Sky Top Orchard

Sky Top Orchard is located one mile from Hwy. 225 in Flat Rock, NC in Henderson County. While Henderson County produces 81% of North Carolina's apple crop and is home to over 200 orchards, there's no other orchard experience that quite compares to the one awaiting visitors to Sky Top.

Sure, you'll find apples, seasonal produce and even the family-friendly, tractor-pulled hayride but you can probably find that at numerous other orchards in the area. What Sky Top offers that you won't typically find at other orchards is a complete day's worth of fun and education and memory-making opportunities.

Getting There is Half the Fun

Let's start with the drive to Sky Top. A newly paved road makes getting to the top of the mountain a piece of cake, er, pie. Be sure to take your time, however, because the views are breath-taking. If you are particularly lucky, you'll visit just after the area has had overnight rain. On these days, clouds hang low in the valleys so you look down on them from the mountain top as you make your ascent. The winding two-lane road to the top is only a mile but the long-distance views to your left are endless.

Arriving at Sky Top in the fall is an equally eye and sense-pleasing experience. You'll be directed where to park if it's a busy Saturday and as you step out of your car, your feet make contact with scattered straw and the country experience begins.

Explore the Store

Before you can get to the orchard, you have to pass through the shop and before that you have to pass through the pumpkin patch. This is a great photo op for families as some pumpkins are larger than the children.

Once inside the shop, make your way to your left and you'll find a unique display - a working bee hive. Bees fly in through a transparent tube and into the double-sided clear hive. Watch as newly arriving bees "dance" to tell the other bees where they found the best nectar. Before long, all the bees are dancing the same dance. It's fascinating. Without these little guys, we wouldn't have apples.

In this same corner of the shop you can enjoy fresh apple cider (its non-pasteurized so its not good for kids). You can also buy a cold apple slush, caramel or fudge apples and other goodies. There's also a nearby tasting station so you can sample apples before you go out picking. A Sky Top specialty not to be missed are the fresh-made, served-hot apple-spice donuts. Sinfully Delicious!

Pick a 1/2 peck, a peck or a bushel

Apples go well in all kinds of recipes so in addition to the apples you'll eat, think about the apple sauce, apple pie, apple pop-overs, candied apples and carmel apples you'll need apples for and plan accordingly. Remember when "Bubba" from Forest Gump named all the ways you could enjoy shrimp? Well the list of ways to enjoy NC apples is just as long.

Be sure you have your camera handy when you visit the orchard because the photo opportunities are endless. First, there's the obvious picture of junior or princess with their head stuck through a cutout in the plywood painted sign or at the "How High This Year" sign next to a painted apple tree but there's also the breathtaking panoramic mountain views and the bamboo forest and petting zoo. Use the list below to see what apples are available when so you'll know before you go. Depending on the season, you're likely to find grapes (Yes, grapes!), pumpkins, gourds and Asian pears.

Bamboo Forest? Petting Zoo?

If you glossed over the mention of a bamboo forest earlier, let's delve into that a bit more. In the middle of the orchard is a pond filled with geese and ducks (and, of course $.25 feeders) and just beyond that is a cane break (forest of bamboo). Cross over the bridge through the center of the forest and you'll emerge at the petting zoo. You don't go in with the animals but you can feed the chickens, the goats, peacocks and bunnies. Bring lots of change to keep the kids occupied and the animals close.

Return with your crop and get it weighed and bagged then be sure to shop for canned goodies, seasonal produce and decorations and other goodies for the road.

As you drive back down the mountain, be sure to enjoy the view again. As you reach Hwy225 resist the urge to turn right and head home. Instead, turn left and explore the Village of Flat Rock and Little Rainbow Row.