A kid-friendly farm market known for its Apple Express train ride and a nine-variety roster spanning early to late season — but it's unclear from this record whether visitors can actually pick apples themselves, or only buy from the bins.
Mountain Fresh Orchards sits at 2887 Chimney Rock Road in Hendersonville, open daily from 8am to 6pm. Its variety list is one of the wider ones documented in this Henderson County batch — nine named apples: Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden Supreme, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonagold, Evercrisp, Stayman-Winesap, and Arkansas Black. That spread runs from mid-season staples (Honeycrisp, Gala) through genuinely late-season varieties (Stayman-Winesap, Arkansas Black), which suggests fresh apples could be available here later into the fall than at orchards with a narrower, earlier-leaning list. Cider donuts are confirmed available, and the farm operates a bakery alongside its farm market.
The best-known attraction here, per the record, is the Apple Express train ride through the property — a specifically kid-oriented feature that doesn’t appear at other Henderson County orchards in this research batch. Combined with the farm market and bakery, this reads as an operation built around a family visit centered on browsing, buying, and riding rather than necessarily working through the orchard rows picking fruit by hand.
The single most important open question here is whether visitors can pick their own apples at all. The record explicitly notes that this reads as more of a farm-market operation than a confirmed pick-your-own site, based on the pages reviewed — u_pick is left unresolved rather than marked yes or no. That’s a meaningful distinction for anyone planning a trip specifically to pick apples themselves, since a bakery-and-train-ride farm market is a different experience than an orchard where you walk the rows with a bag. Given the wide variety list on offer, it would be worth a direct call to 828-435-0020 to ask plainly whether hands-on picking is available or whether the apples are sold pre-picked from bins.
Two different phone numbers surfaced during research for this record: 828-435-0020, corroborated by the third-party site ourstate.com and used here, and a separate number, 828-685-7606, found on another third-party listing but not used. Since the confirmed number matches an independent third-party source rather than resting on a single unverified listing, it’s reasonably reliable — but it’s worth flagging that a search might turn up the other number too.
No 2026 season dates are available anywhere in the sources checked — the site’s own dated content referenced a past 2023 season, which doesn’t help pin down current-year opening or closing dates. Anyone planning a fall trip should confirm current operating status directly rather than assume typical Henderson County timing (roughly mid-August through late October, based on other orchards in this batch) applies here.
Mountain Fresh Orchards offers one of the broader named apple-variety lists in this batch, stretching usefully into late season with Arkansas Black and Stayman-Winesap, plus a family-friendly Apple Express train ride and bakery. The real uncertainty is whether this is a pick-your-own destination at all, or purely a farm market — this record can’t settle that question, so call 828-435-0020 or check mtnfreshorchards.com before assuming you’ll be picking apples yourself.
The nine named varieties run from Honeycrisp and Gala on the earlier side through late-season Arkansas Black and Stayman-Winesap; hours are 8am-6pm daily, but no 2026 season dates are confirmed.
picking your own apples is the whole point of the trip — this record can't confirm u-pick is actually offered here.
Not confirmed. This reads primarily as a roadside farm-market operation based on the pages checked, rather than a confirmed u-pick site — worth a call to verify.
Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden Supreme, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonagold, Evercrisp, Stayman-Winesap, and Arkansas Black — nine varieties named in the record, spanning early to late season.
A train ride through the property, confirmed as an activity in the record — the operation's best-known kid-oriented attraction.
Yes, confirmed in the record.
8am-6pm daily, per the record.
2026 dates had not been published when we last checked. In past seasons it has run: Daily. Check with the orchard before driving out.
Pricing was not published when we last checked.
No — this orchard sells pre-picked apples from its own trees rather than u-pick.
Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden Supreme, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonagold, Evercrisp, Stayman-Winesap, Arkansas Black — note that what's actually ready to pick changes week to week through the season.
2887 Chimney Rock Road, Hendersonville, NC 28792, in Henderson County. It is one of 11 orchards we track in Hendersonville Fruit Belt.
We track 11 orchards in Hendersonville Fruit Belt, 8 of which let you pick your own apples. The orchard has not published a starting price, so it cannot be compared on cost — call before you budget.
What sets it apart locally: it has a farm market or store, cider donuts or a bakery, which most Hendersonville Fruit Belt orchards on our list do not.
One caveat worth repeating: this orchard had not published its 2026 dates when we last checked, while 3 of the 11 orchards we track in Hendersonville Fruit Belt had. Treat any date you see elsewhere as last year's until the orchard confirms it.
There are 10 other orchards we track in Henderson County. All Hendersonville Fruit Belt orchards →
Map pin is set to the town centre. Navigate to the street address above, not the pin.
mtnfreshorchards.com · ourstate.com
Checked September 2026.