Autumn is big business in America. “The Fall” is easily the most popular season of the year in New York, where winters are bitter and summers are sticky. Along with carved pumpkin decorations, pumping pumpkin flavouring through every foodstuff imaginable, the ubiquitous “PSL” (pumpkin spiced latte), apple picking is an essential fall activity. The most popular place for apple picking in upstate New York is the Hudson Valley, which is easily reached via the Metro-North trains out of Grand Central Station in New York City. In early October, David and I made a day out of it, and took our second trip to the Hudson Valley to go apple picking at Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm, just outside Peeskill, NY.

After some minor hiccups at the ticket counter (we paid for two tickets, and the machine gave us one – which Metro North has still not reimbursed us for), we were on our way. I love the train trip up through the Hudson Valley, because the train hugs the river and the views are really beautiful.

Peekskill Coffee House

Peekskill is 45 minutes outside Manhattan. It’s not as charming as nearby towns Beacon and Cold Spring, or Hudson, but we got plenty of sweet small town vibes at the Peekskill Coffee House. The coffee was pretty decent, too!

Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm

From Peekskill, we caught an Uber to Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm, which is the most popular farm in the area. The farm produces apples, corn, peaches, pumpkins and Christmas trees, making it a popular day tripping destination nearly year-round.

Wine tasting

I’d never heard of any Hudson Valley winemakers, or seen Hudson Valley wines on the menu at bars in New York, so I was surprised and delighted to see that the farm had a tasting room for local wines. I ordered a flight…and found out why I’ve never heard of Hudson Valley wine. Let’s just say, Hudson Valley is much better at growing apples and pumpkins!

Apple picking

I didn’t expect apple picking to be quite so much fun. I expected it to be crowded and for the novelty to wear off quite quickly, like it does with strawberry picking in Queensland, but it was actually super low key and relaxing. We purchased a bag, hopped on the back of a slow-moving “wagon” and were dropped off in the orchard. The apple orchard is really beautiful, and so large that it wasn’t crowded at all. Apples picked straight from the tree taste so much better than ones at the supermarket!

Farmhouse Donuts

Once we’d filled our bag with apples, we returned to the farmhouse for apple cider donuts. The queue was enormous and we’d heard people raving about them, so we decided the queue would be worth the wait. The donuts were yummy, but they seemed like regular hot cinnamon donuts to me! I wouldn’t queue for 40+ minutes for them again.

I loved the traditional red farmhouse, which looks like something out of a story book – farmhouses are not this cute in Australia!

It was pretty chilly, so we also shared a hot apple cider. In the states, apple cider isn’t alcoholic, so it’s more like hot apple juice. It’s yum!

When we were finished, we took an Uber back to Peekskill and went to the brewery. All the reviews online say it’s right on the river, and allude to river views, but it’s behind a parking lot back from the river. It was nice enough, but I wasn’t a fan of their fries.

Have you been to the Hudson Valley or gone apple picking? Let me know what you think in the comments!