riley's farm

My husband and I were in the area and stopped at the Hawk's Head for lunch. I've been here during all my children's field trips and have loved the colonial reenactments. I've been here for apple picking during the fall. This time nothing was in season but the restaurant and some of the colonial activities were open. It wasn't busy and a nice time to be there. Lunch was between $10 to $15 a plate (we shared) and there was plenty of leftovers. Sandwiches were cheaper. Everything was homemade and tasted great!

We loved spending the day at Riley's Farm. There were so many schools on field trips to learn about the Colonists that came to America before we won our Independence from England. Such a great way to learn about our history.They also have a Tavern which is like stepping back into the 1700's and a bakery that makes 5 pound apple pies and the most fantastic Chicken Pot Pies. They all need to be ordered the day before.

We visited today with our two kids (5&6 yrs old). I shocked to find tge little bag you get for picking was $18 and you also pay admission fee into the orchard. It was very crowded, so letting the kids roam wasn't an option. The bakery has a limited, vwry limited menu--only 4 or 5 choices. You can get apple pue, apple turnover, small bread loaf,4 pack cookies, or pastry of the day. The pies are $18 also. They sell cider for $22/gallon!!! As a parent, I think its very overpriced--I both a 3lb bag of apples at the grocery store for $2, so $18 for less was ridiculous. However, the desert is ugly, so the scenery was pleasant and we gad a good time after getting over ticket shock :)

Wanted to give 3.5, but the staff's effort told me 4. We came last year on a weekend near Halloween. Disastrous. Way too busy, no apples...or anything to pick, horrible waste of time. So, this year I took my children there. Got there early (10am) and yay!! Not busy. School kids there for field trips, so we asked to be added on. We were able to. We did the "gold rush" living history. The crowd was too large, imo & I didnt like that part. A lot of time wasted, standing in line at the assy office, at the chore line, etc. People crammed into the tiny buildings, long lines to "mine" etc etc. Here are tips for your adventure: ask the assayer to let your child be a guard for the bank. They will earn a large chunk of money. Also , combine assay notes! Have friends pair up and get paid on one ticket. Its the only way to even have a chance at the auction. The auction was disappointing, only a handful of gifts between a huge crowd of kids. At 15-17 dollars a person, you'd think there would be more of a "give back" to the kids. Best prize was a caramel apple. It looked yummo!22.00 for a gallon of cider!! What?!?!?!10.00 for a small bag of apples. Imagine 2 brown lunch bags put together. 1$ each to enter the orchard, plus 10.00 for small bag. Admission to gold rush was 85.00 for 2 adults and 3 children, ages 4, 6, & 11. Overall, this was a costly trip when you consider we drive over 2 hrs to get there. With such a large crowd, it didnt appear the kids learn as much as they couldd with a smaller group. I homeschool, so my kids learn a lot. But, I think it was fun for them to "live" it for the time being. The staff was friendly enough. It was a large crowd, sunny, I know some of the kids were not behaving well. We received a miners ration for lunch. Yummy corn bread, a slice of cheese, jerky & an apple. My son asked for another apple, they refused him. Overall, I would say it was a decent experience, some things could be improved upon & some things are just perfect. Obviously, as adults, we view things different than kids. My kids didnt mind waiting too much, or complain about anything. I know my little guy was bummed that his 265 cash money earned was useless when it came to the auction, as older kids earned way more. He wanted a prize so bad, I could tell! Even though most were cheapy items, arrowheads, rabbits foot, etc. To a 6 year old it would've been a great memory. Anyway, if you have money to blow, I would go here over and over again. It was a cute experience and I am sure my kids will have memories for years to come about their time here!The bathrooms were kind of icky. But...when you have large crowds, I expect that.Bring a hat & sunscreen for the kids! Definitely ignore the super negative reviews and hive them a try before just skipping this place because it was a one of a kind experience. I think as adults who are *frugal* when you pay 85.00 just for admission, you tend to expect more. When you pay 10.00 for apples, you expect to get some great apples. But, i also know employees need to get paid, farm animals fed, farmland farmed, so i try to take that into consideration. To be honest, i dont think adults should be charged to bring their kids. Had it just been 50.00 for the kids, i would have been much more pleased with the experience & take it for what it was. But, when you charge a fair amt of money, people will be more critical of the services. That's just how people are. I am thankful we came though & that we got to experience this together. If we lived closer, that would've been a definite bonus.

Okay so this place is not for people who are lazy. There is ALOT of walking if you want to experience everything. We did find a good amount of apples and strawberries near the entrance so those who have trouble walking can still have fun. We got some small and medium size bags for picking and a pumpkin and it only cost about $35. So I thought that was a super good deal for a full days activity for two. You can also pick flowers (which we chose not to do but walking through them is super fun too). Also don't skip out on the restaurant there. That applesauce is to die for! I wish we saved room for dessert.

Our church took some of our 4-6th grade students plus a few visiting students from China and some parent to Riley's farm today. They were a part of the "CHesterfield Farm" Tour. What a sweet time we all had. They really have their act together in receiving a large group(s) of people. Although the place was packed the little tours went very smoothly. The young men in charge were charming and really brought the kids in to each event. The only small down side was the Hawkheads Tavern (restaurant) was too packed and their was a fairly long wait for their VERY GOOD FOOD! I'm so glad we are close enough to do this with the kids and give them a wonderful picture of a much more pleasant, simple time. Thanks Riley's Farm - we'll be back.

Went on 9/27/14. Below are the pros and cons to Riley's Farm.Pro:Fun fall activityYou can bring your dogsYou can select from various apples, fruits, and berries.Beautiful settingEmployees dressed in colonial garb (how awesome)great little general storeawesome array of fresh jams/preserves.family/children friendly-They have a BBQ place on top of the hill (didn't try)- They also have the tavern and bakery at the bottom of the hill. we will more than likely come back for the tavern/bakery but probably not to pick fruit/berries. Cons: -they are not prepared for the high traffic. Prepare to wait in a long line to buy the picking containers or bring cash if they open a stand in the orchard. - they are pretty pricey- not many apples to pick that were ripe and there is no way to get the apples higher in the trees. we tried to use the picking stick and we were told we couldn't (all the good ones were higher up)- the bottom parking lot is dirt with huge sharp rocks. we were afraid we were going to get a flat. - the tractor ride up fills up fast and there is only one at a time. we had to walk up the hill- so many people it feels very touristy

Dennis and Sharon Riley know how to give families, home schoolers and schools a look back in time on this historic apple farm. There's so much to do that is fun. Great kudos to the Riley's for bringing back to life this orchard that was first planted over one hundred years ago. Great times with U-pick berries and apples, pressing your own cider, tomahawk throwing, saw milling and a lot more.

We have been going here for the past 10 years- u-pick (raspberries, apples, pears, cherries). It's a great get away from the hustle/ bustle of So Cal. We more recently did the Revolutionary War field trip- it was top notch! The kids absolutely loved it and it was the perfect start to our homeschool year about US History. The perfect place where history comes alive! You can join up with other schools groups if they are already scheduled and there is space, or start a group on your own. We'll be back for sure! Be sure to order your apple pie!

Introduced some friends who immigrated here from Etheopia to a lovely picture of early American life today. We were fortunate that so many schools had booked tours and got to see all the various activities in action. The young student with me really enjoyed it, as did their mother. Then we ate at the Hawks Head Tavern - it was soooo yummy. I've been wanting to try the Chicken Pot Pie and I'm so glad I did. The young girl got the Gourmet Mac and Cheese, and mom got a wonderful salad - we ended by sharing a delicious piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream - oh so yummy. The server was very good - and you cannot beat the beautiful environment all around. The helpers were very informative - all in all a great day.

My 4th grade class goes every year for the Gold Rush. We always have a GREAT time and works well with my Project Based Learning classroom.

We went here for their Harvest Feast dinner. Different is the word. Everything is served Colonial times. Late 1700's. From 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The service was very good and the food was above average. Just different. One course served at a time and English Style Roast Beet was served second to last. They are well know for their 3 & 5 pound apple pies. Some entertainment between courses. Tomahawk throwing contest, bobbing for apples, etc. Early November and it was cold there so dress in layers. Candlite only. They have apple picking but we came too late in the year to do that. They are also open for lunch but they completely shut down between lunch and dinner. No actual bar but they do have some libations available during dinner. We paid ahead of time for dinner. Check them out on line. www.rileysfarm.com

Do not go in October! The place was sooooo crowded!!!!!! I had planned a trip to go apple picking for the first time and was so excited to actually pick my own apples. When we got there I waited in line for about 20 min to buy a small bag to pick apples in only to be told that there was no more apple picking!!!!!! They said there was not enough apples left on the trees to pick. Just to let you know we got there at 10:30am. Only an hour and a half after they opened. They told us that there might be a chance later to pick apples, but I was not about to wait around for 30+ min to get an answer. We were able to get a tiny bag to pick strawberries. Very few left in the strawberry patch though. The only thing that we were able to do was press our own apples for apple cider. After waiting in line for 30 minutes it was our turn to press our apples. That was a very fun experience. The cider we pressed was very good! Then we went to get our food. I had pre ordered online an apple pie and pot pies THINKING it would be quick to get..... I then had to wait 40 minutes in a rediculous line to pick up my food! I hope that they can find a better way to control these crowds! It is just tooooooo crazy!

We went apple picking last weekend - I will first say it was crazy busy and we waited in line for a good 20 minutes to purchase small bags for picking - due to overpicking they were limiting what you could pick. While in the small area we were allowed to pick, staff kept approaching us to see if we were done so they could mark our bags with black marker to make sure we were not running apples to the car and starting again. The same staff person approached up about 4 times in less than 20 minutes to see if we were done. We were trying to take pictures so apparently we were not picking fast enough.We had planned to eat at the restaurant but it was a 2.5 hour wait. We opted to stand in the bakery window line for a turnover to tie us over until we found a new place for lunch - a 30 minute wait only to find out they sold out of turnovers, chicken pot pies and a few other items. It seems odd they do not plan better for crowds.The apples we picked were good - made pies when I got home but for the hassle I could have easily got them at my local farmer's market.

The Oak Glen area is a neat place to visit if you are "cityfolk". There are orchards, restaurants, and little shops. If you are from someplace where farms are the norm you may not be as impressed as the rest of us. Now on to specifics about Riley's.The hubby and I went on an apple picking adventure today. We had done this once before and had a wonderful time. We knew to expect to pay $8 for a tiny bag of u-pick apples and we knew everything else was likewise pricey. What we did not know was that October is crazy busy time at Riley's. All the orchards and attractions were extremely full today, but Riley's was just ridiculous. Parking was near impossible to find and took forever to get in and out of due to the droves of people trying to get to Riley's. Then we stood in a giant line to buy our admission and bags (both of which you must have in order to enetr the orchard). They opened up some lines behind us and then put a hold on any more admittance to the apple orchards. Translation, the people that were at the back of the line got to go pick apples and those of us that were towards the front (because we'd been waiting for a long time), basically got screwed. The announcement (by one person with no microphone and talking just slightly louder than normal speech) was made a few times that there was a hold on apple picking for the time being and that people could pick strawberries, pumkins, or flowers instead OR if you waned to wait for an undetermined amount of time you may be able to pick apples later. We opted to wait, since we were meeting family there for the purpose of picking apples. The announcement was made continuously that if you waited in one particular area you would be helped first should apple picking resume. A handful of people, waited as did we, in the specified area. About 40 minutes later apple picking resumed. However instead of taking those of us who waited into a particular line and helping us in the same order we'd waited in, they let us loose into the lines of people who were waiting to buy things from the store or had opted to pick something different. So...we made it apple picking after-all but were aggravated to find that othere people who had not opted to wait were helped before those of us that had waited a long time already (twice).So in conclusion, Riley's is a neat place to go if you can figure out when no one else is there. This situation was mishandled every way possible. We learned from many people who live/work in the area that October is always madness there. In my opinion Riley's should therefore have a betterplan by now. Go in early September or else go to one one of the small orchards near by.