Oak Glen

Hi friends! Last Saturday a group of local food bloggers got together at a place here in Southern California, just above the city of Yucaipa, called Oak Glen. During the Fall Season in Oak Glen you can pick your own apples, raspberries or pumpkins, press your own cider, and enjoy country music, dancing, dinner events and other old fashioned, family-friendly activities. If you like hiking you can explore The Wildlands Conservancy. There is even the old historical Oak Glen School House Museum and opportunities for a horse drawn wagon ride through the orchards. During our visit, we went apple picking, tasted hard cider, experienced the life-changing effects of mini apple cider donuts and a few of us even came home with a mile-high apple pie!

We started at Riley’s at Los Rios Rancho. Los Rios Rancho is over 100 years old and is one of the few orchards open year-round in Oak Glen. They have U-pick Apple Orchards, a corn maze for the kids, U-pick Pumpkins, a bakery, a BBQ shack, a cute little country store, U-press Cider, a nature conservatory and so much more!

There were three orchards open for us to pick: Granny Smith, Red Rome and Fuji! They even give you a map and let you know where to find the best apples! You pick up a bag at the front and you’re off! Once you finish, you pay by the pound for what you pick.

I came home with a bag of Rome apples and a few Granny Smith! It was so much fun to be out among all the trees. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect!

While we were at Los Rios Rancho we had the pleasure of tasting some hand-crafted, hard cider from the Oak Glen Cider Company! My friend Lisa and her husband Chris started the company just over a year ago. They have a small stand outside the Los Rios Country Store and offer tastings on weekends. They had three varieties for us to try; Rootstock, Gravenstein Cider and an Apple Berry Cider. Lisa explained the differences between the three and also shared that they ferment their cider using only apple juice and yeast. There are no artificial sweeteners in their Cider. It’s just pure deliciousness! Their cider has been so successful, they sell out practically every weekend! My favorite cider of theirs is Rootstock, but the Gravenstein is amazing as well! So, if you want some great Cider, made by great people, go early and snag a bottle or three. When you’re there, tell Lisa I said Hi!

After our apple picking and cider tastings, we were off to another of my favorite places in Oak Glen, Snowline Orchard and Winery. If you follow me in Instagram, you know every time I go to Oak Glen, I *always* stop at Snowline for donuts. What’s the big deal about a donut? These are Mini Apple Cider Donuts and they will change your life. It was a lot of fun introducing my friends to these donuts!

Fresh from the fryer, tossed in cinnamon sugar, they are a tiny taste of heaven on earth.

Don’t believe me? You might after you see the long line of people waiting to buy these donuts by the dozens! At Snowline, don’t forget the tasting room in the back. They have their own winery and bottle small batch artisanal wine from their fresh apples, blackberries and peaches. While Snowline doesn’t do U-pick apples, they do have one of the largest selections and variety of apples to purchase in Oak Glen. Their fresh-pressed apple cider is one of my favorites too!

Our last stop in Oak Glen, was to Apple Annies Bakery in Oak Tree Village! Everyone needs a freshly baked, mile-high apple pie, right? Of course, right! Apple Annies Bakery has many apple pie options: regular, no-sugar, latice crust, hand pies etc. The most popular however is the 5 pound, mile-high pie.

It’s even better for breakfast the next day! Yes, coffee and apple pie go very well together. Trust me.

So if you’re in Southern California and looking for a family friendly activity or a perfect girls getaway day trip, consider Oak Glen! You won’t be sorry!