Out And About: Apple Hill / Noah's Petting Farm
Apple Hill is a collection of over 50 growers located about 45
mins east of Sacramento. Every Fall, the growers open their orchards
and stage events for tourists. Some of the places are pricy tourist
traps. Some are "don't miss", and other are in-between.
We started our day at Bavarian Hills to listen to the Oktoberfest
band. They were pretty good as far as an oom-pah-pah band goes,
but lunch was VERY expensive and more of a deli quality than
a restaurant. Our favorite place on the hill itself was Bill's
Apples & Felice's Dolls. Bill's kind of a serious guy, manicuring
his exquisitely beautiful Chrysanthemum garden. Felice is a gracious,
smiling host whose dolls are lovely and worth seeing. Apples
were delicious and at a good price. The whole place is just gorgeous
and a wonderful photo spot. The "don't miss" of this
trip is Noah's Petting Farm. They're a family-owned attraction,
not a business. They don't charge, but they do accept donations
via "donation boxes" near the animals. Our kids rode
the ponies, played with hens, rabbits, goats, ducks, and the
German Shepherd. The goat pull was a lot of fun for Elisha, while
Jenna loved the ponies. David enjoyed playing with the parachute,
and Elizabeth liked the puppet show. This place is very hard
to find. The best way is to park at Harris Tree Farm (get a map
from the Apple Hill site, or pick one up at any AH farm). There's
a nature trail down to the Petting Farm. Since Harris Tree Farm
is small, their parking is reserved for customers only. This
is not a problem since Mrs. Harris' apple pie is DELICIOUS! Call
Jackie or Lee at (530) 647-8733 for more information on Noah's.
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At A Glance Apple Hill Camino exit off Highway 50 |
Copyright (c)1997 Julie Gentry.
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