Mountain grown fruit
Apples, peaches, grapes, berries and more
Long Creek & Mountain Rest are home to six orchards and by mid summer they’re harvesting tree ripened peaches, blueberries, grapes and early varieties of apples. Chattooga Belle Farm also grows “exotic” fruit which includes: arctic kiwi, figs, pawpaws, pears and persimmons that are typically ready to harvest in August. Beginning in September you’ll be able to purchase lots of apple varieties, as well as muscadines and grapes.
The Area
When you drive along Highway 76, through the rural community of Long Creek, it feels like you’ve traveled back to a time before sprawl and traffic took over the landscape. The northwestern corner of South Carolina is a mountainous region well suited to producing fruit. You’ll find rolling country and lush green trees as far as the eye can see. Look closer and notice trees loaded with apples!
Farmers have been producing apples in Long Creek and Mountain Rest since the late 1950s. Back in the day, there were over 30 orchards growing and harvesting apples from Westminster, SC to Clayton, GA. Fast forward to 2024 and there are just six growers who work their fields, pick apples and sell to the public.
You can find out more about the history of Oconee County’s apple industry by viewing the digital exhibit “Why We Celebrate: SC Apple Festival” that was curated by Oconee History Museum.
Long Creek is a popular destination for outdoor adventures. It’s close to the Chattooga River, ten miles from Stumphouse Park, fifteen miles from Oconee State Park, and eleven miles from Chau Ram County Park. There are dozens of hiking trails nearby and all sorts of fun ways to experience this area.
Top off a day of adventure by stopping by the roadside markets for delicious tree-ripened fruit and products made from locally harvested apples, peaches, and more. Several orchards welcome the public to pick their own fruit.
Roadside Stands, Markets and You-Pick Orchards
Blue Haven Orchards
12500 Long Creek Highway
Long Creek, SC
(864) 647-8070
Apples, produce, canned products, homemade fried pies and baked goods
Season: March to mid-December
Bryson’s Orchard
1011 Chattooga Ridge Road
Mountain Rest, SC
(864) 647-9427
Apples & peaches, cider, jams & jellies, honey from their bees, sorghum syrup and seasonal vegetables
You-Pick or They-Picked
Season: August 15-November 15
Chattooga Belle Farm
454 Damascus Church Road
Long Creek, SC
(864) 647-976
Apples, peaches, figs, grapes, blueberries and more (You-Pick or They-Picked). Jams, wines, farm raised Angus beef, speciality items and souvenir gifts
- Farm Store: 9am-5pm daily
- Belle’s Bistro: Wednesday-Sunday 11am-2pm
- Distillery: Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm
Hollifield Orchard
Hwy. 76
Across from Long Creek General Store
(864) 710-5105
Variety of apples, apple cider, peaches, homemade apple butter, apple cider vinegar, chow chow, relish, honey
Seasonal hours Labor Day till they run out of apples
Mountain Rest Apple Orchard
475 Hwy. 107
Mountain Rest, SC
(864) 638-2232
Apples and apple cider
Seasonal hours beginning Labor Day weekend until they run out of apples
The Orchard at Life in Long Creek
14161 Hwy. 76 (next to Humble Pie)
Long Creek, SC
(864) 647-9098
You-Pick apples and peaches
Check with Humble Pie or The Gauge Coffeehouse for information about picking
Wondering what to do with all the apples you take home?
Here’s a link to one of our favorite recipes that calls for plenty of apples Apple Cake with Buttery Caramel Sauce. Yum!
Get Long Creek apples while the gettin’s good!
Early varieties, such as gala and golden delicious, are ready in August with many more varieties ripe for harvesting September through November.
It’s a sad fact: The apple orchards in Long Creek won’t be around forever.
We’ve heard from several of the growers that they don’t expect to be in business much longer. Warmer weather trends will likely cause temperatures to be too hot for growing within the next 5-10 years. The effort required to grow apples is hard, hot work. Being at the mercy of unpredictable weather patterns is stressful. And even when they have a great harvest season, it isn’t a lucrative business.
Several of the current orchard owners (Doug Hollifield, Marvin Bryson, and Stanley Brewer) are close to retiring. They took over family apple businesses when their fathers retired. But their own kids won’t be following in their footsteps. Their offspring have careers where they make more money and don’t have to work long hot days doing physical labor. Attracting buyers to take over these orchards isn’t likely.
When these orchard growers retire in the next couple years, they will likely bulldoze the apple trees and Long Creek won’t be the same.
You may wonder: Why would they bulldoze the trees?
Because when apple trees go untended and the fruit is unpicked, it falls to the ground. The amount of rotting apples on hundreds of acres would lead to diseases and attract pests that could infest surrounding orchards. It is common practice for orchard growers to resort to this management technique when they stop harvesting apples.
On the bright side…One Long Creek orchard, Chattooga Belle Farm, is relatively new on the scene and plans to remain in business for years to come.
Fun Fact: Bees are the secret!
Bees are essential for large scale fruit production.
Orchard growers rely on bees to pollinate apple and peach trees in the spring.
Honey is the fruit of bees’ labor and you’ll find local varieties for sale at several of the roadside markets.
