Pick apples and berries at Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont, then hike trails up the Helderberg Escarpment and visit the bakery for daily cider donuts.
Kids gravitate to the farm animals at Indian Ladder Farms; adults gravitate to the bakery, where the apple cider donuts are made fresh every day, year-round, in a half-dozen flavors beyond the classic cinnamon-sugar. The orchard sits at the foot of the Helderberg Escarpment, and nature trails climb right up toward it, a rare combination of pick-your-own apples and berries with an actual hike out the back door.
The Yellow Rock Café handles breakfast and brunch, but the newer draw is the Cidery & Biergarten, open Thursday through Sunday and closed Monday through Wednesday, producing hard cider and beer from the farm's own apples and other local ingredients. Sit at a picnic table in the biergarten and you're looking straight down the orchard rows.
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