BJ Reece Orchards

There’s a ton of orchards around this area. I came here because my friends told me they had the best apple pie ever. Boy they were right!
The whole experience was good. Great selection. Super nice staff. And yummy pie!
Come here and stock up!

I drove an hour and a half just to buy some apples. It would have been fun to pick them myself but I came a little late in the season. My family tends to go over board when we buy things so we bought 5 large bags of Fuji apples ($ 16/​bag). I also bought 4 bags of their dried/​dehydrated apples ($ 10/​gallon sized bag). I was a little disappointed they didn’t have any samples to offer prior to buying, but I bought one to taste and ended up grabbing 3 more bags. They are great for snacks!!! I actually tried a sample of dehydrated apples from Mack Aaron’s Apple house next door, but BJ Reece Orchards is by far so much better.

I think we may visit apple houses too much but my family loves getting produce from locally grown places. Reece always has a great selection of fruit and vegetables. My kids love the bee section where they have a live bees nest inside a clear box. My favorite place is the pastry counter. You can see to the kitchen where everything is being made on site. It’s hard to leave without loading up the car.

Our favorite fall tradition. We’ve built a lot of memories out of BJ Reece Orchards, and look forward to many more! Great apples, great activities for the kids, and the store is fantastic. The drive up from Atlanta isn’t bad either!

Fall is in the air! Time for apple picking, carving pumpkins and sipping apple cider. You can do all that and more at BJ Reece Orchards.
Located about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta, BJ Reece Orchards is a popular destination for the city folk to have a little country fun. This was my first time going apple picking and I was blown away at how many people there were. There’s ample parking and activities like a petting zoo, pig races and a country store with the best apple pie. Not sure I really fit in with my fur vest, marc jacobs bag and wedges, but I had a GREAT time!
Prices are pretty cheap, but can quickly add up — 5 bucks for entry, 6 or 9 bucks for a bag to carry your apples and 3 dollars for the petting zoo.
Petting Zoo — lots of kid goats roaming around. there’s also a pen with about half a dozen bunnies. The bunnies seemed terrified of all of the rambunctious kids and tried to hid in their cages. I tried picking one up and it bit me on the the arm! The fluffy chickens are a scene to see.
Apple Picking — slim pickings since it’s almost the end of the season, but we still got a good stash; however, a lot of rotting apples on the ground. There’s also a zipline for the more adventurous that soars above the orchard.
Country Store — you must end your adventure with an apple pie which are more like fried apple turnovers, but they are amazing! Not too sweet with a lot of apple filling. Also need to get a pitcher of fresh-​squeezed apple cider for 4 bucks.
There’s also a huge jumping area for kids and plenty of places for those obligatory fall photo-​ops. We didn’t get to see the pig races, but we could hear people cheering in the distance. I wouldn’t recommend cow milking — long line in smelly poop and the cow looked so sad.
I’ll definitely be back next year.

Because I was at Amicalola Falls, I had to head out to BJ Reece Orchards to get me some freshly picked yummy apples. OMG, the line was so long. I mean 2 miles and waited an hour? Seriously? Yes. No kidding.
On top of that, when arrived, the line to go apple picking was forever. I traveled this far. I will go get me some apples. They only had Rome apples. I didn’t care I want me some apples. BJ Reece Orchards have two locations, directly across from each other. Each side has orchards. I just happen to be on the side that had only Rome, the other had more but I didn’t care. Each side also have different activities. I was fortunate to be on the side of the petting zoo cause that’s what we wanted to see. Across the street had pig racing, stuff like that. More activities you wanted to see, it cost more.
So while picking apples, most of them were on top and hard to get. Would I have to climb? Luckily a group of people were done apple picking and gave us their wooden stick. There were so many apples that were on the ground. I felt bad. So much waste! When using the wooden stick to knock the apple, you better watch where that apple roll! I had water with me so I washed one apple and bit into it, it was soooo good. I love fresh apples!
The petting zoo was small but it was good experience for those who love animals, very kid friendly. Some of the goats and calves just laid there and let you pet them. It wasn’t the best but good enough. I mean $ 3/​person isn’t too bad, you know.
Since my favorite apples, Pink Ladies are not for picking, I went inside the store to get me a bag. It was soooo packed inside! Luckily the lines moved fast.
This isn’t the first time coming here and won’t be the last. It is the first time to actually go apple picking and would do it again.

Picked apples here on a cloudy, misty Saturday. $ 2 entrance fee per adult. (If you want to pick from both sides of the farm, it’s $ 5/​adult).
We chose to pick from only one side. We paid $ 18 for a large bag. The only variety available was Rome beauty. (The other side had Granny Smiths).
Great experience. We got approximately 20 lbs of apples.
The farm store sells cider, donuts, pastries, veggies and already picked apples. We tried the cider and donuts and liked those too. The fried apple pies were okay. I bought a large ziplock bag of dried apple slices and although good wouldn’t recommend it because it costs $ 10.50! That’s pricey for dried apple slices.
I’d go back for apple picking.

Really fun time out for the day with my family. We picked apples, took a ride on the wagon, watched the pig races and zip lining! The petting zoo was also really cool and the kids were able to pet pigs, a baby cow, little goats and hold baby kittens, rabbits and puppies.
I can’t wait to come back! Lunch and drinks are available and there is plenty to do to keep you busy for the better part of the day. Not to mention getting a giant bag of several types of apples.
Do yourself a favor and take your kids to BJ Reece Orchards on a sunny fall day.

I went apple picking as a kid to an orchard near Michigan and loved it! It was my one and only experience but I knew someday it would be an experience I would repeat with my own children. Fast forward 30 years and 600 miles south to Ellijay, the apple picking capitol of Georgia.
We as a family can be pretty finicky, but have reasonable expectations and make the best of just about any situation. We’ve tried to train our children to not overly complain and find joy even when life doesn’t turn out as planned. For example, we paid R&A Orchard a visit last year (which is just 4 miles down the road from BJR’s). Unfortunately it was not yet picking season, so instead we wandered around sampling their pies and other products. We fell in love with their peach slushies and boiled peanuts and knew this would be our orchard of choice when apple picking season returned.
While en route to R&A we passed BJ Reece Orchard which was so busy with activity that it drew our kids attention. They are very social you see, so seeing loads of families just means more opportunities to make friends… or at least that’s how we see it!
I resisted the urge to turn into BJ’s parking area and kept on course as planned to R&A, but promised the kids we would stop back here on our way home once we’d finished gathering our apples. This was a very easy sell because they really enjoyed R&A’s coconut pies and slushies and couldn’t wait to get them again. However, as bad luck would have it the pies weren’t quite as delicious as our previous visit. To our kids credit they never said a negative word. That is, until we purchased the fried pies at BJ Reece. They were great and the kids immediately told us just how much tastier BJR’s were in comparison. I loved how I could taste the butter in the crust and BONUS… they serve them HOT out of the ovens. Since the turnover sized pies were only $ 2 (which is cheaper than R&A), we ordered a bunch of different flavors. Never found one flavor we disagreed with, but apple by far was our favorite followed very closely by strawberries and cream.
We had an absolute blast today on our first family apple picking excursion. We enjoyed it so much in fact that our kids instantly declared it a new family tradition. Aside from actually picking apples there is so much to do that an entire day almost doesn’t seem long enough. There are pig races, cow milkings, petting farms, wagon rides, a cow train, zip lining, scavenger hunts, pony rides, apple cannons, a giant jumping pillow and a general store with a live honey bee farm and some of the best fried apple pies I’ve ever eaten. We were so addicted to the pies that by the time it was all said and done we’d purchased about a dozen in addition to the half dozen we’d already won in the pig races. It was an unexpected great time and we can’t wait for next year’s apple picking season to roll around.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Since this was an unscheduled stop, I had not read any Unilocal reviews until after we had already visited this orchard. I’m glad it worked out that way because honestly I probably would not have stopped here based on some of the previous reviews. It takes a lot (I mean a whole lot) to ruin our time as a family exploring the world. We love experiencing new things and our tolerance is rather high for small annoyances when we are being stimulated in so many other ways. BJ Reece Orchards was stimulation overload and if there were any reasons to give this place less than 5 stars, we didn’t notice them!
The staff was amazing, the pies were fantastic, the cider was divine and our kids had smiles on their faces that would satisfy any parents desire to make lasting memories. The older kids raced pigs for free apple pies and fed a calf milk with a giant bottle while my grandson laid in the hay petting baby goats about his same size. I mean come on, it just doesn’t get any better than that!

Every apple picking location in the state is a tourist spot. It is going to be packed and prices are going to be higher than u might like.
Went this post weekend and it was nice. Great day of sun shine and friends. Parking was packed but there were spots still. Folks where friendly and lines moved quickly. U had to dig a little deeper in the trees to find apples and I would advise a broom handle to help out
They even let me. dring my dog.

After spending a couple of hours at the Georgia Apple Festival, we turned to B J Reece Orchards in the hopes of getting to pick perfectly ripe, juicy, flawless apples. Perhaps I set the bar a bit too high.
Many an apple lay rotting on the ground around the endless rows of apple trees. Many of the trees in the first several rows were already heavily picked over — only under-​ripe or hard to reach apples remained. It also took us a while to ascertain what kinds of apple trees we were standing next to (later we discovered that the labels were at the very end of each row — perhaps a good 50 yards away from the entrance into the orchard).
Eventually, several rows down, we found Rome and Golden Delicious apples aplenty. There, we were easily able to fill our pre-​purchased half-​peck bag.
This place was certainly a tourist trap, with a long lines, heavy traffic, a Boudreaux Taste of Louisiana tent near the entrance, cow milking, pig races, a zip line that runs over the orchard, etc.
For the price of admission and the pre-​purchased bag for apples, I don’t feel like I got my money’s worth. That said, if you have children, this place would be a fun and entertaining experience for them.

Really enjoyed the Apple-​picking! We come here first and then go to Hillcrest for hot apple cider and fritters

I LOVE apple picking. This is a tradition I grew up with, and I’m 31 now but still a kid at heart, and all I want is to go apple picking with people who will appreciate it like I do. Is that so much to ask?
I’ve been here more than once, but this year is the first time I’ve been to the new U-​Pick section across the street.
Fried apple pies, apple bread, cider, bags of apples you can buy without doing any work of picking or having any fun. HINT HINT:
You know you wanna go pick your own apples. That is why you’re here! So go wait in line (it’s a long line, and I should remove a star for the inefficient way they handle their line: Slowly. We were probably in line for at least 20 minutes, but it was a Sunday afternoon in early October. BUT I LOVE THIS SH! T.)
PRO TIP: There’s a Boudreaux Taste of Louisiana tent right next to the line you’re waiting in, and their cajun fried chicken is TO. DIE. FOR. I am so sad this place is not closer to Atlanta metro but if you’re in the area consider it something you HAVE to try. No idea yet if they have a website or anything. I mean, I think the woman taking my money was wearing Gilmer County High School clothes so it could be a family thing. The chicken is so juicy and crispy at the same time. and full of flavor.
We bought a bag to fill with apples for $ 18. plus $ 5 entry fee per person. The $ 5 entry fee gets you apple picking, cow milking and pig races.
Anyway, regardless of how long you wait in line, once you get into the orchard you can be away from any other humans. It’s amazing. There are so many different things to do — milking cows, pig races, bouncey pillow, zip line over the trees, hay ride — that you really can find a spot that makes it feel like you’re the only people in the orchard. I saw people having picnic in the orchard under trees.
We left with 73 apples. 73 glorious apples. Green ones, red ones, big ones, small ones and tinier ones. and they’re all delicious because I’m a good apple picker.
Go to Reece

This place is great for families including the dog! If you don’t have children you will probably be happier at a smaller orchard but if you’ve got little ones then this is the place to pick apples! $ 60 got us a full peck of apples and a lifetime of memories, not to mention a full day of family fun. My kids, 10 and 7, especially loved the petting zoo and the apple cannon. Send mom to wait in line for the cannon while Dad milks the cows with the kids because the line backs up. However, it is because each child gets to shoot something like 10 apples! Plenty of time to perfect their aim. On the other side of the orchard are the pig races and if your munchkin is picked to race alongside the swine then they get a free pie from the apple house. Both of my kids were picked so that was a yummy score. Speaking of the apple house, try the apple cider doughnuts. They are Ha Ha Hawesome!

Pretty fun. Most of the apples were picked already. It took forever to find a peck of good apples. The trees weren’t really marked to let you know what you’re picking. I found one granny smith tree in the entire place that actually had good apples.
Apple pie was great. Peach pie was not so good.

My girlfriends got me all excited for an apple picking adventure at BJ Reece and I have to say, it was just okay. Don’t get me wrong, frolicking in the orchard was lovely. There were plenty of large red apples for the picking. The families with little kids looked like they were having fun. All things considered, it was a nice experience — until I got home and tried the stuff I bought from the market. My bag of dried apple chips ($ 10 a bag, mind you) was bland and rubbery. Some tomatoes I picked up there were already going bad, barely 36 hours later. Given that the market seems to be a main attraction of this place, and given that I could have bought better products at the grocery store, I’m disappointed.
Edit: Just opened the bag of pre-​picked apples I purchased from the market. They were moldy and rotten in between. Gross.

As an apple picking connoisseur in the North East, I have high expectations of an orchard. Reece seemed a little less crowded than some of the other orchards and shockingly people were more interested in the petting zoo than picking apples. Unfortunately, the Rome Beauties were bountiful, but we missed the really sweet yellow apples. They were either picked over or ripened earlier. I would have liked a larger orchard to roam around in and have some private time, but I guess you don’t get that at apple weekends in Georgia. $ 10 got us a peck of apples, $ 2 entrance fee per person. I’d call early in the season and see when the different apples are ready. Be prepared to climb a tree… and bring your dog — they’re allowed!
If you can, try to go when there aren’t a ton of people — my main complaint was huge crowds and picked over apples.

My family and I bought a groupon for an apple picking experience at BJR. The farm is on both sides of the road so, gasp, you might have to cross the street. On the day that we went, there was a police officer working as a crossing guard so this was no big deal. We parked on the side with the store. We redeemed our groupon at a table with a girl who did not know much about the farm. She admitted that it was her first day but honestly, I expect her to either know what kind of apples they have or admit that she didn’t know. She said there was only one kind of apple in the orchard behind her and that we should go across the street where they had 6 varieties. We did go across the street but it turned out that, at least according to the sign, there were about 6 varieties in that very orchard behind her.
So we ventured across the street with crossing guard assistance and headed out to the orchard. I have 2 small kids so we didn’t venture in too deeply. We picked ¾ of a peck in pretty short order. After picking, we waited in a line for our tractor ride. It was unseasonably hot but there were free bottles of cold water to cool us down. We enjoyed our ride and, after using a nice REAL bathroom, we headed back across the street for our pony ride and apple cannon experience. Am I the only person who had never heard of an apple cannon? No, the girl who redeemed my groupon hadn’t either:)
We traversed another orchard to get to the petting zoo and the ponies. The petting zoo was really only goats. There were some chickens, geese and donkey but they were fenced off. The pony ride line was WAY too long by the time we arrived (11.30ish). After evaluating this super long line, we opted to bribe our daughter with candy to skip the pony ride altogether.
By now we were kinda spent so the mysterious apple cannon was completely forgotten. We headed to the store. Doug W and dd headed in for their caramel apple and ds and i ordered up a funnel cake. Their lunch counter ran about as smooth and fast as you could hope for. They could use more seating, especially at this time of year (Saturday in October). My funnel cake was a little slow coming due to a need to prepare more batter but I was kindly offered a complimentary apple juice to keep ds happy during the wait. My funnel cake was excellent.
This is a fine place to spend a day during apple season. Even with a few issues (untrained staff, weak petting zoo), we definitely had $ 20 worth of fun.
PS: Agrotourism is not for the faint of heart. If you don’t want to sweat, smell animal poop, wait in line or do some farm labor, stay home. This is not the experience for you.

I have been to this orchard several times over the years. It’s on my list of places to go in the Fall for apple picking.
I recommend B J Reece for the following:
1) You can walk to the U-​Pick orchard right from the parking lot/​store and do not need to wait for a tractor ride as you do at most other orchards.
2) They have real apple trees and not dwarf tress that make it too easy to get apples.
3) The store has a good selection of apples, baked items, vegetables, and other related items.
4) For the kids, there is a petting zoo.
5) It’s not really too crowded at all once you get in the orchard to pick.
My only quibbles are the following:
1) They do not have as big a selection of apple types as Mercier does.
2) Some of their apples for U-​Pick are across the street — seems a little difficult to some apple picking in one spot and hike a distance to another orchard.
3) They list some apples as being available, but after walking around the orchard I could not find any signs indicating where those apples were to be found.
If you like to get crisp and fresh apples right off the tree, this is another good stop for you to try out in the North Georgia mountains.

Coming from Chicago, Apple Orchards are a «fall season» must. From north Chicago to the whole state of Michigan, apple orchard picking is a yearly event for many local people and we were not disappointed with Reece’s Apple Orchard. There not a ton of choices for apples, but the orchard was big and had good apples even though the variety was small.
You can pick your own apples or they have pre-​picked apples that you can buy in bushels. They also have pumpkins and gourds outside the store for fall decorations.
Inside the store, they have ciders, jams, donuts smoothies and much more.
For the u-​pick, you have the option to buy 3 different sized bags. $ 4 for ½ peck, $ 8 for a peck or $ 14 for a ½ bushel. Whatever bag you buy, you can fill it as much as you can and it will be that flat rate for the bag cost. Well worth the deal.
We will go back but we may try other orchards as well.