Afton Apple Orchard
14421 90th Street South, Hastings, MN, USA
Summer hours: 7-3 (during berry season) Fall hours: 10-4, 7 days a week
$$$
fun-paid-activities, playground, farms-orchards, seasonal-activities
Happyly is better in app
Get the Happyly app to discover more activities like this one, plus get curated adveture plans, build lists of activities to try and more!
Enter your phone number to receive a download link
Afton Apple Orchard is a great spot to visit in the east metro area during the summer for berry picking or in the fall for festive activities.
When you first arrive at Afton Apple Orchard, you will need to head into the store to pay admission for a variety of activities such as a giant playground, petting animals, hayride, hay bale climbing, two giant chairs, and much more. A couple of activities cost extra money: a huge jumping mat, a children's train ride, and the apples you pick are weighed and priced by the pound. There is also a pumpkin patch for picking pumpkins weighed by the pound for cost. This place has so much to do; no wonder it is so popular and always hopping!
No outside food or beverage is permitted, but the shop sells tons of options for snacking. My kids are fans of the apple donuts, and I loved the apple brat. Be sure to grab a couple of homemade treats to take home with you. I usually grab some apple fritters for a sweet treat the next day.
Berry picking season can be a bit more relaxed here. You grab a box and head out to start strawberry picking. After they weigh it for you and you can be on your way. The fields usually have a few staff out there helping, so they are great if you have any questions. The store sells some strawberry jams and treats in the summer that is also a nice treat.
This is the place to be at least once every summer and fall. During berry season, it can get pretty busy, and they get picked over fast.
Weekends in the fall during the Fall Fun Festival can also get quite crowded. We usually visit a few times each season and have found that weekdays are the best times to visit. Harvest season begins in the middle of August and continues until the end of October. There are a ton of fun, kid-friendly activities on offer for the duration of the festival. After spending an afternoon at the orchard picking apples, going on a hayride, choosing pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, or running through the 15-acre corn maze, be sure to head over to 3rd Act Craft Brewery for some beers and snacks!