afton apple orchard field trip

7 Reasons to Visit the Afton Apple Orchard

Apple Orchards are a Great Fall Activity

Visiting an apple orchard and picking your own apples is a Minnesota tradition, and it’s a fun fall activity for adults and kids alike. Recently, we visited the  Afton Apple Orchard , located about ten minutes north of downtown Hastings. Here you’ll find an expansive apple orchard, beautiful sunflower fields, a large playground for kids, and farm animals to feed and pet.

For help locating an apple orchard near you, visit MinnesotaGrown.com . You’ll also be able to search for local farmers’ markets, CSAs, seasonal recipes, and upcoming local events.

Our trip to the Afton Apple Orchard was sponsored by Minnesota Grown. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

1. Picking Apples

The apple orchard is huge with a wide variety of apples to choose from. There are three great early varieties that are available four weeks before most other popular varieties, and they are  First Kiss, Zestar!, and SweeTango. You can find them at most apple orchards, farmers’ markets, and stores. These varieties offer high-quality tastes that surpass the traditional early cold climate varieties.

• First Kiss:  The newest University of Minnesota early season variety is a Honeycrisp cross available up to four weeks before Honeycrisp ripens. It’s an incredibly crisp, lightly tart, and aromatic apple with an excellent storage life of up to five months. 
• Zestar!:  This apple offers its delicate crispness, juicy texture, and zesty flavor with a hint of brown sugar. Developed by the University and introduced in 1999, this apple has a crisp texture and a storage life of up to two months in the refrigerator.
• SweeTango:  A Honeycrisp-Zestar! cross, this apple is known for its sweet and tart flavor. Also developed by the University and first available in 2009, SweeTango apples have explosive flavor, crisp texture, and juiciness in every bite.

2. Picking Berries and Other Fruits

In addition to apples, there are many other fruits to pick and bring home. Raspberries were in season when we visited in early September. At the Afton Apple Orchard, you may also find cherries, blueberries, peaches, and pumpkins depending on when you go.

3. The Flower Field

I think the flower field was my favorite part about the Afton Apple Orchard. It is incredibly expansive with seven acres of sunflowers and zinnias, seemingly as far as the eye can see. The sunflowers are massive and some are larger than my head! The zinnias are bright and colorful, bursting with yellows, oranges, pinks, and reds. For an extra fee , you can cut the flowers to build your own bouquet to bring home. As you walk around the flowers you will see so many butterflies and bumblebees buzzing around. It is really awesome!

4. Feed Farm Animals

There’s a small area fenced off for farm animals, including llamas, goats, and donkeys. You can reach through the fence to pet them or purchase food so you can feed them. They all seemed so calm and friendly.

5. Huge Playgrounds for Kids

One of the main reasons the Afton Apple Orchard is so popular with families is because of the play area for children. There is a massive pile of tires to run on, a huge swing set, and a jumbo blow-up jump pad. A ton of kids were running around and having a blast when we visited.

6. Enjoy a Hayride

If you’re looking for a relaxing way to see the property, hop on the hayrides that are continuously looping around the apple orchard. It’s a nice way to get acquainted with the apple orchard when you first arrive, or just a fun activity for when you’re feet get tired.

7. The On-Site Store

The on-site store sells all kinds of jams, syrups, crackers, and snacks made from apples, berries, and other seasonal produce. You’ll also find a mini-market where you can order lunch. We had a few brats, chips, and a delicious apple cider donut! Adjacent to the store is a large covered barn with picnic tables where you can go to enjoy your meal.

Plan Your Trip to the Apple Orchard

The Afton Apple Orchard is a great place to visit with friends, kids, or for a date. It is a popular spot and for that reason, I suggest you go during weekdays or first thing in the morning before it gets busy and the sun gets hot!

Looking for more fall time inspiration? Check out my day trip to the Montgomery Apple Orchard , the 10 best fall day trips around Minnesota , and six awesome fall time activities !

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I’m glad they have other, non-apple related activities. I’d probably spend my whole time in the kid’s play area, haha!

Yum to all the fruit and berries. And how cute are the animals? What a fun place to take kids!

I love this so much! I’ve never gone apple picking but it’s definitely something I want to do at least once. I also love that sunflower field. So pretty!

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Afton Apple Orchard

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Afton Apple Orchard

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Afton Apple Orchard

I’m starting to accept that I’m a very ritualistic person when it comes to certain activities and seasons. Last month I posted a picture of my Minnesota State Fair spreadsheet and through the online shouts of cheer, when it was shared there were some critics. Some people think I need to relax a bit with my planning. Ok, I get it, I am a bit type A (some people also applauded this).  Just like the Fair, when I think about fall I start to create more lists in my head of experiences and fun activities and for me, one of those activities is a trip to the orchard with my family. I’ve heard from friends recently asking my perspective on an “authentic and fun” orchard experience. I don’t mean to get philosophical when it comes to visiting an orchard but really, what matters to you? Is it quiet, family activities, organic apples, a place to take family pictures, music, wine? Once you figure that out go check Minnesota Grown web page and see what they have to offer! Frankly, there isn’t a perfect orchard that fits everyone, you have to do what your family loves!

So I’ll tell you what’s on my checklist (don’t worry I won’t get you guys all excited and make a spreadsheet): apple-picking, bonus if there is also other fruit-picking, family activities, especially hayrides, not too far from the Twin Cities (under an hour) and one very important component-food products made from apples and/or pumpkin.  For me, the place that meets our family’s orchard checklist is Afton Apple Orchard .

About 30 minutes from St. Paul, visiting Afton Apple is a short car trip away. When you reach the entrance you see fields of berries and beautiful apple trees. Set up right at the entrance is an apple sampling station. I recommend doing this first so your family can decide what apples you want to pick during the day.  Among the farm is also a playground, petting zoo and gigantic tire climber.  There’s plenty of room to run and play, take a nice walk and coming here is a perfect day trip for families-we spent 3 hours at the orchard and even then we had to convince the kids to leave.

The first thing we did when we got there was hop on the hayride.  They have several tractors going that take you all around the orchard and the tractor driver stops at different points and yells out the apple “stops” as in where the particular apples are if you want to get off and pick. Rarely did you have to wait very long for the tractor and it was a particularly busy Sunday afternoon when we went.  We loved just riding the hayride around the orchard (we rode it twice) and then we got off at the playground.

At the playground there were really unique swings, slides and tubes. Next to the playground was a petting zoo where Wes had fun feeding goats! There is also a giant tire climber which was really fun for everyone to check out.  After we played for a while I picked up some apple donuts-a must try when you are there. Each of us had our own because there was no way we could share. Later in the season they will also have pumpkin donuts. We also tried their apple slushie and apple float-both really great drinks!

After we refueled we headed to the hayride and got off on the Red Barron stop. When I sampled the apples, I thought these were perfectly sweet eating apples that would be great for a snack, baking or savory meal. The apples were $1.90 per pound and we filled up almost two bags. The kids had a great time picking apples, well except for when one fell and hit Weston on the back of the head! Poor guy! After we picked we headed back on the hayride and went out to the berry fields and picked red and yellow raspberries.  We picked one pint and Stella was very serious about picking only the perfect berries! Weston on the other hand was very serious about eating the berries and very sad to leave, well actually we all were-it was a great orchard and look forward to visiting again!

Afton Apple Orchard 14421 So. 90th St. Hastings, MN 55033 651-436-8385 Note: There is an admission charge-$4 for ages 5 and up (adults and children must pay admission) and $3 for ages 4 and under.

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1 thought on “ Afton Apple Orchard ”

Alice- We almost never GO to an apple orchard because my parents live on 20 acres and have several apple trees. But we started a tradition with our kids a few years ago called “apple pie day”. We do a little farm to table adventure with the kids helping every step of the way! We pick the apples, use the apple peeler/corer, roll out the pie crust (currently we use frozen, but when they are older and have longer attention spans we hope to make our own!), add the apples, sugar and cinnamon and freeze our pies. Well, we bake one of course 😉 But we make a few for thanksgiving and a few to share with others. The kids LOVE it and have been talking about it since they saw the blossoms on the tree last spring. My favorite part is that we rope my 91 year old grandma into helping (since she makes the best apple pie I know). Fall memories- what can be better than that??

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14421 South 90th Street Hastings , MN , 55033 Phone: (651) 436-8385 Website

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Afton Apple Orchard

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Afton Apple Orchard

Recommendations Near Afton Apple Orchard

Afton apple orchard reviews: insider insights and visitor experiences.

Won’t be returning here.

I had a very disturbing experience at this apple orchard. I don’t normally write negative reviews. In the past we’ve always gone to Emma Krumbee’s apple orchard, but this particular day I was at my so...

An exersize in futility.

Double the price of other Orchards in the area. Only come here if you plan to let your kids run around the massive play ground. Otherwise plan on spending your first hour wondering around aimlessly ...

Lots to do here but very, very busy on fall weekends - recommend going on a week day

An amazing and extremely busy in the fall. Recommend going on a week day if possible. This is a wonderful place to visit as there is much to do here with youngsters. HOWEVER it is very well kno...

Field Trip Day

Wonderful kindergarten class trip. We were greeted by the friendly staff & welcomed to the orchard. There were three kindergarten classes visiting. Each class was loaded onto a hay wagon to tour the p...

Apple and raspberry

My daughter's family, who lives in Minnesota, also had a favorite farm, children's playground, and feeding animals such as goats. I enjoyed moving on the tractor. Fruit hunting is different depending on the season, but this time it was apple ２ type, raspberry. It seems that the type of apple will change from now on. I ate apples as they were, with jam, apple cake, comfort, etc. I am happy to eat such fresh and delicious apples. ...

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Afton Apple Orchard

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Field Trip - Afton Apple Orchard

• United States    
• Minnesota (MN)    
• Hastings    
• Hastings - Attractions    
• Afton Apple Orchard

An amazing and extremely busy in the fall. Recommend going on a week day if possible. This is a... read more

Afton is a great place to bring the family for a fun day outside. You can pick apples, pumpkins... read more

I chaperoned my daughter's preschool field trip here and the kids had a great time! They got to have a tractor ride that brought them to pick their own apples and pumpkins. After doing that, they gave samples of apple cider. We ate lunch at the picnic tables and the children played on the very cool playground. They got to feed the animals at the petting zoo and all were exhausted afterwards! Lots of photo ops. Bring sanitizer as the stations do run out.

Haha, this place was unreal. Wait in a long line to pay to get in ($4 for our baby)+$4+?? Close to $20 to get in. And a big another longer line once inside?! People waiting a very long time to pay for the apples that they managed to "pick" (the rows we went down only had apples on ground). The jumpy thing for the kids cost $2/kid, the little hay ride as well. And some super annoying kid entertainers with microphone and stage. It was comical. We had a good time despite all. Thankfully by the time we went to pay for our crappy apples there was no line.

Yes, it was a gorgeous early autumn Sunday and we should have expected it to be over-crowded. But so should the orchard have. I do not recommend this place if anyone in your party is elderly or disabled, as there were few places to sit and it took us 30 minutes standing in line to reach the cash registers and pay for what we picked. Surely they could have set up some portable cash registers or at the very least more benches or even hay bales for people to sit on. Also there were no fruit carriers available. We would have picked many more raspberries, but could only realistically carry two small containers of fruit each. Had we had a basket or other conveyance, we would have picked many more pints of berries. I doubt I'll return to this orchard unless it's in the rain or on a week day. I try always to say at least one positive thing in a review, and here it is; the pink raspberries are delicious.

I don't know why we continue to come here. This was the last time for sure. I have come with my husband and children for years, & wonder as we leave about how we were not appreciated as customers. I brought my girlfriend this last time. Snotty, and very unfriendly people working. Rude service, and overly expensive. GO ELSEWHERE!

Other than the cost, this place is ok. Nice petting animals area & playground - don't forget your sunscreen & water - there is zero shade and no near water fountain !!! Bathroom facilities are two smelly ports potties !! For the admission fee, you'd think a clean bathroom was included !! Fruit prices 1.5 to 2 times farmers' market !!!!!!

Visited the apple orchard, all must pay $4.00 each, for the opportunity to pick your own apples and berries. The produce was good, staff very unfriendly, it seemed we were bothering them, after picking apples and berries the cost was $39.00, including the fee for four. Definitely will not recommend or return, there are many other choices. Others have stated they feel the children's play area is worth the cost, many municipal play areas are equal and free, not worth the cost.