• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Peanut Blossom
  • Welcome
  • Family Recipes
  • Let's Celebrate
  • Book Club
Home » Blog » Wanderlust » Charlotte » Apple picking at Sky Top Orchard, an easy Charlotte day trip

Apple picking at Sky Top Orchard, an easy Charlotte day trip

Sep 9, 2014 by Tiffany Dahle

  • Share
  • Yummly
  • Tweet

Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC is the perfect place to go apple picking with kids in the fall. It's an easy Charlotte day trip, too. Don't miss their apple cider donuts and head out early if you want to get the honey crisp apples!

Go apple picking at Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC: 4 tasty apple recipes for your haul

You know what makes a new town feel like home? Discovering you have built traditions that feel special and important.

This is our third fall in Charlotte, NC and every year since our move we have made a pilgrimage out to the mountain high Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC for a pick our own apple adventure.

Every year for the last 3 falls I have taken a photo of my girls in front of their annual apple and the "Honeycrisp" sign:

Fantastic apple picking near Charlotte, NC

Fantastic apple picking at Skytop Orchard near Charlotte, NC

We partake of their heavenly apple cider donuts--hot and fresh out of the fryer--and their freshly pressed and chilled apple cider:

Enjoy cider apple donuts from Skytop Orchard near Charlotte

And we marvel at the mountain backdrop of this orchard:

Fantastic apple picking near Charlotte, NC

As we filled our picking baskets to the brim, I was struck how normal it felt this year. This is what we do in the fall.

Check, check, and check.

No more guessing, no more wondering where to find things. This apple orchard is one of the spots where I've marked my girls' growth from a 2 & 5 year old to a 4 & 7 year old.

Fantastic apple picking near Charlotte, NC

My girls remembered the huge line for the donuts last year and remarked how going early this year meant no wait. They remembered that the bigger apple baskets are too heavy to carry when full and grabbed the smaller size instead. The Peanut remembered to pick the apples so that the stem stays in place to help them stay fresher longer.

Fantastic apple picking near Charlotte, NC

Memories are being made, we're not just going through the motions anymore. I'm not propping up babies near a basket of apples for a photo op, we're doing it because come Thanksgiving morning we want a half gallon of Sky Top Orchard cider fresh out of our freezer to be filling their glasses at the table.

What to make with apples from Sky Top Orchard: 

  • Our favorite apple crisp
  • Slow cooker acorn squash with apples and craisins
  • Cranberry apple crunch cobbler
  • Roasted sausages, potatoes and apples

Just barely 2 hours outside of Charlotte, Sky Top Orchard is our favorite spot for picking apples. If you go you'll find a cute playground with swings and slides and little playhouses, adorable fall decorations, a quaint shop where you can buy bagged apples, cider by the gallons for taking home, and every kind of apple treat you can imagine.

The orchard is on a mountain top so walking from tree to tree can get a little hilly. Be sure everyone is wearing comfy shoes for hiking. They have wagons on site for borrowing if you want to haul even more baskets than you can carry.

Fantastic apple picking near Charlotte, NC

Just promise me you won't skip the donuts.

Oh by the way! If you are a fellow Charlotte resident, I'd love if you'd stop by Facebook to say hi. I'll be sharing more local fun in the coming months you won't want to miss! Come join the conversation here.

 

 

 

You can find Sky Top Orchard online here:

For directions to the orchard, start here.

SkyTopOrchard.com | Facebook | Twitter

 

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Previous Post: « Mommy & Me Afternoon Adventures
Next Post: Life is way too short to take it slow »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura

    September 11, 2014 at 3:14 pm

    We have an area here in NorCal called Apple Hill where we go every fall for fresh apple cider, amazing apple donuts and apple wine! I love that you've shared you're tradition bc it's one I've also experienced with my twin 2 y/o boys since they were infants. And these recipes look divine! Can't wait to try them. =)

    Reply
  2. Stephanie

    September 29, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    HI! Just finding this website and funny thing- we just went to Sky Top last week. This was our second time going to the orchard and absolutely LOVED it. We went on a weekday because we remembered the long line for donuts last year as well. It is an amazing experience to go pick apples with the kiddos. So fun to find a new blog from someone who lives in my area!!

    Reply
  3. Jennifer @Mami2Mommy

    September 29, 2014 at 4:16 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing! We are still fairly new to the area and one of our favorite things that we always love to do as a family is apple picking. We can't wait to check this place out and your yummy recipes too. The apple crisp looks delish!

    Reply
  4. Kate K

    September 29, 2014 at 8:04 pm

    Oh!!! I've been promising my girls forever that we would go apple picking. They eat a TON of apples. About 12 pounds a week! I have a friend coming to town next week so this might be one of our adventures! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Carissa

    October 01, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    a. I HEART honeycrisp apples I would KILL to pick them fresh!!!
    b. donuts.
    c. donuts.
    Amen.
    Calculating how far this is from us...

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. This freezer friendly easy apple crisp will change your fall baking forever says:
    September 14, 2019 at 8:08 am

    […] Everyone should have an easy apple crisp recipe in their pocket for fall baking. This is the VERY BEST apple crisp recipe you will ever find and needs to be the first thing you bake after a trip to the apple orchard. […]

    Reply
  2. How to cook slow cooker acorn squash with apples and raisins says:
    September 14, 2019 at 12:41 pm

    […] RELATED: Our favorite place to go apple picking in North Carolina. […]

    Reply
  3. All the easy apple recipes you'll ever need for fall says:
    September 20, 2019 at 3:16 pm

    […] RELATED: Our favorite place to go apple picking in North Carolina […]

    Reply
  4. Easiest weeknight dinner: roasted sausages and potatoes with apples says:
    January 13, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    […] has to be the easiest dinner known to man. I had a fridge full of just-picked apples from the orchard and I was on the hunt for something other than a dessert to put them into when I stumbled upon this […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Tiffany! I'm a mom to two sweet peanuts and author of two bestselling cookbooks for kids. I love to celebrate the seasons and make time for monthly book club fun.

More about me →

Popular

  • The best book club picks for 2021 for busy women who want FUN books
  • 10-minute Trader Joe's meals: the best busy night dinners in a hurry!
  • Make ahead breakfast burritos are magic on busy mornings
  • The only homemade chicken soup you need this flu season

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact

Copyright © 2021