The Hood River Fruit Loop is 35 miles of working orchards, and peach season just hit its peak
Everyone who drives to Hood River is chasing the wind. Thirty-five miles of orchard road just south of downtown is the reason to stick around — and this week, it’s peach season at its peak.
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The Hood River Valley’s first fruit trees went into the ground in 1855. That start grew into roughly 14,500 acres of pear, apple, and cherry orchards spread across the valley today.
A self-guided 35-mile loop connects the working farms — stands, U-pick fields, cideries, wineries, and a handful of flower farms mixed in. No entrance fee, no timed permit, just a printable map and a full tank of gas.
The drive itself is half the draw. Highway 35 climbs out of downtown Hood River into open valley with Mount Hood filling the windshield for long stretches, orchard rows running off in every direction on either side.
August is peach season on the loop, and it’s not subtle. Red Haven peaches are in now, with Elberta picking up as the month rolls on, right alongside the valley’s first apples of the year.
Draper Girls Country Farm runs a peach, pear, and apple U-pick from August 10 through the end of the month, with nectarines and berries mixed into the same fields. Two weeks later, Kiyokawa Family Orchards throws its Stone Fruit Celebration on August 22 and 23 — pick-your-own peaches, plums, pluots, and pluerries, plus a hay wagon ride through the orchard.
Packer Orchards opens its sunflower fields and a walk-through butterfly experience mid-month if flowers are more your speed. Apple Valley Country Store keeps peach and summerberry milkshakes on the menu all August, alongside fresh-baked pies and the season’s first apples.
None of it requires advance tickets. Pull off at whichever stand has cars in the lot, grab a bag, and start picking — the whole valley runs on that kind of low-key, self-serve rhythm in August.
These are private working farms, not a park system — stay inside the marked public areas and skip anything behind a closed gate. The stands are genuinely happy to have you; they just ask you to treat the property like someone’s yard, because it is one.
Pair the loop with Hood River’s other big draw and you’ve got a full Gorge weekend — mornings on the water, afternoons wandering orchard rows with a peach in hand. That combination alone is worth building a trip around.
Hours shift stand by stand and week by week, so check each farm’s page before you lock in a route. Which stop’s earning a spot on yours — peaches, sunflowers, or the cider list?
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, or lock in a hotel in Hood River before harvest season books up the good rooms.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
