Popular U-Pick Farms in Butte County

Usu­al­ly, the Chico State Uni­ver­si­ty Farm is a liv­ing class­room for agri­cul­tur­al stu­dents, but for a few short days in August, it turns into a peach-pick­ing par­adise. It’s a quick win­dow of oppor­tu­ni­ty for these cam­pus-grown favorites, so you have to move fast when the ​“Peach Hot­line” gives the green light.

U‑PICK: Peach­es

OPEN: Ear­ly August. Call the Peach Hot­line at (530) 898‑4989 for the most cur­rent pick­ing dates or watch Chico State’s Face­book page for announcements.

For those who want a lit­tle bit of every­thing, John­son U‑Pick Farm in Gri­d­ley is a must-vis­it. It’s a choose-your-own-adven­ture-style farm that evolves all sum­mer long. Depend­ing on when you vis­it, you’ll find your­self walk­ing through rows of every­thing from lus­cious berries and plums to vine-ripened toma­toes and kiwi.

See what’s cur­rent­ly in sea­son on their website.

U‑PICK: Berries, toma­toes, pep­pers, plums, grapes, peach­es, nec­tarines, apples, apri­cots, kiwi, almonds

OPEN: Late May through Octo­ber, Wednes­days and Sat­ur­days from 8am-3pm

A first-gen­er­a­tion farm in Chico, L&T Farms is a local favorite. They grow sev­er­al deli­cious vari­eties of peach­es and nec­tarines that ripen in waves. Return through­out the sum­mer to taste how the fla­vors change and sweet­en as the sea­son peaks.

U‑PICK: Peach­es and nectarines

OPEN: Mid-June through end of July/​early August on week­ends. Check their Face­book or Insta­gram pages or call (530) 521‑5837 for the lat­est updates and availability.

A Par­adise sta­ple since 1921, Noble Orchards is the final stop on the U‑pick cal­en­dar. Grab an apple pick­er and search the high branch­es for the per­fect sun-ripened fruit. With sev­er­al vari­eties ripen­ing at dif­fer­ent times through Octo­ber, you can return to taste how the fla­vors change through­out the season.

U‑PICK: Apples

OPEN: U‑pick typ­i­cal­ly avail­able in Sep­tem­ber and Octo­ber. For updates on the cur­rent sea­son, open days and hours, and what’s avail­able, check out their Face­book page.

Head up to For­est Ranch for pre­mi­um, organ­ic blue­ber­ries that are well worth the dri­ve. Fill your bas­kets with a true taste of sum­mer as you stroll the patch­es of the fam­i­ly-owned Sier­ra Cas­cade Blue­ber­ry Farm, or vis­it mul­ti­ple times to taste the sub­tle fla­vor dif­fer­ences as dif­fer­ent vari­eties ripen through­out their short season.

U‑PICK: Organ­ic blueberries

OPEN: Late May or ear­ly June (weath­er depen­dent). Check their Face­book or Insta­gram pages or call (530) 894‑8728 for info on the cur­rent sea­son and open days and hours.

Tucked into the Oroville foothills, Stage­coach Lane Ranch offers an under-the-radar expe­ri­ence. The wag­on ride to the top of the orchard is a huge hit with kids, and once your buck­ets are full of sweet Bing cher­ries, you can grab some of their sig­na­ture cher­ry lemon­ade or ice cream to enjoy under the shade of the pavilion.

U‑PICK: Cherries

OPEN: Late May or ear­ly June. Usu­al­ly open 9am to 3pm dai­ly until picked out (rough­ly a two-week win­dow). For announce­ments on cur­rent sea­son, check out their Face­book page or call (530) 532‑0191