Outhouse Orchards — Attraction in Town of North Salem

Expectation vs. Reality at Outhouse Orchards

I came here the day after my birthday hoping to just kick off the fall season with a low key fall activity. The website promised “NY’s #1 Fall Festival” — cider, donuts, hayrides, pumpkins, apples, the whole fall postcard. Not so much.

Here’s how the website stacks up against what we actually found:

Apple Picking

Website photo: a dewy apple glistening in the morning light. Families in flowy skirts and toddlers with rattan baskets.

Reality: We were given a red net bag (no handles) that cost $30 upfront. The attendant didn't suggest any tips, or offer a map, however was friendly. The orchard is very bramble-y, thick, with unlabeled trees, and apples coated in some kind of powder. There were many apples rotting on the ground with gnats/fruit flies swarming. After a short while we were dehydrated and done guessing which unlabeled trees were ripe/edible. Nothing had signage. We wound up filling the bag with whatever we found- not our favorite kinds of apples.

Hard Cider & Drinks

Website photo: three foamy glasses of cider lined up in front of shiny taps.

Reality: hard cider stand was closed. In fact, almost everything was closed except one small grill stand. Cider was only sold by the half or full gallon — no cups, no pours. We fully expected to have more choices of beverages, but just bought small poland spring bottles.

Pumpkin Patch

Website photo: a sprawling, rustic pumpkin field.

Reality: an enclosed area with neatly arranged piles of pumpkins and kiddie games. More playpen than patch, and no shade anywhere.

Hayride

Website photo: a truck packed with happy visitors.

Reality: the truck passed us twice with only two visitors on board. No signage, no driver offering rides. We were never even asked if we wanted to join.

Flowers & Peaches

Website promise: “Pick your own apples, peaches & flowers.”

Reality: the flower booth was closed (just a chair sitting next to an empty stand). The peach trees looked a mile away — impossible in the heat with no shade.

Food

Website photo: a glowing brick oven with “Yummy Food.”

Reality: brick oven? Closed. Ice cream? Closed. Hard cider bar? Closed. The only other option was a small grill/snack stand. There was a nice area with Adirondack chairs and benches where one could technically sit IF there was food to be eaten, but even that was not shaded not -one umbrella. Cold donuts are available but you have to buy 6 or a dozen.

Restrooms

4 Porta-potties only, 3/4 of them were too dirty to use. Please be super aware of this if you come with small toddlers who touch everything.

Prices: Expect to buy 3 separate tickets for apple picking, corn maze and the pumpkin patch. We could see the layout of the pumpkin patch from the outside and skipped it. We planned to do the corn maze last and thankfully skipped it after apple picking.

Verdict: Maybe this place comes alive with amenities and customer service on weekends, maybe it’s better for families with kids or if you don't mind roughing it.

But for a midweek birthday visit, it was brutally hot, half-shuttered, and missing basic things that would make the visit more pleasant and less work.

The best part? The cider (to-go). Second best...

All FUTURE VISITORS BEWARE!!! The review I wished I saw before I bought tickets to this farm!!

Excited to visit the farm especially for the Kite show which DID NOT happen!!

Traffic & Entry Took about 1.5 hours just to get into the farm due to traffic! FYI there's another farm across from Outhouse - Harvest Moon which made extra traffic as some cars were going to the other farm.

Kite Festival The main reasons we came was for the advertised kite show. Unfortunately, no kites were successfully flown that day. Staff did make attempts, but the event wasn’t what was promised. This was very disappointing, especially since it was heavily promoted. Weather on Saturday reported 5-8miles of wind which on the site said that's what was needed... BUT nothing. ONLY 1 KITE was tried all day!!! BUT you can buy (dollar tree kite) for $40 from them and those flew fine!

Pricing & Value Tickets were $27 per person ($54 total for two adults). Food was pricey and very underwhelming, served cold: We paid $18 for a pizza, $5 each for small 6 oz apple ciders, $8 for half a dozen donuts, and $2 per water bottle. On top of that, while admission included a few attractions (tiny pumpkin patch, small sunflower field in front of parking lot, general store, bouncy house, and hayride (which we couldn't go - the line was over 1 hr wait!), access to the apple orchards required an additional purchase of a $30–$45 bag!!! Even if we just wanted to walk through the orchard or take photos (promote the farm), this wasn’t possible without paying extra, which felt restrictive and just greedy!

Food & Amenities The food court area felt limited and underwhelming. There's only Pizza, tacos and grill station each dish all over $20!! which isn't too bad if the food was actually good. There's not enough tables for Saturday and no shade for most of the tables provided. Not many seating in the open spaces that's included with your entrance ONLY 2 benches for the entire farm that had shade!!

The most disgusting thing - only 8 porta potties for +500 ppl on a Saturday! The sinks didn't have water for hours! (since we were only allow to stay in the front of the farm I saw the sinks was refilled only 1x the entire day which was 4 hours later!) Clearer signage hayride pick-up points , more clean bathrooms and refilled water in the sinks, better quality in food options, and access to the orchards could improve the overall experience!

Overall We ended up spending around $120 for two adults (including gas and tolls) and left feeling that the value didn’t match the cost. After visiting over 15 farms in NY, this farm is by far the greediest farm we visited. Don't mind the entrance fee but most farms let you go everywhere with an option to buy a bag if you want to PYO. There's something about a farm where MOST of the social content posted is only by them vs by actual real visitors. A huge red flag! Wished I looked at the previous google reviews here and their socials before I bought the tickets online as there are no refunds. Lesson learned: WILL NEVER COME BACK TO THIS FARM (since there's other farms around) OR RECOMMEND...

For years we've been coming here... And honestly, it took me a few weeks to write this review.

We went recently when it was raining. Took our extended family for the first time. We had a good time inside there was a gentleman who actually approached us and gave us a tour which was amazing.

One of the guys let our kids go in for free on the corn maze as long as the adults paid since it was raining, so that was nice. However....

On our way out, we were literally approached as criminals. Of course our kids over picked apples and we let them do that as we were trying to make the best out of a crummy day. We had extra apples and we were trying to buy an additional bag to place these extra apples in.

We were approached by a sherrif, who accused us of petty larceny, when honestly, if we were trying to steal anything, we wouldn't be so open about it and be headed towards the front where there was clearly no people since it was raining. So, it wasn't like we were trying to hide anything.

The way everything was handled was horrible. There was no need to be rude or approach us that way. We were making the best out of a rainny day and I get that there are people who steal and are sneaky but we weren't being suspicious. Instead. We walked with kids on hand, arms and wagon fully exposed of extra apples, willingly approaching the stand to buy an additional bag.

Needless to say, we went apple picking again for the second time this year and decided to go across the street to harvest moon.

Let me tell you, the attractions there, from the bouncy houses, pony rides, tractor rides, beer, hard cider, apple trees, and most importantly the friendly staff. Everyone was approached with respect even tho it was super crowded.

There is a way to speak to people. There is modesty and morals and respect. There is no need to be rude. Truly, I felt whomever approached us was simply racist, given half of us were Hispanic, my husband is Italian so we were mixed.

Never again.... I repeat, never again will I go here. It is unfortunate that it came to this but please, for what you charge for parking and the bags, be kind. There is no need for disrespect or rudeness in this day in age.

I hope someone takes something from this message and learns to just be kind and make the best out of their day and maybe even sometimes, look at the glass half full...