Twenty acres, more than thirty-four varieties, and a season that runs from late August into November. We're an apple farm as much as an orchard, which means the picking happens where the trees grow: you walk the rows and pull the apples off yourself. What's ripe changes week to week, and that's most of the point.
Buy TicketsApple picking in Iowa isn't one season, it's a rolling one. Early varieties come on in late August, mid-season through September and into October, and the late keepers hang on until the field closes. A trip in September and a trip in October give you different apples off different trees.
That's why it's worth asking what's ready when you arrive rather than planning around a variety you read about. Our staff will tell you what rows are open and what's picking well that week.
If you want to plan ahead, we keep a full variety list with ripening windows.
How Apple Picking Works
Admission gets you onto the farm and into the orchard. Buy a U-Pick bag at the You-Pick entrance or the South Train Station, head out to whichever rows are open that week, and fill it. You pay for the bag, not by weight, so a full bag costs the same as a half-empty one.
Pull up and twist rather than yanking straight down. The apple comes off cleaner and you don't strip the spur the next year's fruit grows from. Pick from the outside of the tree in, since the fruit that gets the most sun ripens first.
Wear closed-toe shoes. The orchard floor is grass and it stays damp under the trees well into the afternoon, and parking is in a field, so it gets soft after rain.
We open and stay open in rainy weather. A few attractions close for safety when it's wet, the Jumping Pillows and Super Slide among them, but the orchard itself stays open and picking carries on. Refunds and date transfers aren't available for weather.
The hayride out to the orchard is wheelchair accessible, and so is picking apples. Leave the dog at home, though trained service animals are always welcome.
Most Iowa orchards are orchards. Most pumpkin patches are pumpkin patches. Ours is both, on the same farm, on the same admission.
That matters more in October than people expect. A family that comes out for apples in September usually comes back for pumpkins in October, and a lot of them do both in one trip. The hayride runs out to the orchard, the pumpkin patch, and the corn maze, so it's genuinely one visit rather than three stops.
See the Pumpkin Patch
The bakery is where a lot of people end the day and where a fair number of them decide to come back. Cider donuts are the headline, made fresh and best eaten before you get to the parking lot. There are pies, caramel apples, apple cider slushies, and a full case of things that change with the season.
Not picking? The Country Store carries fresh apples by the bag, plus cider, jams, and gifts. We also sell seconds, apples with bruises or blemishes, at a discount.
The orchard is one stop out of forty-plus. There's a farmyard full of animals you can feed, a corn pool, jumping pillows, giant slides, and a train that runs the property. If you're bringing kids, the picking takes half an hour and the rest of the day takes care of itself.
There are thirteen food stops across the farm, so nobody has to leave hungry. Kettle corn, apple cider slushies, sandwiches, and a full bakery case. The Country Store carries fresh apples by the bag, cider, jams, and gifts if you'd rather buy than pick.
Late August through early November. Ours runs August 30 through November 2, with different varieties ripening across those ten weeks.
More than thirty-four across twenty acres. What's open for picking changes week to week, so ask when you arrive.
Center Grove Orchard is at 32835 610th Avenue in Cambridge, Iowa, five miles east of I-35 at Exit 102, between Ames and Ankeny.
Admission is per person for ages three and up, with weekdays priced lower than weekends. Apples are charged separately: you buy a U-Pick bag and fill it, so there's no weighing at the end.
Late September through October has the most varieties open at once. Weekdays are calmer and cheaper than weekends throughout the season.
Yes. The orchard and the pumpkin patch are on the same farm and the same admission, and the hayride runs between them.
We open and stay open in rainy weather. A few attractions close for safety when it's wet, but the orchard stays open and picking carries on. Refunds and date transfers aren't available for weather, so check the forecast before you buy.
Yes. The Country Store carries fresh apples by the bag, plus cider, pies, and jams. We also sell seconds, apples with bruises or blemishes, at a discount in the store. They bake and sauce just as well.
Not much, honestly. An orchard is planted for fruit or nut production, and a grove usually means the same thing, though it also gets used for citrus and for stands of trees in general. We're Center Grove Orchard because the farm sits near the old Center Grove township, and by the time anyone noticed the redundancy the sign was already painted.
Our apple orchard is open daily through the season in Cambridge, Iowa, five miles east of I-35 at Exit 102.
Center Grove Orchard
32835 610th Avenue
Cambridge, IA 50046
515-383-4354
Apple season runs August 30 through November 2. Farm hours are 9 AM to 7 PM during the season. Check our calendar for current hours and what's ripe before you drive out.
