Crooked Run Orchard

Since Crooked Run is probably the closest to us for apple picking we decided to check it out 1 Saturday before Halloween. It was pretty busy, and the people who run it were not very helpful. When u arrive there are no signs that point u wear to go, the Apple varieties aren’t marked well and the fact they don’t take check card is rather inconvenient. Personally I’d rather drive a tad bit further for a better experience.

Enjoyed apple picking at crooked run. The orchard was fair lot large, it wasn’t too crowded. And apples are a $ 1 a pound. Definitely would come back.

I had a great experience at Crooked Run Orchard this past week. It can be hard to find pick-​your-​own options within a quick drive. Most that I see are over an hour away, so it was nice to find this orchard that straddles the border of Purcellville and Hamilton.
You may be skeptical as you pull in as it doesn’t immediately read «idyllic fall apple picking» since it’s across from a strip mall. But you quickly forget the residential encroachments as you are surrounded by orchards and crops.
Now that I know where they are and what they have available, I’m bummed that I didn’t discover them earlier in the year for peach and blackberry season. Currently, they had 3 or so varieties of apples to choose from: Rome, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious. We were several weeks into the season, but the branches were still heavily laden with fruit during our mid-​week visit. Paths and trees were well-​marked and pretty easy to access.
The grounds are not handicap or stroller-​friendly. You cross tall grasses and uneven ground. For the back orchards, you cross a creek using only a few boards laid over the water. This is not one of the fancy, polished orchards with great signage and well-​defined, level paths. You feel much more of a wanderer on a less-​traveled road. It also helped that there were very few other people there on our weekday visit. I imagine the crowds may gather on the weekends.
The orchard was staffed by an older man at checkout who was friendly and informative. The prices couldn’t be beat at $ 1 a pound for apples and $ 1.50 for Asian pears. I can’t wait to come back for peaches and berries next year.
CASH or CHECK only. No credit card charges.

The lady was so rude to us that we decided we would never be able to enjoy her apples so we turned around and left. Don’t ask her any questions or how things work around there. Better yet, find another orchard!

Right next to downtown Purcellville. Apples were a great price. Not very crowded, which is nice. I would come back if I lived a bit closer for the prices. The green apples I took home were delicious in a pie.

I’m a big supporter of small/​local businesses so I frequently visit farm stands. Today I came to pick my own pears & apples for the first time. I asked the lady what standard procedures were and man was she rude !
Anyway I went about my business picked my pears & apples. It was very enjoyable! Definitely good for families /​day dates.
I did however step on a box cutter. I returned it at checkout. The guy that assisted me was much more friendly. And even the cranky old lady seemed a bit softer.

I’ve been to a good amount of orchards in my time, and this wouldn’t make the top ten list.
First of all, it’s SO tiny. I went in late September so there wasn’t much to choose from. My fault, but still, the place didn’t look very welcoming
There were ants everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It was hard to breathe without sucking one in. All the apples were covered in pesticide. This is normal, but it seemed overly done and I felt the need to really scrub my apples clean.
Fun fact: near the entrance, there is a giant tree with falling walnuts and a teeny tiny sign warning about them. You might think, so? Walnuts are tiny! Wrong. They are actually huge and can really hurt someone if fallen correctly.
I’m sure there are better places in the area, and I most likely will not be coming here again.

I felt like I hadn’t really done anything fall, so I began looking to see what orchards still were open for apple picking and came across this place in Purcellville which is just past Leesburg. When we pulled up there was a guy at a stand with apples and cider and he gave us some buckets and pointed us to the orchards. It was about a 5 – 7 minute walk through the «woods» which was nice. There were still plenty of trees with apples on them, so we began picking our apples. It was a nice fall day, so it was nice being outside and doing fall things.
The apples were 1/​lb, which is a great price for apples right off the tree. We also bought a gallon of cider, which was $ 8. The apples and cider were great and I think we’ll make it a tradition of going back every fall.

Unfortunately, we never actually visited the orchard, as we called ahead of time to inquire if they had organic apples. We were met by a very surly lady on the phone who took it upon herself to give us a 3 minute lecture on how all apples are sprayed with pesticides The lecture was provided in a very superior and belittling tone and she woudn’t actually let us get off the phone as we said goodbye a few times. Needless to say they lost our business just over a phone call.

A hidden gem! No need to drive through miles of dirt rock roads to get here, it’s right off the highway.
Once you get here they provide you with buckets or other containers depending on what you’re picking, no need to worry about bringing your own.
Follow the signs to the fruit of your choice and walk through what seems like your own secret garden!
This is a wonderful family owned farm with no admission fee and great prices!

I’ve been here quite a few times and plan to go this weekend. I know the grumpy old lady people are talking about, yes she is grumpy, but has never been downright rude to me or racist as one other poster suggested, in fact, she was very grandmotherly towards my daughter and talked to her about pesticides and why it’s good not to use them, (for people who claimed their was pesticides on their apples, interesting because this woman claims not to use them at all). Very unorganized, yes, and hard to figure out how to get to due to the signage. You will need to grab a bucket and follow the signs telling you what to pick and what not to pick, and you wont get the warm and fuzzies from the owner, but I don’t apple pick to get warm and fuzzies. Cash only, so be prepared. Also, take the second entrance, the first one takes you to an old house, the second will take you to the farm. Wear walking shoes that are old, everytime I have gone there has been mud and you do walk a bit.

We went this past weekend to crooked run. We’ve never been to an orchard before so we were not sure what to expect. The signage telling you the types of apples and pears were poor and the staff was less than helpful. Almost all of the pears were not edible due to stink big damage (which we didn’t know until we were paying for them). But the blackberries were in abundance so that made up for the pear issue.
The woman working there was grumpy and was a little nasty at check out. I didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling at this orchard. We won’t return next year.

Of the 3 pick your own places I have been to in the NOVA area this is my least favorite. This is a very no-​frills type place. They do not take credit, but they have very good prices so that did not bother me at all. We went to pick apples a couple of weeks back and ended up with 30lbs of apples for under $ 30 so that was very exciting. But that is about it.
The parking lot has been heavily trafficked and ill-​repaired, there is one tent set up in the middle where you pay and little to no signage of what you are supposed to do. Also there is no staff except the people under the tent. I didn’t realize that we were supposed to get buckets from them upon arrival and was very glad I had my own bag otherwise I would have walked quite a distance to realize there was absolutely no staff in the actual orchard.
There was very little signage to what was what. Some trees were marked not ready, but that’s about it. All the fruit we ended up picking was spotty, and was coated in pesticide. At home, once I had the fruit cleaned and peeled to process I realized all the little spots on the fruit were bruises through the skin and on the actual meat itself. I’m not really sure what that was about.
At check out the woman (it has to be the same woman other Unilocalers have mentioned) very loudly snarled at my gf that she picked fruit that wasn’t ready. We only picked from the trees that were marked ready, so I am not sure how that is possible, but it was weird experience.

I have to agree with Joe. There was a woman working here who seemed as though she was annoyed to have anyone on her property. I arrived with my kids, in our *gasp* mini-​van. We got baskets from one lady to pick blackberries and she gave us some general vague direction to follow a sign and a path to where the blackberries were. We had a good time picking, which is the only reason I give it 2 stars. We did have to search a bit to find ripe berries, but we filled 4 trays. When we came back to pay we were criticized by the mean lady because we apparently hadn’t ventured all the way to back past the pears where the more ripe blackberries were. That’s where the «serious pickers» go. Of course no one told us that at the beginning. Also without any provocation I got a lecture about soda and juice. Do you assume every parent with three kids goes crazy with soda and juice? I didn’t say anything, though because I’m polite. As we were leaving I started up said mini van to cool it off while my older daughter made some sandwiches for the others to eat on the ride back. We sat for about five minutes before the mean lady came over and lectured me again about not idling on the farm. The blackberries were good, but I’m thinking they are just as good at friendlier places. Oh and as someone else said the signage will take you to an abandoned house next door.

My husband and I love going here to pick apples in the fall. The parking is usually easy to deal with, the walk to the apple trees is a nice one, and I never feel like there are too many people/​kids! I am excited to head out there in the spring/​summer to try some of the other fruits and veggies that they grow!

We went apple picking today and had a great time at Crooked Run. It was exactly what we were looking for… Although there were plenty of cars in the parking lot, it was spacious enough where we felt like we were the only ones there. The amenities are sparse, but the owners were helpful and very generous on their pricing and measuring. We will definitely go back from more picking!

I love fall. Love love love. Growing up we used to go to the apple orchard 10 minutes from our house, go for hayrides at the working farm 5 minutes up the road, and Halloween was unparalleled (for reals – think an average of 500 trick-​or-​treaters knocking on my door). Since leaving New England for DC 10 years ago, when fall comes around, I get a serious itch for fall activities. Although it takes a little longer to get to your destination around here, we are not hard up for things like apple picking and pumpkin patches.
Crooked Run did wonders to scratch the apple picking itch I have had since late August. A friend and I went a little late in the game, on one of the last weekends of October, so we had to reach a little higher than normal to pick our apples. They looked puny compared to the giants you see in the grocery store, but what they lacked in size they made up for in flavor. Terrific for cooking and eating off the tree alike.
The orchard itself isn’t half bad. It’s fairly small, but quality. Unlike more popular orchards in the area, Crooked Run doesn’t have hayrides or farm animals. It’s simply a working farm, with varying produce offered depending on the season. As a self-​professed crowd hater, I enjoyed Crooked Run and its simplicity. Plus, the center of Purceville (the town in which Crooked Run is located) is adorable… sneeze and you’ll miss it!

My husband and I visited Crooked Run Orchard on Labor Day for some apple picking, as it was a little cooler and the (slight) change in leaf colors got us in a fall mood.
This place is simply an orchard-​no hayrides, no pig races, no country store; and you don’t pay an «admission» cost because of it. If you are looking for a half day activity, this isn’t the place. If you are simply looking to pick fruit, Crooked Orchard is a good choice.
Our green apples made some delicious pies, and we also found pears. Blackberries, we were told, were out of season (I guess we missed it by a few weeks.)
My complaint about Crooked Run is the signage-​well actually the lack there of. Don’t blink or you’ll miss the sign on the road for the entrance, and more confusing is the sign next to it that is not the orchard, but a house. In the field there were some signs but you’re better off asking a family coming back from the fields.

This past weekend we met up with some great friends and our group of 4 adults and 4 kids hit the orchards buckets in hand. There were plenty of other families enjoying the same activity and the weather was just perfect! The goal, apples — for pies, applesauce, apple jelly and whatever else we could think of doing with them over the upcoming week.
We wandered through all sorts of apple selections, yellow delicious, red delicious, Rome and Braeburn… we loaded up two buckets of Rome and Braeburn and stopped to admire the herbs and pepper plants still bearing. Bonus, as we picked some of the last available chili and ancho peppers on the vine.
The check out area boasts crates of pumpkins, gourds and a wide variety of squash you can add to your bags of goodies. We didn’t see any of the cider, but hopefully we’ll get some before the season is over.

Crooked Run Orchard is a small, family run farm in Purcellville, VA. My husband, my 2 year old son, and myself, visited this weekend. The night before was a huge rainstorm, so the whole orchard was rather wet and muddy, but we didn’t mind.
It opens at 9am on weekends and we decided to get there when it opened to avoid the afternoon heat and to get the best picking.
They supply you with buckets to gather your goodies, and when you’re done you have them weighed and pay.
We picked apples and peaches ($ 1/​lb), blackberries ($ 3.50/lb), tomatoes ($ 1.50/lb), a variety of peppers (green bell, Anaheim, jalapeño, poblano, etc ($ 2/​lb)), and basil (we just picked a small bunch and we weren’t charged for it. We got a TON of food and we spent $ 22.
What could be better than spending a weekend morning with your family, outdoors, picking your own fruit? We all had a blast and I love having all this fresh food in the house! I got home and immediately made a delicious blackberry crisp. Yum!!!
Keep in mind, this is a very «mom & pop» type orchard. Its not commercialized, its a little disorganized, etc. But I like that about this place! Its wonderful, definitely go check it out.