Apple picking and cider season

This guide is for families, couples and anyone else planning an orchard trip in Central New York this fall. It covers pick-your-own orchards and cider mills from Onondaga County to Cooperstown, which apple varieties come in when, where to find cider donuts and fritters, and what to bring so the day goes smoothly.

Apple season here is short and weather-driven. Most orchards start picking in late August, the popular varieties come in through September and October, and u-pick rows close by the end of October. Cider mills and farm stores often stay open later, some until Thanksgiving or Christmas. All hours below are fall 2026 hours unless noted.

When the apples come in

The New York Apple Association says the state grows more apple varieties than any other, with more than 500 growers and 11 million trees. The association’s variety pages list when each apple is available in stores, which runs longer than the picking window because apples keep in cold storage. The start of each window tracks the harvest order:

• Ginger Gold: August through November. Very slow to brown, so it works for cut fruit.
• Paula Red: late August into October.
• McIntosh and Cortland: from September. Cortland was developed at the state’s agricultural experiment station in Geneva in 1898 and is slow to turn brown when sliced.
• Honeycrisp: September through February.
• Empire: from September. Cornell University developed the variety in the 1940s.
• SnapDragon: late September through January. Cornell’s apple breeding program developed the variety, and Honeycrisp is one of its parents.
• Macoun: available only in the fall.
• RubyFrost: another Cornell apple, at peak flavor in winter and sold January through April.

Orchards post what is ready week by week, and the weather moves the dates. Beak & Skiff says Honeycrisp is typically ready in mid-September, and Critz Farms says the farm’s season usually runs from mid-September to mid-October. Check the orchard’s picking page the morning you go.

Onondaga County orchards

Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, LaFayette

South of Syracuse in LaFayette, Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards runs pick-your-own at 2708 Lords Hill Road, where the family says the orchard had 400,000 apple trees in the ground as of spring 2025. Pickers ride a free wagon to the orchard; walking out is not allowed, and the last wagon leaves at 5 p.m. daily. New this fall, you buy your bag before you go out instead of having apples weighed afterward. Monday through Thursday a half peck is $6, a peck $12 and a half bushel $24; Friday through Sunday those rise to $8, $16 and $32. Honeycrisp and SnapDragon cost more, $13.75 for a half peck.

On October 2, the orchard listed Cortland, Gala and McIntosh as being picked. Fall hours on the Apple Hill campus are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, with picking from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Leashed dogs are allowed outside but not in buildings or the orchard.

Navarino Orchard, Route 20

South of Syracuse, Navarino Orchard sits at 3655 Cherry Valley Turnpike (Route 20), with a Syracuse mailing address. The family farm runs u-pick from strawberries in June through raspberries, tomatoes and apples, with new apple varieties ready each week from August on, and grows pumpkins as well. The country store and bakery are open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and The Barn restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday.

Abbott Farms, Baldwinsville

Northwest of Syracuse, Abbott Farms at 3275 Cold Springs Road in Baldwinsville started apple u-pick on August 17, 2026, and grows newer varieties such as SnapDragon and RubyFrost alongside the standards. The farm supplies clean picking containers for free and does not allow outside containers. Pick by the stem, and do not climb the trees. Store and café hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday; the farm is closed Tuesday. Pets are not allowed in the store, cider mill or u-pick fields.

Madison and Cortland counties

Critz Farms, Cazenovia

The family behind Critz Farms at 3232 Rippleton Road (State Route 13) planted the farm’s first apple trees in 2005 and now has more than 2,000 dwarf trees on about 4.5 acres, growing Cortland, Empire, Macoun, several McIntosh types, Gala, Liberty and Honeycrisp. Apples are sold by volume at one price for every variety: a quarter peck is $6, a half peck $9, a peck $16 and a half bushel $28. On weekdays you can pick without paying admission. On weekends every visitor needs an admission ticket, and pickers can walk or take a wagon ride to the orchard.

Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill, Virgil

South of Cortland, Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill at 1265 State Route 392 in Virgil is in the mill’s 94th season and says the family has pressed cider there since 1933. Pressing happens on Saturdays and Sundays starting around 9:30 a.m. through the Saturday after Halloween, on Victorian-era equipment, and the family notes the pressing is real production, not a show. The donut room is open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Halloween. The mill is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends until the day before Thanksgiving.

Oneida County

Clinton Cider Mill

In the village of Clinton, Clinton Cider Mill at 28 Elm St. has made cider in Clinton since 1903, when the mill opened with a steam-powered screw press; a hydraulic press followed in 1927. John and Mimi Fehlner bought the mill in 1998, and their son Ben and daughter-in-law Laura now run the mill with them. The mill is open every day from late August through Thanksgiving weekend, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The mill sells cider, fresh apples, donuts and other baked goods, and Thanksgiving pie order forms are already posted.

North Star Orchards, Westmoreland

George and Elaine Joseph started North Star Orchards at 4741 Route 233 in Westmoreland in 1986 as a fall roadside stand selling apples from a young orchard. The farm market now runs from mid-April through December 24 with an in-house bakery, greenhouses and a cider press, and the farm holds pick-your-own apple events each fall.

Cooperstown and Otsego County

Middlefield Orchard

Outside Cooperstown, Middlefield Orchard at 2274 State Highway 166, with a Cooperstown mailing address, is a 130-acre fruit and vegetable farm along Cherry Valley Creek with more than 10,000 apple, peach, pear and cherry trees. The trees are dwarf trees, which keep the fruit within reach of children. Apple u-pick runs from early or mid-August through the end of October. The farm is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed Sunday, and from November to mid-June the farm is open by appointment only.

Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard

For pressed cider rather than picking, Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard at 288 Goose St. in Fly Creek dates the mill to 1856. The mill sells fresh-harvest apples by variety along with cider, a snack barn and a hard cider and wine tasting room. The mill is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through December 20, 2026.

Cider donuts, fritters and fresh cider

Several of these stops fry their own treats. Here is where to look:

• Beak & Skiff’s Café & Bakery sells cider donuts and apple dumplings. Fresh-apple fritters are a limited-time item, usually after Labor Day, at The Stand on weekends and the bakery on weekdays.
• Navarino Orchard’s Fritter Shack opens Labor Day weekend with apple fritters, fritter sundaes and cider floats.
• Hollenbeck’s donut room makes donuts on fall weekends through Halloween, then reopens on Christmas Eve morning and continues on Saturday mornings into the winter.
• Clinton Cider Mill sells cider and donuts daily through Thanksgiving weekend.

What to bring

Orchard rules differ, so read the farm’s page before you leave. A few rules repeat across the farms in this guide:

• Footwear for uneven, wet or muddy ground. Abbott Farms warns that the farm’s fields can be all three and that farm equipment is moving around.
• No baskets of your own. Beak & Skiff sells bags before you head out, and Abbott supplies containers and does not allow outside ones.
• A plan for the dog. Abbott does not allow pets in the u-pick fields, and Beak & Skiff keeps dogs out of buildings and the orchard.
• Weekday flexibility. Beak & Skiff’s bag prices are lower Monday through Thursday, and Critz charges no admission to weekday pickers.

Good to know

These dates and hours were checked as of October 2, 2026:

• The 53rd LaFayette Apple Festival is October 10 and 11, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with an apple pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. both days. Pets are not allowed; only service dogs are. Admission and parking details are on the festival’s website.
• Pick-your-own ends first. Beak & Skiff’s orchard is open only from late August to late October, Critz usually wraps up by mid-October, and Middlefield Orchard runs through the end of October.
• Mills stay open longer. Clinton Cider Mill closes after Thanksgiving weekend, Fly Creek after December 20, and Hollenbeck’s after Christmas Eve, reopening January 15 on a Friday-and-weekend schedule.
• Hollenbeck’s takes Thanksgiving orders from November 5 to November 20 and is closed from Thanksgiving Day through the following Tuesday.

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