A visit to the historic Orchard can't help but make you wonder about its early days and all the work that went into making it the must stop that it is. Nothing like sitting on the huge back deck and watching the butterflies, honey bees, hummies and barn swallows come and go. Bonus - on weekends they feature local musicians playing out in the pavilion and if you're lucky you'll get to see grandmas and grandpas get up and start clogging or square dancing. Just the best.

We drove past the orchard several times while traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then we read some reviews and decided we had to stop by and have some of their apple pie a la mode. Good decision! Excellent pie with a perfect flakey crust. Choices of ice cream flavors but we went with traditional vanilla. Besides the ice cream, fudge and pie section, the general store offers various fruit ciders, fruit butters and jams as well as other gift shop items. The staff are very friendly and helpful. There is also a fascinating display about the Over the Mountain Men who passed through this area en route to the Battle of King's Mountain, which was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. My husband's ancestors fought in that battle, so he was very interested in the film and the written presentation. Off to the side of the general store is an open air pavilion where an old time blue grass band was playing, and older folks were flat footing, which is an old dance form in the mountains. The view from the back porch of the general store is wonderful. We were too full of pie to walk up to the butterfly garden or the orchards. But we will return!

The histroy of this place is very interesting. We took the wagon tour but the wagon had one flat tire so we didn't get the full tour. The band was nice to listen to which was one of the main reason we came on a Saturday.

We went with a group of four hoping to pick apples. We went into the general store and saw a long line. We weren’t sure if we were supposed to wait in line to go apple picking, or if we were supposed to go somewhere else. Once we determined that we were supposed to wait in the line with those checking out from the store and ordering ice cream, we were told that there weren’t many apples to pick, and that we could pay $10 for a bag, and if we were unable to fill it, they would fill the bag with apples that had already been picked. We went out to the orchard and found that there weren’t any apples to be picked. We then returned to the store, and ordered some of the home-made apple pie. It was delicious! We browsed the store for several more minutes and found some jellies and salsas. Overall, however, there was not a wide variety of items for sale in the store. Hopefully, with more apples, it would be more enjoyable. I would give it a second chance next time I’m in the area.

At first I thought it was a great experience but now I am not so sure. Free entry.The apple pie and ice cream was tasty. The hot apple cider was just barely warm, not hot, and not filled to the top of the cup - $4 was expensive for that. It was $10 for a bag of small apples and the apples had splotches all over them. Now that I have googled it, it is sooty blotch and flyspeck - two fungal diseases. Are the apples sprayed or organic? well if organic, they don't advertise it. If sprayed, then there shouldn't be fungus on the apple skin. The apple cider is very expensive and it isn't organic and it is in a plastic gallon jug (not glass).

Worth a stop! The view from the back porch is incredible! There was live music in the afternoon, basic food from the grille (burgers, etc), and a cool shop. We got food and pie and sat on the porch to listen to the music and enjoy the view. The staff was very nice.

Any silly visitor who thinks this should be a hustling place in the middle of a pandemic, needs to go back to wherever they came from. Friendly ppl, great gifts, yummies & fun drive♡ When pandemic was not a thing, we liked the banjo pickers. Great apples & cider♡♡♡ Amazing location.

We came on Saturday, October 9 and it was crazy busy. There was a person directing us into the parking lot and she told us where to park. We really just came to get some apple pie. We got a slice of apple pie for $4.40. It was really good but a bit small. Definitely stop by if you like apple pie!

I guess I was a little disappointed in this stop. I read the website and it said U Pick (not available) only one type of apple was available (which is understandable since it is natures products) but there were no hayrides, no real walking trails, we hoped to buy a whole pie, nope not available, the little butterfly exhibit looked like it had not been touched in years. Guess it just look old and neglected and it was more like a store then anything else. We did buy some apple cider and apple butter but at most we spent 30 mins here.

The two stars is for the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the back porch. Otherwise, this place was dead mid day on an October 24 Saturday when the Blue Ridge Parkway had plenty of visitors. There were a few people milling about, most asking "where are the apples?". Even though I had read before coming that there is live music on weekends, there was none.