5 Nebraska Orchards Where Cider Donuts Come Out Warm While You Pick Your Apples
The paper bag gives it away before anyone takes a bite. Grease spots spread across the bottom, cinnamon sugar sticks to your fingers, and the donut inside is still too hot to hold comfortably.
Somewhere between a gravel parking lot and a row of loaded apple trees, Nebraska quietly turned that combination into a fall tradition worth planning a Saturday around. These five orchards pair u-pick rows with a fryer running nearby, and the window for both closes fast once the harvest winds down.
1. Picnic Hill Orchard
Rows of trees climb a gentle rise on Yankee Hill Road, southeast of Lincoln, close enough that you can be picking within twenty minutes of leaving downtown. More than 25 apple varieties grow here, along with cherries and blackberries earlier in the season.
Honeycrisp pull the biggest crowds, and the fruit runs sweet and tart in equal measure. The grounds stay tidy, the rows are easy to walk, and nothing about the layout feels crowded or rushed.
What keeps people from heading straight home is the retail market. Warm donuts come out alongside fresh-pressed cider and small-batch ice cream made on site, plus apple butter that disappears from kitchen counters faster than the apples do.
School groups work through the orchard on weekday field trips during the same window.
Picking season runs roughly August through October, and the market operates on limited seasonal days, so a quick check before driving out saves disappointment. Parking sits in a free lot right by the entrance.
Address: 10500 Yankee Hill Rd, Lincoln, NE 68526.
2. Kimmel Orchard and Vineyard in Nebraska City
Fruit has been coming off these rolling hills in southeast Nebraska since 1925, when Richard and Laurine Kimmel started sharing what the land produced with their neighbors. Apples and cherries still anchor the operation, joined by dozens of other fruits and vegetables through the growing year.
Education runs alongside agriculture here. An on-site center hosts classes covering everything from honey production to apple growing, and school field trips move through the orchard all fall.
The barn is where most of the day ends up. Apple donuts and cider carry the reputation, and the shelves fill out with caramel apple cookies, apple butter, baked goods, and bags of apples sized for a week of lunches.
One thing to plan around: u-pick admission is charged separately, and the apples you pick are priced on top of that. Knowing this ahead of time keeps the arithmetic from stinging at the register.
The orchard closes early in the week during the season, so aim for later in the week or the weekend.
Address: 5995 G Rd, Nebraska City, NE 68410.
3. Union Orchard
Highway 75 runs right past the front of this Cass County orchard, which makes it an easy pull-off on a drive between Omaha and Nebraska City. Bushel baskets stack near the door, and the smell coming out of the store tells you what the ovens are doing.
Apple selection in the fall stretches well past the usual suspects. King David and Winesap both turn up on the u-pick list, two older varieties that have gotten hard to find at a grocery store.
Cider donuts here have a real following, and they hold up next to anything made elsewhere in the state. The bakery case backs them up with pies, including a caramel-covered apple version that outclasses most kitchen-made versions.
Pricing runs a bit higher than a roadside stand, though the quality of the fruit and the baked goods explains most of that gap.
Fall is the season to come, ideally on a mild afternoon when walking the rows feels like the point rather than the chore.
Address: 2405 US-75, Union, NE 68455.
4. Vala’s Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard
Pig races, a kiddie train, corn mazes, and fire pits going after dark. The Gretna farm operates on a scale nothing else on this list attempts, and it decorates every acre accordingly.
Apple picking is folded into a much larger day. A hayride carries you out toward the patch and the orchard rows, and drivers will stop so people can climb off for photos among the vines.
The u-pick apple selection tends to be narrower than at a dedicated orchard, sometimes half a dozen varieties, and a hard freeze can shut public picking down for the rest of the season. Calling ahead in late fall is the smart move.
Food is a genuine draw rather than an afterthought. Cider donuts come off the line warm, frozen apple cider slushies cool things down on a mild October afternoon, and caramel apples round out the haul.
Evening hours stretch later than most farms, which makes this the rare orchard you can visit after work or after a game.
Address: 12102 S 180th St, Gretna, NE 68028.
5. Martin’s Hillside Orchard Near Ceresco
A hay rack wagon rolls through the rows while somebody explains which apples are ripe, what the flowers are, and how the pumpkins came along this year. Between Lincoln and Ashland in Saunders County, this family-run farm opens each fall and closes when the season is done.
Honeycrisp, gala, and somerset all turn up on the u-pick list, and apple prices run noticeably lower than at the bigger operations. Fifteen pounds is an easy afternoon.
Kids get their own territory. There’s a corn box, a kid-sized corn maze, a tire mountain, and enough scattered play areas to burn off the sugar from the concession stand.
Speaking of which: apple donuts and apple cider slushes anchor the food, with pulled pork sandwiches available for anyone who wants an actual meal before the drive home. Pumpkins fill out the rest of the haul, from pie varieties to decorative gourds to jack-o-lantern sizes.
Group tours can be scheduled. The farm closes one day a week during the season.
Address: 2024 Ashland Rd, Ceresco, NE 68017.
