Carter Mountain Orchard
| Address: | 1435 Carters Mountain Trail, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA |
| Phone: | +1 434-977-1833 |
| Site: | cartermountainorchard.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
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old geek
I was looking for an orchard to buy a few bushels of fresh Winesap, Stayman and Pippin apples. When I think of an orchard, I think of a family owned orchard or farm where they sell their produce at a fair price. THIS IS NOT AN ORCHARD--this is a tourist trap. A bushel of apples is going for around $24 to $26 this year. It was almost $50 a bushel at Carter Mountain. This is a corporate tourist attraction - has nothing to do with a family run orchard. They do have winesap and stayman apples, but the winesap apples were the smallest I have ever seen - the size of crap apples. They are crisp with a good tart taste, but the skin on these apples is unusually thick. I bought two plastic bags of apples - like the size you see in the grocery store. Checked out and my total was over $17. I made a comment to the cashier and he stated, yeah, this is more for tourists, its not a good place to buy apples in bulk. Tried a cup of cider - pretty good but nothing to brag about. Went to the cooler to pick up a jug and about fell over--$7 for a half gallon. I am so disappointed that this place is even on registry listing for Virginia Orchards. I wasted a 3 hour trip there and back. Going to the local farm stand this weekend - called and they got Winesap apples from around Stauton, Va this week for $26 a bushel.
CH
Christina Smith
What a great time! I went up there with two good friends to see the sights and pick apples. The apple picking experience was a blast; the apples were fantastic (Jonagolds and Golden Delicious!) although it was a lot of work to get at them (love climbing trees!). I think all the work though is part of the experience. We had a great time out in the orchard, playing around like little kids in a candy store. After we got our fruits (which was about $1.12 a pound, and so worth it. The prices are better then what I pay at the grocery store, and they taste amazing).The staff was friendly, and quick, the bathrooms clean, and the store was fun. They had a bunch of great things to look at. We got a $12.99 bottle of blackberry wine to split when we got home, and omg it was fantastic. Id say our weekend was excellent save for one thing: the apple cider we bought? It was expensive, yummy, and we got both hot and cold cider. I looked at the bottles it came in; its the same stuff you get in the store, bottled two hours north in Stephens City, Virginia! Not even made there! So dont bother with the cider, just bring your own from home. But definitely take part in the doughnuts! But be prepared to spend quite a bit of money and get your car REALLY dirty! Definitely a once a year thing. Cant wait to go again!
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A Private User
Carters Mountain has expanded a lot in recent years with their new wine shop, but it seems like the customer experience is going in the opposite direction. I was disappointed to visit over the weekend to find that much of the new crop of apples that they were picking seemed to be damaged or diseased, with most of the best apples located well out of reach at the treetops. I wouldve been OK with that, but I just got a sour taste in my mouth from the whole experience. The drive up the mountain is still a brutal one in anything other than a 4x4 and will require a car wash when youre done. But now they posted a new sign warning customers not to sample apples out in the field and to pay for everything they pick (sorry but I am NOT paying $1.19/lb for an apple I found to be diseased after I picked it), replaced the sturdier plastic bags they used to use with cheap convenience store bags that cant hold more than a couple of pounds of apples without failing, and replaced some of the older folks who used to man the cash registers with standoffish younger people who seem to be more concerned about keeping peoples leashed dogs out of the apple barn than actually helping any customers. This used to be a fun trip I would make several times each fall. I dont think Ill be doing that this year.
AL
Alice Wang
Three words: apple cider donuts. I actually never went to Carter Mountain when I was at school in Charlottesville, but I came back with a few girlfriends after college to pick apples during the fall. We had a lot of fun picking apples especially since we picked Fuji apples, my personal fave. I will say that I wish Carter Mountain had ladders stationed around the orchard to help you get up to the top branches like some other orchards. Climbing the apple trees was fun but for those who dont want to, its nice to have another choice. My favorite part was purchasing the apple cider donuts. I got a dozen without hesitation. The smell of the donuts was so intoxicating; its amazing I didnt scarf down half the box while I was still in the orchard. Even more amazing that they lasted the drive home to DC. I think theyre best hot but even after taking them home and heating them up the next few days, the donuts were still fantastic. Great family place. Also kid-friendly. Getting into the orchard was a bit of a wait/pain, as the line of cars coming in was super long and finding parking was like trying to find parking in a busy mall parking lot on Christmas Eve. Even so, its worth it for those apple cider donuts.
CO
Colorful Coop
This was our first experience at Carter Mountain. We went on a Thursday. Overall, we just thought it was just okay. We were very disappointed at how unfarm-like and unnatural it seemed to be. The cider tasted like the good organic apple juice you can buy in the store but much more expensive and not organic at all, there were no picnic tables in the shade, no one manning the information desk, the trees in the picking area were nearly picked clean and not well marked to know where you should and shouldnt go. One sign said "first two rows only", but there were no apples. We were also VERY disappointed when we read the ingredient list for their apple cider donuts...artificial flavors, soy lecithin, soy flour, leavening agents...all in all, just cheap nasty donuts you can buy at the grocery store. I knew they werent organic, but I also didnt expect to see white stuff all over the apples that you could tell had dripped off the bottom (dried white ring and dot from drips). It would be really nice to see an orchard of this size make some real strides to lessen their chemical usage and at least make their donuts out of decent ingredients and preferably, onsite.
CH
Chris Nguyen
We went here on a Saturday in October to go apple picking. There are many nice things about this location and some not so nice things. The Apple selection was great with at least 5 different varieties of a woodwind. There were many many many apples on the tree. We made the mistake of not being selective at first, just picking whatever apples or handy. But if you are willing to spend more time and walk a little bit farther, the choices of apples are much improved. The apples we ate after we purchased them, were super delicious. My wife was totally smitten by how sweet the apples were. We also enjoyed the cider donuts that are sold there. They were not great, but they were very good. Some of the negatives include the slow and arduous drive up to this location. The two lane road that comes up the 64 freeway was bumper to bumper. It took nearly 45 minutes to travel the two miles from the base of the mountain up to where the orchard is. Another negative is the length of the lines to get food. It took at least 20 minutes to get the donuts. Of course both of these problems are due to the high popularity of this business. And it is popular for a reason.
