Riley's Farm Is the Best Apple Picking Near L.A., at $3.50 a Pound

Ranked on the posted price per pound, the drive and which weekend days each farm actually lets families pick apples.

Riley's Farm takes first, and the reason fits on a price tag. Of the three apple farms checked for this list, it's the only one that posts what picking costs: "All fruit is sold by weight. $3.50 per lb.," its Apples page says.

The runner-up, Los Rios Rancho, sells u-pick apples by the pound without posting the rate online, and it limits each family to one bag. Stone Soup Farm & Heritage Orchard isn't letting anyone pick in 2026. Riley's and Los Rios are both in Oak Glen, so the drive from L.A. doesn't separate them. Price and picking days do.

1. Riley's Farm: $3.50 a pound, Tuesday through Saturday

Riley's U-Pick schedule, updated Oct. 1, marks four apples as Good: Standard Delicious, Red Astrachan, Braeburn and Gold Rush. Each one is available Tuesday through Saturday. Pickers check in at the general store for baskets first, and the farm says the fruit is available only while it lasts.

The farm grows more than 30 varieties and leans on heirlooms. It admits that some of its apples "may be a bit ugly or weather marked, but boy do they taste good," as its Apples page puts it. At $3.50 a pound, the ugly ones cost exactly as much as the pretty ones.

Here's the hot take I'll defend: a farm whose apple schedule skips Sunday still beats one that's open all weekend. Saturday is the only weekend day on Riley's list, so a family that can only go on Sunday should head to No. 2. Everybody else gets a known price before the car is parked.

2. Los Rios Rancho: free parking, open daily, one bag per family

On weekend access, Los Rios wins outright. Its Know-Before-You-Go page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. There's no admission fee, no parking fee and no reservation. Apples are sold by the pound, but the farm doesn't post the rate online.

The catch is the crop. Under the farm's 2026 rules, it opens one orchard each picking day and shuts u-pick once that orchard's apples are gone. Each family gets one bag, and weekday picking is up to the farm, so call first. Its Produce page notes a light crop, with apples running from late August to mid-October while they last.

The farm also warns that Oak Glen gets very busy on October weekends. It puts the fall wait at its Farm Kitchen at 45 minutes to an hour. That's the crowd the one-bag limit is meant to stretch a smaller harvest across, the farm says.

This is the placement I'm least sure about. If Los Rios charges less than $3.50 a pound, a family that can only go on Sunday has a real case for flipping the top two. The farm's number is (909) 797-1005.

Scratched: Stone Soup Farm & Heritage Orchard

Stone Soup's apples page says unusual weather cut its crop, so it's selling only pre-picked apples this season, and it posts no price. That keeps it off a u-pick ranking. Its events page still lists an Apple Fair on Saturday and Sunday, after an opening weekend Oct. 3 and 4, and an Apple Butter Social on Nov. 14 and 15.

For a Saturday trip, the first step is different at each ranked farm. Los Rios says to arrive as close to 10 a.m. as possible, because once that day's orchard is picked out, u-pick is over. At Riley's, the first stop is the general store, for a basket.

Source: rileysfarm.com, retrieved October 8, 2026. Other sources: rileysfarm.com (2), losriosrancho.com.