produce available or you could do the you pick yourself Apple experience. I already had so many apples from another farmers market we went to, but I bought several pears and a giant green Mutsu apple, both were divine. There was a lady letting you taste the apples and pears, and she was a little salty, but I thought in a quirky and fun way. The guy that helped us at the cash register was super friendly and helpful. I had a blast being a big kid and feeding the goats and sheep. They provide bags of lettuce for one dollar, totally worth the money. The pumpkin patch isn't open yet but when it does open, you actually go out and cut your own pumpkin off the vine. Too cool. I would absolutely return to this business.

We stopped at several places during a day trip up to Apple Hill, and this was by far our favorite!…read more It's a large property, starting with a you-pick pumpkin patch (in the fall) and a shop that sells apples, juice, and some random souvenirs. Behind the shop is a large open area that has goats, pigs, ducks and chickens (all fenced in separately - see pictures). You can buy food to feed the goats, who are really friendly. There is also an old tractor and tire swing, great for the kids to play on. Past the open area are the bakeshop and lunch area, where we found the best selection of lunch food in Apple Hill (every other place just had BBQ burgers and hot dogs). We had a (huge) turkey leg and BBQ chicken breast sandwich, plus homemade apple coleslaw (delish!). After lunch we indulged in apple cake and apple-blackberry-sour cream pie, which were both delicious. They have tons of picnic benches and tables, so even though it was a busy Sunday in the fall, we easily found seating for both lunch and dessert. This is a great place to take kids; there are animals, swings, space to run around, and even a clown!

I love this orchard. The people here have always been so nice to us over the years. It's an…read moreabsolute must stop every time we come up to Apple Hill.

Beautiful place to explore and enjoy all the fall vibes. Yummy food, creative vendors and cute…read morephoto ops!

Apple Hill is a must stop every Fall! It gets really crowded in the weekends during October so if…read morecrowds bother you plan for a weekday visit or go in September or in November. Lots of fun. So many goodies, Apple everything but the apple cider is to die for! The hot hot apple cider donuts are a must try! You can bring home all kinds of jams and jellies caramel apples, apples, pies of all kinds, their gift shops there's wines. There's hard ciders and more. Go you won't regret it! There's also all kinds of activities for kids and adults. Their amazes, pumpkin patches, trains for kids, apple picking, etc

7/2/2026: Look what I bought . . . I purchased organic produce and carrot cake. Aside, I wanted…read moreto buy a thornless raspberry plant; however, I'm too late--sold out last spring~DOH! I must find a thornless raspberry plant because look at the price I paid for a small basket of raspberries!

After tasting at Starfield Winery across the road, it was a must to revisit this sweet farm stand…read more The property is lovely and includes a frog pond. One can select & cut 10 stems of their beautiful garden flowers for $7. We love the colorful zinnias. Their rosemary bread is delicious so I definitely purchased a loaf. I also selected some perfectly ripe tomatoes. The staff are helpful and friendly.

Adorable!! Brought my kids here because our normal spot wasn't open but I'm so glad this worked out…read morebecause it was perfect. Family run with a few animals fun little activities homemade treats. True mom and pop little operation that has just opened. Everyone was so nice and friendly and we got to pick our pumpkins off the vine. My girls had a blast on the little train bucket

Such a cute spot! So many animals to play with! The owners were very nice and welcoming!read more

We visited in early October. Last year we visited and they were closed since the apple season was…read moreover so this time I called to ask if they were still open for apple picking. They said yes and there are still apples on the trees. Which was not really true, we left with 10 tiny apples, 3 of which were from another family that had given up. We walked all sections of the orchard, most apples were on the ground and rotting. I am disappointed that they told me apples were available. They should have said they were open for their small store but not apple picking. We were excited to go and after we discovered almost no apples on the tree I realized I didnt see people leaving with bags and bags of apples. Most were leaving empty handed. The owners are nice, I want to give them business, it seems like they are about to go out of business since things are run down and they only accept cash. I also like how they give kids a apple for their thumb. But please dont stay open for apple picking if there are no apples to pick. We walked around for probably an hour or more set on finding a tree that still had apples available.

This place was a lot of fun for the family!!…read more I brought mine to Apple Hill to pick apples but the original spot that we wanted to visit was either very hard to find or didn't exist anymore. This was on our list to visit so we ended up going here instead, and I'm so glad we did! The owners were very friendly and accommodating. They handed us a map of where to pick apples and where the different types are located, then they pretty much told us to go crazy with picking apples. There weren't many ripe apples at the time we visited, but we still had a wonderful time being there to experience apple picking. The place feels rustic and huge with many apple tree variations to choose from, however, most of the trees were still young so there weren't a lot of shade for adults to hide under. So make sure you wear sunscreen and hats for protection during the day.

Always have the best time at Hillside Tree Farm! Pro tip from someone who's been going here for…read moreyears: park at the lower parking lot (not the parking spaces long the road)! The staff are wonderful and the "cutters" do their best to make selecting and cutting the tree a magical experience. They start the tree cutting for you, with their own saws (you don't need to bring your own), so the tree regrows properly - but they each let us take turns. Not as easy as they make it look! So helpful at every step of the process - including free wrapping and tying it to the car. We found a beautiful 9' Turkish Nordman with blue hues on the bottom and it has barely dropped any needles after the initial shaking!!

My family loves this place, especially our kids who get to yell "cutter" and "timber". I recommend…read moregoing the weekend right after Thanksgiving, that's when you'll snag the best tree, but honestly the farm is so big it takes our family 2+ hours to walk it so I'm sure you'll find a good tree anytime. I also recommend bringing cash to tip the cutters who cut your tree and bring it to the front for you. They also usually have a cash only line to pay for your tree which moves way faster than the credit card only line. Lastly, you should get a hot cocoa before you start looking so you have something warm to hold. It's a little pricey but the experience, service, and quality is what keeps us going back!