Irish Mountain Orchard

Our take

The short version

Irish Mountain Orchard has grown apples since 1988, but it’s a relative newcomer to public u-pick — the property only opened its rows to visitors in 2022 under newer owners, Jacob and Leslie Lee, per the record. It sits in Le Sueur County’s lake country south of the Twin Cities, filling a geographic gap between the metro orchards and the more established bluff-country farms further southeast. Five named varieties are on offer, and the orchard’s own site is upfront that exact opening timing depends on ripening rather than a fixed date.

An old orchard, a new u-pick operation

This distinction matters: the trees themselves date back to 1988, but per the research notes, the property only converted to a public u-pick model in 2022. That combination — mature, established trees paired with a newer ownership and business model — is a specific mix not found elsewhere in this research batch. If you’re curious about the difference between an orchard that’s been picking-open for decades versus one still building its public visitor operations, this is worth keeping in mind; some of the polish larger, longer-running u-pick operations have around visitor logistics may still be developing here.

Five varieties, spanning the season

The record names Zestar, Honeycrisp, Fireside, Connell Red, and Haralson. That’s a reasonable spread — Zestar tends to be ready earliest, Honeycrisp sits in the middle of the season, and Fireside and Haralson typically hold on the tree later into fall. Per the research notes, the orchard’s own site recommends calling ahead early in the season specifically because opening for picking depends on which variety has actually ripened, rather than a set calendar date — a piece of practical honesty worth taking at face value.

Precise coordinates, a rarer detail

Unlike most other records in this batch, which rely on an approximate area estimate for location, Irish Mountain Orchard’s coordinates (44.250502, -93.747157) come directly from the exact GPS figures published on the orchard’s own site. That’s a small but genuinely useful detail if you’re relying on GPS navigation rather than a street address to find the property.

A geographic gap-filler

Per the research notes, Irish Mountain sits in Le Sueur County’s lake country, positioned between the Twin Cities metro orchards to the north and the true bluff-country orchards further southeast near the Mississippi River. If you’re mapping out a Minnesota apple trip and want an option that isn’t clustered with either group, this location offers a genuinely different geography.

What’s not confirmed

No pricing is listed for u-pick apples or admission. No activities are listed in the record at all — the activities field is empty, meaning it’s reasonable to expect this is primarily a picking-focused visit without the corn mazes or petting zoos found at bigger metro operations, though that’s an inference from the gap rather than a confirmed statement. No cider mill or cider donuts are confirmed either.

Getting there

Irish Mountain Orchard is at 24009 482nd Street in Elysian, Le Sueur County, in South Central Minnesota’s lake country. Unlike most records here, the coordinates are the exact GPS figures from the orchard’s own site rather than an area estimate.

Bottom line

Irish Mountain offers a genuinely different profile than most other Minnesota orchards in this research — decades-old trees under a newer u-pick operation, precise GPS coordinates, and an honest acknowledgment that ripening, not the calendar, determines when picking actually opens. A call to 507-243-3462 before an early-season visit is exactly what the orchard itself recommends.