Hillview Farms

Great place to take the family for «pick your own» or go yourself to get some locally grown produce for your recipes. Its especially great in the summertime when its less busy and many fruits/​vegetables are in season. I took my kids in July to pick peaches and it was great. The kids got to experience a working farm, pick peaches, and visit the chickens, roosters, etc. near the store in the barn.
Although some people have complained that its expensive, this farm is a small family operation and its actually very costly to run a fruit and vegetable farm in NJ (labor, insurance, etc.). The grocery store can offer comparable prices on some items b/​c they are dealing w/​large agribusiness and a mechanized supply chain. Hillview Farms is local produce which is a totally different business model from the supermarket. The difference between Hillview Farms and the supermarket is that the fruit and vegetables from Hillview Farms were likely picked w/​in 24 hours of you buying them. If you do pick your own, you pick them right from the orchard or the field. There is a really cool view from the top of the orchard.

Definitely would not go back here! We had to stand in line for over an hour just to buy a ticket to get on the tractor. We could have walked 2 minutes to reach the apples but they won’t let you walk just so you have to pay the fee to get on the tractor. They really push for you to buy one type of apple, without disclosing that those are the most expensive ones. By the time we were done with the apples, all the donuts were gone! They don’t even make their own donuts… instead they get them trucked in and they ran out by 3. We will not be going back to this orchard.

We came here apple picking with our toddler today — we considered going to Alstede or Wightman’s, but we got a headache just thinking about the crowds and craziness so decided to check this place out since it’s close.
It was a beautiful day, and all-​in-​all, we had fun.
The good:
–Parking situation is way less suicidal than the bigger farms.
–Cute farm store with lots of local goodies.
–Donuts and cider. Yum.
The bad:
–We waited for the tractor hayride for 25 minutes. With toddlers, that’s akin to torture. The red tractor kept picking up its patrons, but the green tractor didn’t show for some time. I think we know why now (see below):
–Our tractor driver was VERY informative and very good at his job of being an apple farmer. I want to make it clear that he was in no way rude or anything like that. However, once we finally got to the apple orchard (remember, we’d been waiting almost a half hour to get on the tractor) he kept us on the hayride for almost 10 minutes to talk about the history of the apples and the tastes /​tartness of each variety. Let me say this — it was VERY interesting and I respected his knowledge about apples, and would maybe have even enjoyed his talk… In another time and place. The hayride was FULL of toddlers and babies, and it was not a good call. One family even got off the hayride in the middle of his presentation and it was uncomfortable. In the future, I would suggest that maybe the farmer go over the rules, and then ask who wants to stay for the talk, and who would rather get off and go pick apples. He seemed very overwhelmed by children and maybe he would just be better suited as someone who educates the adults that visit the farm.
–For the first 10 minutes of our walk through the orchard, it was difficult to find any trees with apples.
–Apples ain’t cheap!
We would probably come back here next year, and just make a few tweaks to our itinerary. The apples really are delicious.

Not an apple picking farm expert but had a nice time here today w/​the wife and 1 year old. Sure you could walk it, but I get that the $ 5 ride is a way for them to make extra money.
I know that in modern times people are quite removed from how food is made and produced but use your god given fuckin’ brains a little bid. Do you think it’s easy to run a farm?
Do you think labor and supplies are cheap?
You’re not coming here to buy apples at the same price you are as the grocery store. It’s a once in a while treat for most unless youre really into it.
The staff was polite and knowledgeable. We got a nice overview about the apples and we brought my baby’s stroller on the traktor and the driver offered me help.
All in all a nice day. I’d say go for it. And again use your brain. Not an expert but I’d think there’s a peak of the season for apples as there are say Jersey tomatoes. If you go too late and dont see a lot that’s mother nature nothing to cry about on Unilocal

Eh, stopped by cause I went to another nearby farm. After already picking apples, I didn’t really want to do it all again, so we didn’t end up paying the $ 5 per person admission for the hayride and fruit picking.
The store was very bare bones and the staff was young.
The cider donuts were prepackaged and did not look appetizing. I didn’t get to see the picking area, but the welcome area that I was at did not look very impressive. I wouldn’t come back.

Scam
While the Sun Crisp apples (exclusive to Hillview) are the best apples I have ever tasted they are $ 2.99 per pound (I believe) and they are quite big. I don’t like that its $ 3 per person for a time consuming hay ride up the trail that could be walked in 5 minutes. Also going late in the season, we where disappointed the only apples without «DO NOT PICK» signs where the expensive sun crisp.
The teens who are employed at the farm are all very friendly while the adults handling customer service should not be employed. The kids LOVED feeding bread to the chickens. This is definitely a place where families go. I saw lots of kids 0 – 8 years in age.
The only down side is it is expensive, and the other produce looks like/​was most likely bought at Shop Rite and slapped with a Hillview sticker. Don’t think I will be going back next fall. This place is dangerous with bears, hives and mud. I saw them warn a pregnant woman on our tractor (once we where at the top) she may have a difficult time in the pumpkin patch, since people usually get stuck in the mud.

Thought we would try this place since it is so close to our home. Will never go back. We got there and there was a huge line, but figured it would move quickly. Literally an hour and a half later, we got on a tractor. Had to pay $ 3 a person (including kids) to take the tractor for what was maybe a quarter mile walk up the hill to the top of the orchard. If they wanted to charge admission, fine, but dont make me wait an hour and a half to get on a tractor… Just charge at the entrance. By the time we got to the orchard our kids were restless and we were livid, so not exactly the most enjoyable time. Pretty view but the orchards seemed fairly unkempt and the tractor experience was miserable.

One of my favorite places in NJ.
First of all, the setting is incredibly beautiful. It is a treat to be here in the first place. The views from the hill are marvelous. Secondly, the apples are delicious. I often find many types of apples when we go here each year. My favorites are the winesaps and the empires. Thirdly, the prices are reasonable. Lastly, the farm is well run. We rarely have to wait very long to get our apples weighed and priced.
All in all, a very nice place. Parking is plentiful as well. This is not an all day trip and they don’t have much cooked food on site or much of anything else. You have to pay for the mandatory hayride up the hill. But it’s a nice place to spend an hour or two each fall and get some deliciously fresh apples.

Had a great day at Hillview farms on an Indian Summer day. Enjoyed the friendly and knowledgable staff, option to pick our own apples or buy the farm’s, produce/​other selection, peacocks, chickens and honeybees. This farm is the real deal!

Bad experience from the start. Found a large pile of old wood screws where they have parking. HAVE to go for tractor ride for $ 3. Per person. Apples are $ 1.99, until it’s time to pay. Then the price becomes $ 2.99 due to you having premium apples. Found shot gun shells all around the orchard, so I suspect the other reviews of dead deer parts to be truthful. Orchard looks generally unkept. Will not be going there again

Nice farm. Felt scammed though. Had to take tractor ride to pick apples. Tractor ride was $ 3/​person I asked to walk, they said no, but you can walk back. Tractor ride was maybe 5 minutes long and was definitely walkable.
Also, three big signs that said, «pick your own apples $ 1.99/#». Got half bushel of Jonah gold and half bushel of SYRGA. SYRGA being an acronym for sunny yellow really good apple. They talked it up, so I figured I’d give it a try.
When we went to pay the Jonah gold’s rang up at $ 1.99/#. The SYRGAs rang up at $ 2.99/#. I asked why and they said, «because it’s a premium apple». I said, «says who» they said, «the farmer». So then I said, «but the sign says pick your own $ 1.99/#» and they said, «except for premium apples, those are $ 2.99/#». So I asked where it said that and she showed me a hand written sign that was not anywhere a human being would have looked. I pointed to one of the pick your own for $ 1.99/# signs and as though I was stupid she said, «except for premium apples».
There’s your sign
Again, nice farm, but definitely not going back and will share the scammed story with everyone I know.

We were so excited to take our toddler daughter here — she loves apples so we thought she would have a blast picking them. I’m not sure I can find the words that accurately describe the horror of our experience, but I will try. We get to the first aisle of apples and there was a dead deer leg sitting right in our path. You read that right. A dead deer leg. When I told someone that worked there about the dead body part, this is what they said, verbatim, «Yeah…there’s some dead deer parts scattered around… I think someone is going to clean up.» Oh, ok. Aside from the body parts strewn across the fields where tons of children are playing, it’s just so unkept and gross. Not properly mowed, hard to walk, bugs and rotten apples EVERYWHERE. I’m sure there’s a dozen health codes being violated on this farm. STAY AWAY, especially if you have small children.

I really like this farm — first its super convienent!!! Very close to summit and im pretty sure itd the best pick your own in essex as ive been to a lot of orchards!
Also its not as commercial as all those other big farms like Alstede and the ones in Chester so you still get really great and friendly staff interaction its not a zoo so you can keep track of your kids and the food is good and you dont have to walk for miles to get to the pick your own stuff!
They had peaches when I went yesterday — and we saw a ton of Apples growing so will be back for that in the fall!
This is not a full day trip — we were there for an hour and it was great. Picked a bag of peaches — hit up the farm store — checked out the chickens and peacocks on site for my 3 yo and was out of there and back home in 20 minutes!
We will be back! Oh and the peaches? ??? Juicy and sweet!!!

Cute little place, apples are nearby so you don’t have to take a «hay ride.» The store has some cute chotchkes and there are some peacocks, chickens, and other farm animals roaming around or in cages. The apples we picked were good and my mom made a great apple pie and apple loaf of bread with them. The doughnuts were good too!

So disappointing. The farms is poorly managed and has skated by on being the only farm in the immediate area besides Wightman’s in Morristown. I could have understood if there were long waits due to overcrowding since I was there in the peak of apple picking season, but instead we had long waits due to mismanagement.
Upon arriving at the farm, we found parking in the small, but adequate parking lot. Just up from the parking lot is the entrance way with a store and stand selling tractor tickets to get up to the apple orchards and pumpkin patch. We waited in line for tractor tickets for about 15 minutes (we were second in line, it wasn’t long at this point) and no one told us why. The employee instead stood behind the counter chit chatting with someone while all the customers asked each other «do you know what’s going on?». Turns out that they were waiting for the next tractor to return. That makes sense and it would have been very easy to say so, but instead the employee just ignored everyone.
Once we got the tractor tickets, we got on line for the tractor. You take a tractor up to the PYO areas, no walking allowed. There wasn’t room on the first tractor, so we waited for the second. No big deal… until we waited another 15 minutes. Then, once we filled up the tractor, we waited again… and waited… and waited. About 20 more minutes into the latest wait I asked the employee behind the counter what was happening. Turns out that there was only one tractor driver for two tractors. Considering that the PYO wasn’t that far away, even that should not have made it take so long, but for some reason it did. And the employee’s explanation was «oh hahahaha, that’s what it’s like on a farm hahaha.» No apology, no «we’re trying our best to get back on track». By this point the line to get the tractor tickets was a mile long and I don’t think the employee explained what was happening to them either.
We finally get up to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. The farm isn’t that big to begin with, and on this Sunday in September they had about six rows of apples open. There was a fair amount of apples on the trees, but you really had to search for a ripe, good apple. The pumpkin patch was, as they put it, «back this way, down a very steep hill. It really is very steep, so be careful.» Most of the people I saw didn’t even try to go down to the pumpkin patch because of a) the apparently treacherous journey, and b) once they saw a return tractor, they jumped on it least they get stuck in the orchard for another half hour. I’m not kidding about that last point — people were getting off the tractor and getting back on the next one they saw because they didn’t want to get stuck.
A few minutes here and there isn’t a big deal, but when you have a couple of young kids, asking them to be patient for almost an hour when they’re excited to go apple and pumpkin picking is nearly impossible. I won’t return to Hillview Farms. The only reason I’m giving it two stars instead of one is that my kid liked the chickens and peacocks roaming around freely by the entrance.

What I really liked about this place was that they had chickens and peacocks wandering around and some penned up guinea hens. They also sell what appears to be good produce with an emphasis on apples. I bought some cider made by Melicks and some corn.

I love apples, and Hillview Farms has orchards that stretch endlessly across a beautiful Jerseyan valley. Apples ripen with the rise and fall of the sun each day as children’s hands grasp upwards to reach an apple for their baskets. And let me tell you, there is nothing like biting into a crisp honeycrisp apple after picking it right from the tree. Nothing like it.
Hillview Farms also has:
–Chickens that roam the parking lot
–Fresh apple cider
–Fresh doughnuts and pies
–Apples, apples, apples
–Vegetables
–Pumpkins
–Assorted squash and squash-​esque /​gourd things
–Jams
–Old-​fashioned décor
–Baby chicks to pet
–Hayrides
I love this place. It’s the epitome of autumn.

This farm has an excellent selection of apple picking fields with many varieties. The little store has great apple cider donuts but come early they go quickly. The store also has a selection of organic produce. The staff is friendly and helpful. There are farm animals to see and tractors to play on for the kids. Although the price of apples can be considered expensive, consider the experience and the quality and selection of apples and enjoy!

You get what you expect. A nice assortment of apples, and a staff that seems to care about their craft. We went late season and didn’t get the best of the picking, but more than enough.
Sometimes you wish it was a bit bigger which is why I took off a few starts. But I love how close it is to NYC. Parking lot gets full quick

This place is very nice. We went twice. Once on a weekday. It was awesome. No lines, we could walk ourselves to the orchard and it was very peaceful and orderly. However, it is way more expensive to pick your own apples than to buy them in a store, you kind of have to expect that.
We also went this past Sunday in the late afternoon. It was A ZOO! There were massive lines, and you had to pay $ 3.00 a person to be ridden to the orchard by tractor. They did have nice cider and cider donuts to buy that were not available on the other day we went, but our toddler just about went bonkers waiting to get to pick apples. I guess if you plan on going to pick apples here on a weekend, try to be the earliest to arrive. Also, the pumpkins are nice but also pricey. I saw a family spend about $ 70 on half a bushel of apples and a nice sized pumpkin.
This is a real farm, the people who work here are nice, and they have a tractor you can play on and chickens and other animals to observe.