willowbrook farm

We visited the last weekend of apple picking.if you want to pick apples you will need to purchase a bag. After a short simple explanation we were allowed to go as a family and pick apples, wander the farm, interact with the animals, and make our own cider. All of the employees were friendly and very helpful. We felt welcome and never rushed. A very enjoyable relaxing couple of hours.

We've been coming up to Willowbrook Apple Farm each season for the past 10 years. Each time has been a treat and we've appreciated the warm welcome by the Swanson's each year. They're a lovely family with a great little family farm.We just got back from our annual trip (10/4/2014) with forty pounds of Winesap apples. If you've never been apple picking up in Oak Glen, you have to give it a try. It's a great family day trip! Make sure to stop at Willowbrook. You'll appreciate the "small country" feel and family atmosphere that is very different from the other orchards in the area (we've been to one or two of the others ... not impressed). This is a small family-run operation with trees that are around 100+ years old.Winesap apples are a little different from the store-bought variety. You'll find them on the tart side of sweet, with a firm crunchy texture. If you think of that old candy "sweet-tarts" they're sort of close to those. This year's harvest was possibly the best we've seen in the last five years with some of the apples approaching grapefruit sizes. Additionally, we pressed (or Dad pressed, depending upon your point of view) a gallon of apple cider. Drink it quickly or it turns into mead! The apple picking season sort of kicks off our holidays as well, so it's something we look forward to each year.If you haven't made a trip up to Oak Glen and, more specifically, visited Willowbrook Apple Farms, you're missing out! I highly recommend this to family and friends.

Okay, so I'm biased. I admit it.We started going here about nine years ago, when the Swanson's first opened for business. My eldest son was two years old, at the time, and we had the place to ourselves so we spent that afternoon, getting to know the Swanson's. Wonderful family and we've gone back every year since. Today (10/19/2013), we just returned from our latest trip. Unfortunately, the harvest was light and we missed the u-pick apples but spent the day there, none-the-less, pressing some cider, eating caramel apples, and visiting. Over the nine years we've visited, we've brought the Grandparents along and (usually) hauled back a lot of apples. Admittedly, you pay more to pick them yourselves, which is pretty amusing since you can go to Costco for a lot less but it's the friendship that brings us back every year. We'd been to some of the other apple orchards in Oak Glen and they're just not family like the Swanson's are to us. Note: This is a family farm - essentially, an apple orchard on private property - so there is no parking on the grounds. You must park on the street. If you have a problem with that, leave your house early so that you will arrive around 9:45 AM a few minutes before opening. We found a spot on the street, right in front of their house so we had no issues. Oak Glen, as a whole, get's jam packed with visitors on weekends so just plan on street parking. As mentioned, get there early and you'll get a good spot. Arrive around 11:00 and plan on parking farther away and doing a lot of walking.

We discovered Willowbrook when we were looking for a "less crowded" experience for our preschool. It turned out to be everything we were looking for! The branches were low enough for even 2 year-olds to reach and the staff was very patient with our large group of 30 or so parents and children. We loved the variety of activities such as the beehive, short wagon ride and cider pressing. Parking is a bit tricky but carpools were encouraged. Our first trip was in October 2010 and we will go again this year. I'm bringing my 2 year old granddaughter this time to start a new family tradition.

We love Willowbrook. The winesapp stamen apples are delicious, and Cheryl makes the very best sugar-cinnamon apple slices we've ever had. She and her husband are kind and patient, and let our daughter fill her container generously. She got to pet and feed the horses. We go every year. Willowbrook is our favorite small orchard.

The people aren't friendly and they're too strict. The bags are too small for the price and the attendants are too snippy. It's not worth the drive from Riverside. I've been to other orchards, like the ones in Julian, and they are not as strict as these people. They won't let you eat while picking and they walk around like it's a military camp. Can't do this, can't do that! They said the main reason why you can't enjoy and eat while you pick is because it gets dirty if you throw the cores on the ground. Then they should place trash cans around, they have those baskets for bad apples everywhere anyway. It takes the fun out of u-picking! I've been to the strawberry fields in Carlsbad, blueberry picking in Temecula, blackberry picking in Vista and never had I experienced a place so strict it sucks the fun out of the whole u-picking experience!Not worth it at all. I'm never going back to Oak Glen again and have told my friends who planned on going there to forget about it.

Having been to all but 1apple farm in the Oak Glen area over the past few years, I must say, Willowbrook Farm was a breath of fresh air. Not as crowded as some of the larger orchards. Staff was helpful and polite. Orchard itself was very small but apples were very tasty... Will definetly go back next year...

In November my family visited Willowbrook Apple Farm. We picked apples at $14 a bag. It gets crowed and the only parking is on the side of the road. Some of the apples were o.k but the rest were pithy.The apple cider is good along with the pumpkin apple spread located in the old makeshift store to the left of the cider press. Don't take too long on the cider press or the attendents get snippy. Honestly, It was o.k. but definetly not worth the drive.