A high-elevation Sacramento Mountains ranch with a confirmed 2026 Apple Festival weekend (October 3-4) and views of White Sands — a different growing region entirely from New Mexico's Rio Grande Valley orchards.
Nichols Ranch and Orchards sits at roughly 6,800 feet in the Sacramento Mountains, near La Luz, Otero County, New Mexico, with views of White Sands. That’s a genuinely different growing region from the Rio Grande Valley and Corrales cluster already represented in this dataset’s New Mexico entries. The orchard’s own site directly confirms one of the more specific, dated facts in this entire research batch: the 2026 Apple Festival will happen October 3 and 4.
It’s worth being precise about what’s actually confirmed here. The orchard’s own site announces the 2026 Apple Festival dates directly — a genuine, orchard-site-confirmed statement. But that’s a specific event weekend, not necessarily the boundaries of the full u-pick season. General fruit-season hours are described as 9am to 5pm daily, June through October, which is a much wider window than just the festival weekend. If you’re planning around the festival specifically, October 3-4 is your date; if you just want to pick fruit generally, the broader June-October window applies.
Gala and Honeycrisp are the two apple varieties named in the record, but that detail comes from kisselpaso.com, a regional El Paso-area travel blog, rather than directly from the orchard’s own site. Treat this as a reasonable secondary confirmation rather than an orchard-verified fact — there may be more varieties grown here that simply weren’t named in the source used.
At around 6,800 feet, Nichols Ranch sits in a meaningfully different climate zone from New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley orchards. High-elevation growing conditions can shift ripening timelines and variety suitability compared to lower-elevation farms, which is part of why this orchard represents genuine regional diversity within the state’s apple-growing areas rather than just another entry in an already-covered region.
Beyond apples, the record confirms u-pick cherries, a pumpkin patch, and an October “Haunted Orchard” after-dark event, along with an on-site art gallery. That combination suggests a genuinely multi-season, multi-activity destination rather than a narrow apple-only stop.
No pricing is listed anywhere in the record, and the specific apple-picking window within the broader June-October fruit season isn’t spelled out separately. For a visit built around apples specifically (rather than the festival weekend), a phone call is the way to nail down timing.
The address is 236 Cottonwood Canyon Road, La Luz, NM 88337. Phone: 575-224-2023.
Nichols Ranch and Orchards offers a genuinely distinctive high-elevation setting and one of the more solidly dated events in this research batch — the confirmed October 3-4, 2026 Apple Festival. For apple-specific picking outside that festival weekend, call ahead, since the general June-October season window doesn’t pin down exactly when apples themselves are ready.
The orchard's own site confirms the 2026 Apple Festival will occur on October 3 and 4. General fruit-season hours run 9am-5pm daily, June-October.
You need confirmed pricing or a full apple variety list — only Gala and Honeycrisp are named, from a secondary source rather than the orchard's own site.
Yes — the orchard's own site explicitly announces the 2026 Apple Festival will occur on October 3 and 4, one of the more directly dated confirmations in this batch.
Gala and Honeycrisp, per a regional El Paso-area travel blog (kisselpaso.com) rather than the orchard's own site.
Yes — u-pick cherries are confirmed alongside u-pick apples, per the record.
Roughly 6,800 feet, in the Sacramento Mountains, with views of White Sands — a meaningfully different growing environment from New Mexico's lower-elevation Rio Grande Valley orchards, like those in Corrales.
Yes — an October 'Haunted Orchard' event, alongside the daytime Apple Festival weekend.
2026 dates had not been published when we last checked. In past seasons it has run: Daily, June-October. Check with the orchard before driving out.
Pricing was not published when we last checked.
Yes — it's a pick-your-own orchard, with pre-picked apples at the farm stand too.
Gala, Honeycrisp — note that what's actually ready to pick changes week to week through the season.
236 Cottonwood Canyon Road, La Luz, NM 88337, in Otero County. It is one of 2 orchards we track in Sacramento Mountains / Tularosa Basin.
There is 1 other orchard we track in Otero County. All Sacramento Mountains / Tularosa Basin orchards →
nicholsranchandorchards.com · kisselpaso.com
Checked September 2026.