Apple U-Pick Orchards in Tucson and Surrounding Counties in Arizona in 2024, by county
Below are the U-Pick orchards and farms for apples that we know of in this area. Not all areas of any state, nor even every state, have apples orchards that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!
Remember to always check with the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go - or call or email them if they don't have a website or Facebook page. Conditions at the farms and crops can change literally overnight, so if you want to avoid a wasted trip out there - check with the farm directly before you go! If I cannot reach them, I DON'T GO!
PLEASE report closed farms, broken links and incorrect info using the "Report Corrections" form below.
Cochise County
- Apple Annie's Orchard Farm - PYO - PYO apples, pears, peaches, beans, peas, crowder peas, black eyed peas, 4 or 5 kinds of summer squash, cucumbers, sweet peppers(2 or 3 kinds), tomatoes, roma tomatoes, hot peppers, chilis, jalapenos, broccoli, red cabbage, cabbage, cauliflower, okra
2081 W. Hardy Road, Willcox, AZ 85643. Phone: 520-384-2084. Email: apples@appleannies.com. Open: daily from 8 am to 5:30 pm, mid-July to late November; November hours: 10 am to 4:30 PM. Click here for a map and directions. . Directions off Ft. Grant Road, Willcox, Arizona. Closing for the season in late November. Peaches from July through mid-September; Apples from August 1st through November 23rd and Pears from August 1st through mid-October. - Suhr Family Farm - ORGANIC, apples and pears., restrooms, picnic area, picnic area
2754 N. Mars View Way, Cochise, AZ 85606. Phone: 520-401-3117. Email: Erlene.Suhr@gmail.com. Open: Saturdays in August thru October, other days by appointment; Closed Sundays. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. . . We raise organically grown apples, pears, pecans and pumpkins. Cage free chickens. We also raise grass fed beef and possess the largest herd of Beefalo (crossbred between cattle and American Bison) in Arizona. Our chickens are not kept in battery cages and lay brown eggs. - Valley Farms LTD.-Desert Sweet Organic - ORGANIC, cherries, apples
Fort Grant Road, Wilcox, AZ . Phone: 520-384-2861. Email: desertsweetorganic@sbcglobal.net. Open: Everyday Our cold storage facilities allow us to have fruit available for you late May through March! The Chamber of Commerce tells me they are a pick-your-own. Directions: Take I 10 to Wilcox exit 340, go 17 1/2 miles north on Ft. Grant Rd. We grow Cherries; Bings and Raniers. First harvest; end of May/beginning of June, Apples; Gala (Harvest begins late July), Golden and Red Delicious. (Harvest begins late August), Fuji and Granny Smith (Harvest begins late September). You will love our Desert Sweet Organically Certified fruit. . Click here for a map and directions. . Fax: 520-384-3986. . Open
Graham County
- Angle Orchard - apples, peaches
Mount Graham, Safford, AZ . Phone: 928.322.2769. Email: emclonts@yahoo.com. Open: From August through October, Tuesdays 3:30 - 5:30 pm, Fridays 3:30 - 5:30 pm, Saturdays 8 am - 5 pm, not open on Sundays. Directions: Angle Orchard is located on Mount Graham, just South of Safford, Arizona. The turn off to the orchard is 7.4 miles from the Swift Trail/ HWY 191 junction. Watch for the Angle Orchard sign on the left hand side of the road . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: cash, checks, Venmo, debit/credit cards. . . Questions? or leave a message for us. click here for a map. Apples are usually ready from mid July to mid October. There is a fee added for credit and debit cards. U-pick apples are available for 75 cents a pound. We do not provide containers for you to take your fruit home. Please bring reusable boxes and bags to transport your fruit. Apples are $1 a pound for U-pick and $1.25 a pound for we-pick. *BRING YOUR OWN BOXES/BAGS to haul fruit away.*Cash is preferred. is located in the National Forest on Mt. Graham near Safford, Arizona. Drive 7.4 miles up Swift Trail (AZ 366) past Noon Creek. On the left hand side of the road you will see an sign. Take dirt road down into orchard (approx. 1 mile)General Harvest Schedule is: Apple HarvestAugust: Gala, El StarSept to Mid-Oct: Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, EmpireOct: Fuji, Blushing Golden, Granny Smith & Arkansas Black (but be aware most Arkansas Black are gone by October)
Comments from a visitor on May 31, 2008:: "Engle Orchard is now owned by Betty Larson. She is a sister of Eldon Engle. Her phone number is 928-428-1605. I guess the orchard has recovered from the fire a few years back. There was a fire on the mountain last weekend but it wasn't on the orchard side. They have 36 different varieties of apples! All star and Gala come on first. mid July ~ August . Jonathan, mid August ~ September, and the golden Del. Sept. ~ October. They also have the tarter apples like Arkansas Blacks. You can pick your own OR buy an already picked basket." One visitor wrote (May 12, 2008):: "We used to live at the base of Mt. Graham where this orchard is. It burned in a forest fire several years ago. However I have been told they have recuperated and are again open. I have a good friend in Safford, Az, (at the base of the mountain) and she is getting information for me about when they are opening this year and what kinds of apples they have. I would be glad to forward that information to you when I get it. It was a wonderful place to take the kids when they were little and now they have kids and want to have the experience with their kids. The thing our kids really liked was finding bear tracks around the trees. Made is more adventerous. They also had pears. Don't know yet what they have gotten back. "
Pima County
- Howard's Orchard - No pesticides are used, apples, grapefruit, pears, peaches, carving pumpkins, pie pumpkins, summer squash, Heirloom tomatoes, paste or Roma tomatoes, tomatoes, pecans , walnuts, Sage,
4101 E Pinal St, Tucson, AZ 85739. Phone: (520) 276-6979. Email: myfarm@howardsorchard.com. Open: Thursday to Saturday from 7 am to 1 pm, from early July to late October. Directions: 20 Miles North of Tucson Oracle Road North to Catalina Right on Hawser Left on Columbus Left on Pinal Street Orchard on right hand side. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover.
Howard's Orchard Facebook page. . . We do not use pesticides on the crops. (UPDATED: July 26, 2022)
Comments from a visitor on August 27, 2008: "Howard's Orchard, in Catalina, AZ (just North of Tucson) has some blackberries, along with tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, pecans and apples."
Apple Picking Tips, Recipes and Information
Apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the center, so the apples out the outside of the tree will ripen first. Once they are picked, they stop ripening. Picking apples directly from a tree is easy. Roll the apple upwards off the branch and give a little twist; don't pull straight away from the tree. If two apples are joined together at the top, both will come away at the same time. Don't shake the trees or branches. If the apple you are trying to pick drops, (or others on the tree) go ahead and pick it up. They're perfectly fine! But do wash them before you eat them! More info: How to tell when apples are ripe
- Once picked, don't throw the apples into the baskets, place them in gently, or they will bruise and go bad more quickly.
- Don't wash apples until just before using to prevent spoilage.
- For an explanation of why apple slices turn brown and how to stop it, see this page!
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Keep apples cool after picking to increase shelf life. A cool basement is ideal, but the fruit/vegetable drawer of a refrigerator will work, too. A refrigerator is fine for small
quantities of apples. Boxed apples need to be kept in a cool, dark spot
where they won't freeze. Freezing ruptures all of an apple's cells, turning
it into one large bruise overnight. The usual solution is to store apples in
a root cellar. But root cellars often have potatoes in them: apples and
potatoes should never be stored in the same room because, as they age,
potatoes release an otherwise ethylene gas, which makes apples spoil faster.
If you can keep the gas away from your apples, they will keep just fine.
Just don't store them right next to potatoes.
Prevent contact between apples stored for the winter by wrapping them individually in sheets of newspaper. The easiest way to do this is to unfold a section of newspaper all the way and tear it into quarters. Then stack the wrapped apples . See more here: How to store apples at home - Apples don't improve or "ripen" after being picked - this is an urban myth - see this page for the truth - with references!
Which apple variety is best?
There are tens of thousands of varieties of apples, developed over centuries. They vary in sugar, acoidity, flavors, storing, crispness and many other attributes. See our guides to apple varieties:
- Summary table of many apple varieties and their characteristics
- Detailed descriptions of each apple variety with detailed characteristics
- Apple varieties, sorted by the order in which they typically ripe
- Apple varieties that don't turn brown when they are cut
- Why are some apples brown or spotted inside when you first cut them open?
Canning apples - fully illustrated, with step-by-step instructions
- How to make applesauce
- How to make apple butter
- How to make apple jelly
- How to make apple pie filling (canned)
- How to can apples
- Home canned apple juice
Recipes, illustrated with step by step instructions
- Apple pie recipe and directions and illustrated! I can say, with, ahem, no bias at all, that this is the best apple pie recipe in the world! (Alright, I did have an apple strudel in Vienna once at that place listed in Fodors that was REALLY good, but that wasn't a pie, was it? And since this was the recipe my grandmother used, it must be great!)
- How to make applesauce for a single meal (not canning it) with NO special equipment
- Apple cobbler
- Apple crunch - best of all! Moist, low sugar and using oats!
- Apple crisp - ever-popular, low sugar and using oats!
- Apple, blackberry, cherry, and/or peach cobbler
- Apple-blackberry, crumble - a English favorite (or favourite)
Using fresh apples and miscellaneous
- How to stop cut apples from browning
- Apple festivals - find one near you!
- Apple facts
- Apple seeds and cyanide