On a stretch of U.S. Highway 64 winding between Hendersonville and Bat Cave, fall colors flash past the car windows: A tunnel of golden-yellow leaves. Bright blue October sky. And the endless red and green of apple orchards flush with fruit. This is “Apple Alley,” where along just a six-mile stretch of highway, you’ll find 14 orchards and roadside produce stands.
Folks have grown apples here since 1783, when the first pioneer families — the Barnwells, Costons, and Freemans; the Justuses, Lancasters, and Stepps; plus more than a dozen others — arrived in the area with fruit tree seedlings to plant near their newly built log-cabin homesteads. They soon discovered that the warm days, cool nights, and fertile soil in this area of the southern Appalachian Mountains were particularly favorable for growing red and golden apples, and they enjoyed their bounty fresh, fried, dried, and pressed; preserved in jellies and butter; and, of course, baked into delicious pies and cakes.
Nearly 250 harvests later, 80 percent of North Carolina’s apples are grown in Henderson County by roughly 100 farmers, who produce about 4 million bushels of the fruit each year, placing the state seventh in the nation in apple production.
Fertile soils, sunny warm days, and cool nighttime temperatures catapulted Henderson County into an apple-growing powerhouse. photograph by Jack Sorokin
Many of today’s growers are descendants of those first settlers, and they’re carrying on a hardworking tradition. Over the years, an increasing number of apple growers have added agritourism to their operations, with the first you-pick apples advertised in the late 1960s. Now, these family farms are mountain meccas from late August through the peak of leaf-peeping season in October, offering bucketfuls of freshly picked fruit, orchard frolicking, hayrides, corn mazes, barnyards, and even playgrounds.
And most important (to those, like me, with a tremendous sweet tooth) — dozens upon dozens of traditional and inventive apple treats at on-site bakeries. Turnovers, fritters, and doughnuts. Slushies and sundaes and cider. Cakes and pies and loaves of bread. Delicately dusted with cinnamon sugar and dunked in hot cider. Covered in caramel. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It would be a true shame, I think, not to try all of them. Surely, one snack must reign supreme. What better way to find out than by taking an Apple Alley Treat Tour?
Stop by Mountain Fresh Orchards, where you’ll want to pick up a warm apple fritter — or two. Photography courtesy of Mountain Fresh Orchards
As I drive east out of Hendersonville and through Apple Alley along Highway 64, a big red arrow on an old sign (GALA, FRIED PIES, CIDER DONUTS, APPLE BUTTER) points me directly to my first stop: the roadside market and bakery at Mountain Fresh Orchards, a 36-year-old family farm. It’s still early, and the orchard’s leafy trees are catching the fall day’s first golden light as the clouds begin to lift. I head inside, where I’m greeted by the sweet scent of fried dough and cinnamon, and I’m immediately faced with what I know will be the biggest challenge of this adventure: pacing myself. To kick things off, I order a warm apple fritter — soft dough, pieces of apple, and cinnamon folded together, fried, and then drenched with a sugary glaze. It pulls apart and pairs perfectly with a cup of hot apple cider. This is going to be a piece of cake … maybe literally.
Operating on land that’s been in the same family for decades, Grandad’s Apples ’N Such has expanded into agritourism to evolve with the times. photograph by Tim Robison
About 30 seconds farther down 64, I come upon an enormous gray-and-red barn and a silo with a John Deere tractor on top. Pat and Leslie Lancaster run Grandad’s on land that’s been farmed by their family for nearly 100 years. Out back, a cornfield stretches toward the rolling mountains in the distance. Before me are dozens of huge wooden bins filled with apples in shades of speckled green and yellow, deep maroon and pale pink, with little signs displaying their names: EverCrisp, Cameo, Arkansas Black, Goldrush. I pick out half a peck to take home, but I know I need to focus on my pursuit of the sweeter stuff.
Among the many sweet selections at Grandad’s Apples ’N Such, you can choose a massive ice cream sandwich (made with doughnuts, of course) or an apple cider slushie topped with vanilla soft-serve. photograph by Tim Robison
I join a long line of people waiting to order from an extensive menu at the bakery, and soon, I’m faced with a decision: Vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two apple cider doughnuts? Or a Mountain Glacier — an apple cider slushie topped with soft-serve vanilla ice cream and crumbled caramel apple cookies? I choose the Glacier. It’s now 10:37 in the morning. It is ridiculous. It is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.
It’s also … very filling. What’s that they say about the “dessert compartment”? I’m pretty sure that doesn’t apply when everything you eat is a dessert. Before venturing on to my next stop, I half-heartedly stretch by the corn maze and wander through the pumpkin patch in the hopes that I’ll magically burn 2,000 calories in the next few moments.
Five generations of Justuses have grown apples in Henderson County. In recent years, farms like theirs have upped the autumn appeal with cider, tours, playgrounds, and sweet treats. photograph by Jack Sorokin
A five-minute drive off 64 — my map shows that I’m in the unincorporated community of Fruitland, which is appropriately named — brings me to the gravel driveway at Justus Orchard, where five generations of the Justus family have cultivated this land for well over 100 years. I pass row upon row of apple trees, each staked with a wooden sign noting the variety. Among them, families pull carts holding basketfuls of freshly picked fruit.
I remind myself of my mission as I sidle up to the window at Apple House Bakery. I already know what I want: a handmade fried apple pie. Still, I can’t help but admire the doughnuts rolling off the conveyor belt. Do I also need a doughnut? I wonder. Oh, no, doughnut distraction!
I fight an internal battle before forcing myself to preserve the ever-shrinking room I have left in my belly for my last stop. Luckily, I’m distracted from my doughnut despair as the cashier passes me a warm hand pie on a paper plate. It’s golden-brown and perfectly crispy on the outside, but just one bite reveals its sweet, soft center made with Mutsu apples. It’s an old-fashioned tradition at Justus, and now I think that coming here and getting one of these will be my fall tradition.
Pick your own apples from the orchard or select a bushel to take home from the farmstand at Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard. photograph by Jared Kay
The only way to end an Apple Alley Treat Tour? With the most classic treat of them all: an apple cider doughnut. But I am, regrettably, incredibly full and quite sleepy as I pass by the sprawling pick-your-own pumpkin patch and rows of apple trees on my way to the market at Stepp’s. My sugar-rush-induced second wind from Justus is beginning to wane. The sound of an apple cannon helps perk me up a little, but I’m running on borrowed time.
At the Apple House, I pick up half a dozen apple cider doughnuts to take home with me. One. More. Bite. I pull out a single cakey doughnut, completely covered in sparkling cinnamon sugar … and I eat the whole thing. I came here on a mission, after all.
In the end, the day was so delicious that I’m not sure if I could pick a favorite stop or a favorite sweet. But after a mere sampling of what Apple Alley has to offer, I can confidently say that the ancestors of today’s Henderson County apple growers would be astounded by the fruits of their labor.
More to Explore: Use our guide to discover other fall festivities at orchards around Henderson County. Visit ourstate.com/appleorchards.
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