What a gorgeous Fall morning! Pete and I took a drive up to Apple Hill to enjoy the best hot-from-the-fryer apple cider donuts in the world.

Here’s my very happy apple donut buddy…

Apple Hill is rather famous throughout northern California as a great destination for Fall outings. In the early 1960’s the farmers in the area formed a collective and started opening the farms and orchards to the public. Here’s a link to the website that explains more about it: https://applehill.com/. It’s located just east of Placerville (known as “Hangtown” during the Gold Rush!)

Rainbow Orchards has long been one of my favorite stops. They make those amazing donuts while you wait which makes them really special. Before WWII, most families made donuts at home. There weren’t entire chains of donut bakeries like we’ve become used to. I imagine that this is how most Americans enjoyed their donuts. Their fresh, unpasteurized cider is unbelievable also- sweet, deep, fresh as can be.

Their barn is really cute and it’s right on the road. You can’t miss it because of the beautiful rainbow mural on the road facing elevation.

Inside the barn, visitors can buy fresh apples, of course, plus lots of other treats like pears, tomatoes, baked goods, jams, jellies, pumpkins, dried corn, tee shirts, stickers, tote bags… all the goodies!

After picking up our donuts and cider, we enjoyed them in the picnic area behind the barn. They have hay bales set up like a track and the kids LOVE running the bales. Adorable!

Even though Rainbow Orchards does not offer a “u pick” experience like some of the other growers, the orchards are right there to enjoy. This year because we had so much rain in the winter, the harvest continues to give. The farmer told us they’re still harvesting when in years past, the harvest gave out before the end of October.

One tree really touched me. It had so much damage at its base- it was an old wound and it looked like it had been really bad, but it didn’t stop this tree from producing. It had bunches of beautiful apples up in its branches. There’s a lesson in that, isn’t there? In spite of our wounds and our past, we still have much to offer.

If you’re ever fortunate enough to be in northern California in September and October, you owe yourself a visit to Apple Hill!

“If an apple blossom or a ripe apple could tell its own story, it would be, still more than its own, the story of the sunshine that smiled upon it, of the winds that whispered to it, of the birds that sang around it, of the storms that visited it, and of the motherly tree that held it and fed it until its petals were unfolded and its form developed.” ~ Lucy Larcom