What types of apples are grown in Lancaster County?

In Lancaster County, the apple harvest starts in July and continues well into November.

While the fruit basket of Pennsylvania is still Adams County, Lancaster County still has about 1,000 acres of orchards, according to the latest Ag Census.

At these orchards, you'll find Gala, Red Delicious, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Granny Smith, the top five varieties in the country. Plus, you'll find dozens more.

Some varieties have been cultivated here for decades, like the Smokehouse apple, discovered in Lancaster County in the 1830s (next to a...you guessed it, smokehouse).

Others, like the Snow Sweet is sweet and buttery tasting and slow to oxidize or brown when cut. Last year, Brecknock Orchard sold-out of this variety and one customer cried, says Andrea Martin, co-owner.

And the Gold Rush apple is a late-season variety, ripening in late October into November that's a good apple to store with a great flavor.

"It is a very tart apple, but sweet," says Clair Kauffman, orchard manager at Kauffman's Fruit Farm. 

Here are more than 50 apple varieties grown throughout Lancaster County, with the approximate beginning of the harvest. (The apples in this list are grown at Brecknock Orchard, Cherry Hill Orchards Outlet, Kauffman’s Fruit Farm and Masonic Village Farm Market. For additional options, scroll to the bottom of this article.)

July

• Lodi
• Yellow Transparent
• Pristine

August

• Ginger Gold
• Summer Mac
• Zestar!
• Dandee Red
• Summer Rambo
• Gala
• Blondee
• Jonamac
• Honeycrisp
• EarliGold
• Early Mac
• Paula Red

September

• Macintosh
• Daybreak Fuji
• Cortland
• Crimson Crisp
• Macoun
• Jonathan
• Red Delicious
• Rose Gold
• Smokehouse
• Grimes Golden
• Winter Banana
• Empire
• Golden Delicious
• Jonagold
• Snow Sweet
• Fortune

October

• Ida Red
• Gala (Autumn)
• Northern Spy
• Shizuku
• Stayman
• Stayman-Winesap
• Cameo
• Nittany
• Winecrisp
• Mutsu
• Matsu Crispin
• Sun Crisp
• York
• Red Rome
• Fuji
• Winesap
• Enterprise
• Braeburn
• Goldrush
• Granny Smith
• Pink Lady

November

• Arkansas Black 

Additionally, these varieties of apples can be found at Weaver’s Orchard in nearby Morgantown:

• Sansa
• Golden Supreme
• Blushing Gold
• Early Fuji
• Autumn Crisp
• Shizuka

And Hopewell Furnace in Elverson has a lot of heritage varieties, including:

• Ashmed’s Kernal
• Baldwin
• Campfield
• Delicious
• Dutchess
• Early Harvest
• Gravenstein
• Golden Russet
• Jefferis
• Kerry Irish Pippin
• Mother
• Newtown Pippin
• Rome Beauty
• Rhode Island Greening
• Rome
• Roxbury Russet
• Spitzenburg
• Starr
• Thompkins King
• Turley Winesap
• Wealthy
• Yellow Bellflower