Raven Hill Orchard

Great place to bring the kids and pick apples. I must not know the trick to picking apples because most of the apples we picked were sour but my kids had such a good time. It can get a little crowded but there is plenty of parking but a long walk if you have to park far away. Their is a winery across the street which really doesn’t mix when you are having a family outing but I thought I’d mention it if you don’t have kids. Pick apples then drink wine or visa versa. It would make the apple picking experience more fun.

So much fun! My husband and I came here in October and it was their very last weekend of U-​pick. All of the other orchards in the area were closed but this place stayed open because little kids don’t care how tiny the apples are, they still have a blast (and obviously full grown adults have a blast too). The apples were very small, but they tasted good still! We paid $ 10 to fill up our bag. We ended up only filling ½ the bag with tiny apples and then they let us top off the bag with big apples that they had picked earlier in the season. The apples were delicious and it was fun to walk the orchards and take pictures. Across the stress from the orchard is a cupcake and coffee shop (which I can not find on Unilocal!) that was awesome. We had an apple latte and a very rich and tasty cupcake. There is also a wine shop across the stress from the orchard. It was a great afternoon and we will come back earlier in the season next year for bigger apples!

First time going apple picking and I had a really good time! You come into the entrance of the orchard and purchase a bag to fill with apples you pick for only $ 10.
We actually went the last day of the season, which for apples, is from September to October (just in case you are wondering!). Because of this, all the big apples were already picked or on the ground, so we got stuck with smaller ones :(. Even though, I still got a bag full of sweet and juicy apples! What’s even more cool is that I actually got to eat a few along the way! Awesome!
The orchard is huge, so plenty of rows to get good apples! I actually also learned a good thing or two about apple picking. For one, apples with apparent holes are the ones with a worm, so those are no good! Another thing, small apples are still pretty good to eat!
Apple picking this season is a good way just do some thing outdoorsy and fun, but also benefits you to a healthy snack.
P. S. Don’t forget to grab apple pie and apple cider around the town if you have time!

Still open and plenty of apples on 10÷21÷12. I was nervous because the apples were small and there were a ton of green. But they told me that because it’s an organic orchard the apples are smaller than conventional ones. Then I tried a green (or maybe it was golden delicious) and it was so yummy. Very sweet and juicy. Not tart like a Granny Smith.
It’s a beautiful location too. Plenty of parking and just $ 10/​bag. That’s a better deal than other places that charge $ 10/​person. The staff at the gift shop were really nice too. They have a small café and winery if you want drinks after apple picking.

What a Great Time and Relaxing Time!
**Free Parking, 10 $ per bag of you pick it apples
Decided to visit Raven Hill Orchard after reading some of the reviews last week on Unilocal.My 3 year old and I drove up to julian on saturday the last day to pick apples.
When your driving up here from San Diego (8 freeway to the 79) when you get to Julian, drive through town a keep going straight. I did not have a good goole map so that was on me, lol
We finally get to Julian and the town is booming! I would have loved to stop and have some hot apple cider but my little one was ready for some apples!
We arrive at RHO and find parking a short walk away from the entrance. There is ample parking, if you decide to get here in the afternoon 11am and later you will probably be parking a litlle bit further away. They also had paid (5 $)parking next to the winerey. I had no problem with parking. Once we parked we were on our way to the entrance!
We arrive and are informed about the type of apples that grow here and also what isles they are in. He also let us know that because it was the end of the season there were not alot of apples left. Ok, so off we went to apple pick with our bag.
We walked up and down the lanes and took our time picking apples and munching on a few too! lol
These were thee best apples I have ever had. You would think that with them being on the small side that the flavor would not be there, but they were awesome.
We walked around trying to find the perfect apples and making faces when we would see one on the ground that was mushy and smashed, awww 3 year olds.
We were there a bit over an hour and it was the something we will always remember. He told his older brother that «He» picked the greatest aplles ever and that they were all bootiful,(thats how he says it). Thank you for a great time.

«Woohoo! As good as it gets!» is right!
I should have taken more advantage of living down in San Diego County when I did and plan a few visits out to good ol’ Julian. Of course now that I live 100+ miles away I want to go. So on September 22^nd we decided to take a trip down to Raven Hill Orchard. I chose this weekend because the previous reviews mentioned the orchard running out of apples in early October last year. We were so eager to go that we skipped checking out Main Street first and headed directly to Raven Hill Orchard, only to reach a road blocked off by a sheriff. He redirected us around the city and through the back roads because apparently they had a fire the day before. I really wanted to go to Raven Hill Orchard but I got a bit confused with the directions, which was drawn in the dirt– imagine that! I was a little discouraged in finding the place, and decided to settle on an orchard we saw cars parked in front of. Little did we know we were right in front of Raven Hill Orchard!
The owner, I only knew who he was thanks to Unilocal,seemed very disturbed when we were given our bags. I could understand his frustrations; the sheriff closed off the road which lead many visitors to his orchard… at the peak of apple season! I’d be a bit flustered too. So even though we didn’t get the full explanation, I still got the idea from reading the reviews. You get to fill a bag of apples for $ 10, roam freely around the orchard, and sample the different varieties at your leisure.
My family had such a wonderful time walking up and down the rows and rows of apple trees. There are many people who seem to complain about the apples being too small, but they have to understand what they are comparing them too. The apples at the grocery stores are made to be that size, shape, and color. Raven Hill Orchard has organic apples. Their apples are some of the sweetest apples I have ever tasted! I wish I could have tried some of the gravenstein variety, but they were all gone when we came. My husband and I didn’t leave disappointed because we found the variety we’ve been searching for from our childhood. It was the wonderful, sweet, and crisp empire apple. We loved it so much that we filled one of our bags with nothing but empires. The other with jonathans and golden delicious apples.
Some folks complained about the bags being overpriced, but I think they are priced accordingly at $ 10/​bag. Each bag is about 7 lbs. That’s only $ 1.43 per pound! It’s cheaper than the organic apples in Sprouts or Whole Foods. Plus, you get to personally pick which apples you want straight from the tree! Fresh, organic apples selected by you. It can’t get any better than that!
The apples were great, don’t get me wrong, but the memories my family have from our trip are priceless. Being out in country and enjoying our time together in a tranquil environment is such a great relief from the fast-​paced and hectic lives we live in the city. We had such a wonderful time that day, that we returned the next day to pick more apples. Yes, that means we drove 100+ miles from Orange County back to Julian for their Apple season. :-)

What a fun tradition! Bring CASH!
Every year «us girls» take an annual apple picking trip to Raven Hill Orchard (from San Diego) and it’s always so fun.
The apples are small because they are ORGANIC and no pesticides are used. They are so fresh and organic you can pick them right off the trees and eat them. No need to wash them. It’s one of the best features of this place!
Parking is a dirt lot, but there’s plenty. You might have to park and walk a little, but it’s not too far.
You pay $ 10 cash for a bag and you can fill the bag as full as you want with fresh picked apples. The apples get picked over quickly, so I wouldn’t wait till too long into the season.
The owner, Patrick, is super kind and very friendly. He patiently repeats the orchard info and apple «map» to each person with a smile.
This place is kid friendly
Each row of apples is labeled as to what kind they are, and they have quite a selection.
The $ 10 is 50% cost and 50% experience. If you feel the cost is too much, don’t go! Leave more apples for the rest of us.
There is also a winery on the grounds, although I’ve never gone.
Can’t wait to go again next year and someday come with my kids!

Got there at 9 when they opened. First customers of the day, no parking problems. Took my 9-​yo, 7 yo, and 3 yo, and grandma.
A little hard to find. Don’t take Wynola. It has too many zig-​zags. We went through Julian and up Farmer Road. When you see signs for Menghini Winery, Raven Hill is right next to it.
Greg was the one who helped us. He was very friendly, good-​natured, made lots of jokes. Explained the layout of the land. Sold us little white paper bags for picking apples. Each bag costs $ 10. A bit pricey, but well worth it, as we were also paying for the experience.
Rows and rows of apple trees. Apples are smallish but sweet. No pesticides, totally organic. Greg said the best apples are on the ground. I found one on the ground that I liked. You can pick and eat the apples right off the branch.
The kids enjoyed picking their apples. It was a great experience being out in the fall sun and fresh air, picking and eating apples. We sat in the shade near the front when we were tired and wanted to share what we found. It took about 45 – 60 minutes to leisurely pick our apples and fill up our bags. The kids counted 50 – 60 apples in each bag. That’s how small they are! After we give some away to our friends, it’ll be time to make candied apples, applesauce, and apple pie.
We will probably go there again next year! Thank you!

Went here this weekend not knowing what to expect. Gotta say, I had more fun than I thought. Parking was kind of a problem. Once inside, we were greeted with some hippies who said that for $ 10 you can fill a bag up with apples. The bags were a little small but you could fit a good amount of apples in them. There were rows and rows of different kinds of apples. The rows were labeled with what kind of apples they were. What I enjoyed the most was just walking up and down the rows and picking apples to eat/​sample to taste the subtle differences for each apple. Found which ones I liked the most and filled my bag up with those.
After picking, we did some wine tasting at building across from the dirt road and bought the dry apple wine. Delicious.
Recommended.

I expected larger apples on the trees. :(
Although they advertise to be TONS of apples, and it’s true… there are about 8,000 trees. but the apples are so small! My dad said that it’s because there are too many apples on one trees branch… The way that you grow large apples is by grafting them and transferring them to another…
So for $ 10/​bag you do get to stuff the bag with as many as apples as you can… since the apples are small to begin with, you could probably fit about 15 or so in a bag.
There are supposedly Fuji, Gala, Empire, Golden Delicious, and Jonathan.
We could not find any Fuji or Gala… The Golden Delicious were still too green.
I was pleasantly surprised with the Empire… «It’s a pink-​ish, green apple. that’s very crisp and actually has a good taste to it!» :)

We had a fun time and the kids got to pick lots of apples. It served the purpose of an orchard for apple picking but the people were not friendly. They have a bunch of sculptural statues right at the entrance and my son touched one and the man ran over and told him not to touch it. :(They didn’t tell us anything about the apples or generally seem to want to engage in any kind of interaction other than taking our money. Like I said, we had a fun time picking apples. They had a ton of cute little apples throughout the entire orchard. But next time, I will choose a different orchard in hopes of a friendlier experience.

We went to Raven Hill today, and it was an EXCELLENT experience, hands-​down, all the way around. Patrick, the post-​apocalyptic a la Mad Max/​Waterworld host from Ireland is simply one of the coolest and friendliest guys you will ever meet. He’s an artist, a poet, a father of infant twins, and he grows apples. It can’t get more «organic» than that! He was super-​friendly, chatty and let the kids run around as they wish. The apples are AMAZING. Anyone complaining they are too small — HELLO! NEWSFLASH, people, that’s what REAL APPLES are supposed to be like. $ 10 for naturally grown apples + the experience of picking them is a steal… AND, you get to snack while you pick — come on! We’ll be going back for another round before the season is over, for sure!

It was an a great experience with the kids and my wife to walk such a beautiful piece of land and pick apples straight from the tree. We enjoyed our apples for days, they were so rich with flavor! Patrick is an amazing person with a lot of knowledge and if you have time, stick around and just enjoy the place. I saw a lot of folks «blow through» as if it was just another part of the to do list, but it was nice to hear his story of why he chose this place and why he’s so passionate abou it, and to take our time and smell the smells and look up at Vulcan Mountain.

The most amazing experience. My wife and I took our 4 & 2-​year old there and we had a blast. The apples amaze and the view delights! Great experience, especially for kids.

I recently took a group of about 10 visually impaired High school students to go apple picking here.
Patrick took the time to introduce himself, explain the process, and handed out bags to each student. He even sent us home with a gallon of fresh squeezed apple juice!
We tried the golden delicious, empire and Fuji apples (I think). All were super tasty. I’ll definitely be back soon. Thanks Patrick for making our trip so much fun! :-)

The orchard looks neat, at least from outside the locked fence with not a soul in sight that is. I really wanted this to work out. The orchard is strategically placed next to 3 winery tasting rooms. I had pictured the scene in vivid detail, «Kids, go forth and run free in the orchard. Pick as many apples as you want. Slowly. For a loooong time. Daddy’s sampling wine at the vineyard next door.»
Alas, it was not to be unfortunately. We had purchased a Groupon and couldn’t wait to redeeem it. We showed up in the afternoon, but the place was locked and desolate. After calling their number several times with no answer or voicemail option, we headed to one of the winery tasting rooms next door, which shall remain nameless. They informed us that the owner of this orchard tends to be quite flaky. Apparently he opens and closes when he feels like it, has no regard for customer service, and we were nowhere near the first group in that day asking about Raven Hill Orchard being closed. It’s too long of a drive up only to have your hopes for a fun day of wine tasting, err I mean apple picking, dashed.

Visiting Julian, CA during Apple Harvest seems to be one of the best times of the year to make this mountain pilgrimage. Julian is home to over a dozen orchards and surprisingly, a handful of vineyards, too. On this last visit we decided to drop in on two places: Raven Hill Orchards and O’Dell’s Organic Orchard. Both experiences were unique in their own way and I’m looking forward to making this an annual affair.
First up on our U-​Pick adventure was Raven Hill. Off the side of the road, we found ample parking in front of the orchards. We were immediately greeted by these awesome looking steel sculptures which were created by Patrick Brady, who helps manage the orchard with his brother.
Raven Hill Orchard was neat as neat could be. Row after row of dwarf apple trees to choose from. Green, gold, red! Since it was early in the apple season, only a few rows were really bountiful in the ripe fruit, but this orchard is large and it took no time to full up our half a peck bag ($ 10) to the brim with freshly picked apples. What I liked about this orchard was that tasting as you pick is encouraged and the trees were very healthy. I’ve been to other U-​Pick apple places that were a little more uptight and the trees looked sad. Raven Hill however, is a great place to bring your
families. The kids especially, would love the smaller trees.
Notes: Bring water, sunscreen, cash, and fill that bag to the brim!

Belly full of apples
five types of apples
rows & rows
tasty, crisp, alive
ten dollar bag
sculptured chairs
healthy trees
friendly folk
fresh, clean air
chill atmosphere
roosters cockadoodlin
in the distance
mountains
in the distance
San Diego, city
distant
Golden
Delicious
and
Empire
the favorites
but, why
why must
people litter
wrappers and
juice boxes
go find
a garbage!
respect the
dwarf trees
the, artist
and me
in me; I
will be back,
still have
a
Belly full of apples.

This is the 3^rd year that we have gone to Raven Hill Orchard and every year it’s always fun. The owner is super nice and really friendly. He does have dogs on the property but they are very mellow and spend most of the time sleeping.
The bags are $ 10. And he has not raised the price since I’ve started going there. He lets you fill up your bags and take your time walking around the orchard. If you go back far enough you can check out the teepee he has in the back corner. One year, we just sat back there for a bit to cool off and relax because the weather was so warm.
I know, there are other orchards but this one is my favorite and though depending on how the weather is during the year, the apples can be sparse, it’s always a great experience.
FYI — this year the trees are bursting so you should go. Also on Oct 2 – 3, 2010, it’s the Apple Days festival which is always fun!

Went here this past weekend and was very disappointed in the state of the orchard.
Most of the trees were dry and had little to no apples on them.
Apparently this orchard has only been open since Labor Day, so going four weeks after that, one would think there still would be plenty of apples.
The apples that were on the trees had worm holes, mold or huge animal bites in them.
We went down at least five rows of apples before we got the bag halfway full. And the apples that we could find were extremely tiny!
We were not the only ones who were displeased with this orchard.
I’m not sure if we will return to this orchard next year.
(Sidenote: I picked at this orchard last year at the same time of year, and there were TONS of apples.)