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Marker-Miller Orchards
Categories: Food Bakeries Food Farmers Market Bakeries, Farmers Market [Edit]
3035 Cedar Creek GradeWinchester, VA 22602
(540) 662-1391
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
18 reviews for Marker-Miller Orchards
Review Highlights
"...place to go and pick your own apples, pick up some fresh..."
(in 3 reviews)
"The farm market is a huge warehouse of baked goods (e."
(in 4 reviews)
"The cider donuts are ridiculous."
(in 4 reviews)
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18 reviews in English
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Review from Jenn K.
1/18/2012
This place is the VERY BEST! I would give it many more stars if I could. While herds of people were lined up for their famous apple cider donuts and to pick your own apples, I was busy discovering a lesser known goodie, even better in my opinion. Lucky for you, I will let you in on it too.... Two words: Rum buns! Try one out from their bakery and you'll see what I mean.
One time I stopped by and it must have been my lucky day- they just happened to have a huge Free pies, cakes, and baked good tasting. No catch to it, no marketing pitch either. Just table after table lined up with all kinds of sweet goodness to sample!
They have a fully stocked bakery, fresh made ice cream and fudge, slushies, canned farm goods, produce, and extremely abundant local unique exotic flavored fruit wine selection (Peaks of Otter Winery) and much more. I can't wait for it to re-open again next season.
As a heads up though, their parking lot and the lines can get rather insane on weekends, esp. holiday weekends. -
Review from Rachel S.
Alexandria, VA
10/16/2011
Apples and pumpkins and pastries, oh my!!!
Huge orchard, bunch of varieties of apples! Got a couple of pumpkins while we were there as well. We didn't get any of the pastries, but they looked AMAZING. We'll have to get some next time.
Great autumn trip! Fun time! Beautiful area! Definitely recommend! -
Review from Sarah S.
9/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
Really worth the visit! I was visiting Winchester for a little weekend getaway from DC, and was told by the owner/chef at the Village Square to visit Marker-Miller Orchards. The apple donut lived up to all expectations - it's best I only bought one. I enjoyed it outside at one of the many picnic tables, watching families play with their kids on the awesome giant pirate ships on the playground surrounded by big huge apple trees. It was really quaint and super awesome, a nice immersion from the city!!
I forgot to mention, I ate awesome apple donut with an awesome apple that I picked up in the shop. Eat them together, oh god, you will be left with such sweet apple happiness in your belly!
The shop has a variety of items from Virginia, WV, and Pennsylvania, including a nice variety of fresh fruit and vegetables locally grown. They also have honey, fresh baked goods, regional cheeses, milks, and a huge selection of jams, butters, salsas, etc, that the Marker-Miller Orchard makes. They also have pumpkins and you can either fill a basket of apples up in the shop, or pluck them from one of the plentiful apple trees on site!! Also, they had burgers, and cheap food being freshly grilled for your hunger needs too.
A really nice special treat, whether alone as a wandering city slicker, as a couple, or with the family.
note: $5 minimum on your credit card! But, that's not hard to do...I just bought a donut and a few apples...so I had to add some honey on top of my bill to meet it! -
Review from Stacie H.
Front Royal, VA
12/1/2011
I love this place. Every year I take my children here and we have an entire day filled with fun activities. We always pick the best apples and have a blast doing it. After wards my children play in the play ground. We eat the most delicious food, and buy the best apple butter and pumpkin butter ever. There is a cow train that runs in the fall and the gentlemen who operates it is so nice and polite and the kids just love riding the train because he makes it fun and it's FREE! The hayride is the best its a good long ride through the orchards and it's so nice. It is cheap too and only $2 a person children 4 and under free how can you pass it up?
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Review from Jessica M.
Fairfax, VA
10/11/2011
This is the first year we've visited Marker-Miller Orchards and while it was about 30 minutes further than Striblings and the other Markham orchards, it was well worth it. This orchard is the best we've been to for small children and by far had the best and most plentiful apples for Columbus Day weekend (we went on Monday). The Crispins were delicious and the Granny Smiths were nice and big! The prices seemed good to me...believe it was $6 for 1/2 peck, $9 for a peck, and $13 for 1/2 bushel (or about $1.09/1lb).
The kids had a great time in the play area (pictured on their website) and the picnic pavillion was nice, new and big enough for many families at lunch time (we brought our own lunch...believe they may have a grill going on weekends). The rockers on the market porch were a nice touch as well for taking a break after walking the orchard. What made this experience so memorable for us was that a good number of the trees are just the right size for kids...at other orchards we've had to use poles to reach the remaining apples and the kids couldn't participate as much...they did all the pickin' this year at M-M Orchards. They also have a little pumpkin patch where you can actually pick your pumpkin off the vine which is fun for the kiddos to see how they grow, etc. vs just picking one out of a pile.
The only bummer for us was that we waited too long to get our donuts and they ran out around 1pm (not sure if they stop making them everyday around noon or if it was because it was a holiday Monday???)...however, the selection of cakes, cookies and pies was fantastic and did the trick!
The staff was plenty friendly and the parking was a breeze, but I can see how it could get pretty crazy on a really busy weekend. -
Review from steve j.
Alexandria, VA
10/10/2011
Great apples, great place and pretty good pies. Best for picking your own apples and kid friendly. Does get crowded on weekends, but there is plenty of parking and plenty of apples.
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Review from Jack F.
2/16/2008
Cameo, Cripps Pink, Jonagold, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Rome, Pacific Rose, Ambrosia, and Rome. Do you know what all these have in common? They're different types of apples. Of course, there's your more popular varieties like Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, and Granny Smith. You can find these and many more at Marker-Miller Orchards. And not all apples are alike. Some are tart whereas others are sweet. Some are crisp whereas others are soft. They are so many different textures and subtle nuances - I LOVE APPLES.
Sadly, the orchards are closed during the winter season so you'll have to wait until this summer. When my friends and I ventured off for an apple picking adventure in November, I never expected to stumble across Apple Heaven. It's all about apples (and other local produce). The farm market is a huge warehouse of baked goods (e.g. breads, cakes, pies, and cookies ... all with apples), jams, jellies, dressings, wine, cider, and fruits and vegetables from nearby farms. Even if you're too lazy to pick your own apples from the trees, you can rummage through a wide selection indoors. You're charged by container size so load up anyway you can. My non-apple favorites include pumpkin butter and mango-peach salsa.
Also, try the wine tasting. The farm market offers 30 different selections of wines from the Peaks of Otter Winery (Bedford, VA) including flavors like elderberry, peach, and hot pepper. For $2 a person, you can sample at least 21 different selections. Just make sure you're not the one driving home.
5 Stars - It may be a long drive from DC, but its certainly worth every minute. After coming to Marker-Miller, apples just aren't the same at my local grocery stores. How much longer until September?Listed in: Best Excursions Nearby
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Review from Regina D.
Washington, DC
10/13/2008
What a great place!!! Its a bit far away when traveling from closer into the DC area but it was well worth it. Tons of pick your own apples to choose from and plenty of already picked ones inside as well. They also have peaks of otter wines there and ofter a tasting which is great because I love their wines and either have to wait till any of the VA wine festivals to get them, or drive to bedford which is a bit further than Winchester.
They also have the best apple cider donuts to the point where there was always a line of people waiting for them and they just couldn't make them fast enough!!!!
Over all a great experience for me and Ive been suggesting this place to friends I know who are planning on going. -
Review from Mary H.
Winchester, VA
8/4/2010
This is one of my absolute favorite places in Winchester, it's just so....country, I love it. They have an adorable little porch with rocking chairs so you can sit outside and just enjoy the scenery, an awsome playground for kids (they have a little play area in the shape of a ship that I am DYING to climb in and go down the slide). The variety of salsas, jellies, jams and preserves are overwhelming, it's hard to pick out a couple. Right now I am working on a jar of Vidalia Onion Salsa, it is to die for. Also, the apple cider donuts are probably the best things I have ever eaten in my entire life.
They have a little place out back that they open up and serve lunch on the weekends, they serve BBQ and chips and all kinds of goodies.
Also, this place is the best place to go during the fall, last year I went around the second week in October and they were selling pumpkins, having hay rides, they had a little stand set up and were selling kettle corn and pork rinds, it is amazing, I just can't say enough about this place. It is a real treat to visit and the staff are so friendly. Can't get enough of Marker-Miller Orchards. -
Review from Michelle N.
Fairfax, VA
10/13/2009
Had a great time here over the weekend with my mom, however I would have enjoyed apple picking more if her friends weren't so quick to fill up our bag (not a reflection of the orchards though!).
It's really beautiful here and you have lovely mountain views. It's a perfect fall activity about an hour away from DC and you can get a whole half bushel bag of apples for about 12 bucks. Can't beat that!
They also have lots of activities for the kids - a big playground area, wagon rides, "cow train" and pumpkin patch.
I thought it was a little weird they had a cop on staff, but it seemed to make a lot of sense when mom's friends decided they wanted to "reuse" their paid bags for another batch of apples (sigh).
The only thing I didn't really like was that some items were expensive. Apple bread was $7 or $8 and a gallon of apple cider was $7.50. They also didn't have very much apple bread available to sell. You'd think that there would be plenty at an apple orchard as well as be a little cheaper out there. -
Review from george H.
Winchester, VA
9/15/2011
Just moved to Winchester with two small kids. Best place in town, best apples ever!
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Review from Prakash S.
Winchester, VA
3/10/2007
We had been a regular visitor for last 2 years. Great country store with fresh grown fruits and vegetable. Home baked goods and fresh wine. This is nestled between Apple Farms and seems like right at the foot hill of Blue Ridge.
Pick Your Own Apple here at the farm and great place for kids to play too. Overall this is one of the Country Charm if you value those. They are normally closed between Christmas and Spring. -
Review from D C.
McLean, VA
10/8/2011
There is nothing bad to be said about the apples at this orchard. There is a good variety, and plenty to pick despite the weekend crowd! What left a bad taste with us were the bad apples within their management unfriendly to borderline rude gate staff! I am not talking about the cashiers and such but these ppl stading at the gate area which may have been the management, who were monitoring the entry and exit at the closing time. When we got there those gate ppl were not there to welcome and guide you or anything, we had to learn from fellow visitors as to where alternately get the bags from as the one place directed by the sign had an exceptionally long line. We were recommended to go inside the market and it worked, still crowded but was less wait inside the market. Cashier ringed us with a happy face gave us a map, however we were not told one important info, the closing time! When were looking for orchards online we looked at so many that I must have mixed the closing times for this one with another and thought it was 6 pm. At 5:05 we had a full bag of apples it was so heavy we decided to put it in the car before going to the market for a jar or apple butter. Gate ppl were standing there as we made our way to the car but did not say anything like good evening thank you for visiting etc. which was fine, right. We put the bag in the car and returned a minute later heading to the market the lady with long wavy white/grayish hair sternly told us that they were closed. I was surprised and said that I thought the closing time was 6 and there had been no notice as to the closing time being 5pm after making sure to assert she was right on the closing time with references ti the website and all she didn't seem to care I said I just wished to buy a jar of apple butter and that if we have known we would have done it before we stepped away to put our bag in the car. She just wouldn't let me go said come back tomorrow, so I explained that we drove two hours to visit and I would appreciate if she would let us run inside for 5 minutes and that i would truly be buying one thing and be out. As we were talking three people passed by without issues and as I pointed out she asked those and they said they were going back to get their kids! I bet they also went into the market and picked up more than their kids but hey they had an excuse right. Well this lady could not care less that we were being so sincere and trying to reason with her as she seem to have no understanding of customer appreciation. In the end we gave up but I told her that I would write about my experience and she said ' go ahead ' ! Well you know what? There are way too many other options out there once you drive two hour out of the city! Next time we will take our business elsewhere! After all we do not run out of the "unfriendly" city life to be facing unfriendly country with a "sick'ntired of you people just pay the prices what locals would never pay me and go home' attitude! The issue is not that we got angry for not getting the one thing we wanted but it was the way she dealt with us not with kidness or or even a speck of understanding that would have been enough to turn my disappointment into acceptance. I recommend that lady to go work as a prison guard not at a 'family friendly' farm! We will not return.
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Review from Carla P.
Winchester, VA
Great Market! if you go for the fresh fruits and veggies or one of the many specialty items they sell like salsa and spices you have to try the Apple Cider Donuts! You will not be disappointed. If you can't get there early when they are fresh, take a pack home and heat one up. the best ever! Homemade fudge too. Lots of fresh products in a really cool place. Big porch to sit and soak up the scenery or watch your kids play on the playground.
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Review from John M.
Stephens City, VA
2/2/2009
Great place to go and pick your own apples, pick up some fresh veggies, try some wine, grab a home baked pie, they have it all. We love to go on the weekends and see what's doing.
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Review from Ryan W.
10/12/2010
Marker-Miller was our second orchard of the day and was far superior to its neighbor, Hill High Farms, just down the road. I acknowledge this orchard has been yuppified to appeal more to city-folks, but that's ok by me. Little kids don't understand or appreciate the reality of an authentic orchard. They like playgrounds and cider donuts and big, juicy apples. And, heck, so do I. The cider donuts are ridiculous. They had a large selection of picked apples and most were big and beautiful. They also had a wide selection of baked goods and other local products, including a large selection of jams, ice cream, fudge, etc. They kind of had a limited selection of pumpkins, but we bought a few anyway. The staff was really friendly. Now, the place wasn't exactly cheap, but it was a nice experience I was willing to pay for. Carter's Mountain outside Charlottesville is still the gold-standard for this kind of Fall experience, but Marker-Miller is right up there...
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Review from Cindy Y.
Washington, DC
2/13/2009
This place has everything from $2 wine tastings to free salsa tastings. I, of course, gorged on the free chips and salsa. I couldn't help myself. The mango-peach salsa was addicting. It was a test of willpower, and I most utterly failed. On top of that, one of each type of apple is placed over on the side of a room, sliced, and set up to be samples. If they don't have the apple you want to try over there, just ask an employee there. They'll take one over there and cut it up for you to try in a jiffy. You may never get around to trying a sample of each, though because the selection is immense. What also has a large selection in the market is the wine tasting area. They have fruity wines from all sorts of fruits, full-bodied, medium-bodied, light-bodied, etc. I was already feeling tipsy after 1/2 my tasting. I eventually let someone else take the rest of the tasting shots for me. Also, if you're looking for some really good locally cured meats, you can find that here as well.
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Review from Marlisa E.
Winchester, VA
1/24/2010
This is my favorite farm market! The prices are great and the produce is wonderful! I almost paid twice as much for apples out of convenience at Virginia Farm Market, but the short, scenic drive to Marker Miller is worth it! The cozy, small-town feel of the store and the breath-taking view of the Blue Ridge mountains make this farm market a welcome stop, in all seasons. The front-porch rockers provided a perfect perch for reading a few chapters while my kids happily played on the ark! Aaah.
