Apple Picking Season: A Guide to Ellijay's Orchards

Ellijay has called itself the Apple Capital of Georgia for generations, and every fall it earns the title. As the mornings turn cool, the family orchards in the hills around town throw open their gates for the busiest season of the year — pick-your-own apples, jugs of fresh cider, fried pies still warm from the kitchen, and the kind of farm day that has become a North Georgia tradition.

Pick-your-own and the farm experience

The orchards are about more than buying a bag of apples. Most open up their rows so families can pick their own straight from the tree, and the bigger farms turn the season into a full outing — hayrides and wagon rides, petting animals, corn mazes, country stores, and bakeries turning out apple-cider doughnuts, fried pies, breads, and jams. It’s agritourism at its most genuine: a working farm that invites you in.

The orchards

Several long-running family orchards anchor Gilmer County’s apple scene, many of them strung along Highway 52, including Hillcrest Orchards, B.J. Reece Orchards, R&A Orchards, and Panorama Orchards, alongside other local farms and farm markets. Each has its own personality — some lean into the festival-style fall fun, others toward the farm store and bakery — so it’s worth visiting more than one.

Beyond the apples

The season culminates each October in the Georgia Apple Festival, the arts-and-crafts fair that put Ellijay’s apples on the map. But you don’t need a festival ticket to enjoy apple country — the orchards themselves are the main event, and a single fall Saturday spent picking apples, sipping cider, and eating a fried pie on a porch is about as good as a mountain day gets.

Cover photo: ripe apples on the tree, by Pete Markham via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Sources include the Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce, Explore Georgia, and the orchards’ own information. Always confirm hours and pick-your-own availability with each orchard before visiting.