Riverhead has spent years quietly earning its reputation as the “gateway to Long Island’s wine country,” the town where the highway traffic finally thins out and the vineyards start taking over.
This September, a 15-acre orchard just off Sound Avenue is giving people an even better reason to make the trip east.
Harbes Orchard’s Apple Festival returns for two days, Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13, running 9 am to 6 pm both days.
Expect apple picking, a corn maze with a Robin Hood twist, live music, pony rides, and enough cider donuts to make the drive feel completely justified.
It’s the most ideal fall season kickoff imaginable, and it’s just a couple of hours from NYC. Here are the details!
What actually happens at the festival
Picture rows of apple trees stretching further than you can see, small enough hands reaching straight into the branches, and a tractor-pulled Apple Express hauling anyone who’d rather ride than walk out to the ripest rows.
That’s the baseline experience at Harbes, and the festival weekend piles even more on top of it.
Here’s what’s included with general admission:
- Unlimited apple picking across the orchard’s 15 acres
- The Robin Hood Trivia Challenge Corn Maze, a maze that doubles as an interactive video mission and trivia game for anyone who wants more than just wandering in circles
- Live music from singer-guitarist Matt Taylor, performing both days from noon to 5pm in the picnic area
- Pony rides and additional kids’ activities scattered around the grounds
- Harbes Vineyard’s own award-winning wines available to sip while the kids run wild
- Food vendors and fall treats throughout the property
One thing worth knowing before you go: outside food and pets aren’t permitted on the property, so plan meals around what’s actually being sold there.
The town built around this exact weekend
Riverhead sits right at the point where Long Island splits into its North and South Forks, which is exactly why Fodor’s calls it the gateway to the region’s wine country.
That geography means a trip out for apples doesn’t have to end at the orchard gate.
Sound Avenue alone, the same road Harbes sits on, is lined with farm stands and wineries worth stretching the day around:
- RGNY, a 205-acre winery just down the road known as one of the North Fork’s most popular event spaces
- Bayview Farms & Market and Sound Shore Market, two local farm markets perfect for grabbing fresh produce on the way home
- Briermere Farm, a legendary local pie stop that regulars swear by for the best homemade pie on the entire island
Anyone who wants to turn this into a proper day trip rather than a quick pick-and-leave visit has more than enough reason to linger in Riverhead well past the orchard.
Getting there from NYC
Harbes Orchard sits at 5698 Sound Avenue in Riverhead, about 80 miles east of Manhattan, which typically runs closer to two hours by car depending on Long Island Expressway traffic on a Saturday morning.
There’s no direct train to the orchard’s doorstep, so driving is genuinely the easiest way to make this trip work, especially with farm stands and wineries worth stopping at along the way.
Leaving early enough to beat weekend traffic out of the city makes the whole day smoother, and gives you first crack at the ripest apples before the crowds thin out the good rows.
🍎 Learn more about Harbes Orchard’s Annual Apple Festival and purchase tickets here!