Wolfe Ranch

BEST FRUIT in California. Period. Owned by the Wolfe family who sell their Fruitland tomatoes right in the Orchard.
Take the family. A great day picking fruit (or order ahead and take home a lug or two pre-​packaged.
GO.

We stop by every year for peaches. They are delicious!
Oh, did someone not kiss your ass when you came here? Boohoo…

First time visiting this ranch as part of a multi-​stop fruit picking trip. I called up their number earlier and it said there will be white peaches at the 600 Eureka location so here I am.
Directions: relatively easily to find, 600 Eureka road is where they have the white peaches (the helpers told me the 2111 Concord ave location won’t open until next week, I think that one has cherries and Loquats)
Parking: we got there around 1:15 pm on a non-​holiday Saturday, only saw about 10 cars there on the small dirt lot along the side of the road. I imagine it will be a struggle to find a spot on a holiday weekend.
Fruits: white peaches only at 600 Eureka Road, the crop was reasonable, at least half of the peaches are within reach for a 5’5″ (165 cm) person (hmmm. wonder what dat is?). Most of them are still hard and crisp but still very sweet, my favorites are the ones that are riped, juicy and somewhat mushy when you touch, these were far and few in between, but when you are lucky enough to feel one, vow was that worth the drive…
Crop: this weekend they only allowed pickers to ravage the 2 rows in the middle, but since we weren’t told about until afterwards, we wondered off to the other areas, where we noticed the trees bear more peaches, and most of them looked peachy (AKA riped). I think they are trying to preserve most of their crop for the Memorial day mob.
Facility: I didn’t see any ladder, I brought a pruner with me, it came in handy in places where I couldn’t reach. There are a few portables near the entrance, I wasn’t paying attention to see if there are water stations.
Price: $ 2 /​lb, but if you fill the bucket up to the first line it will be cheaper — I forgot if it was $ 1.25 or $ 1.75. We had ourselves around 25 – 30 peaches and it came out to 8 lbs, $ 16. Ain’t bad
Attendants: they seemed fairy friendly.
I was happy with my experience and wouldn’t mind come back again in the future.

Very friendly people. You cant beat the price for the size and taste. We foundbthem by accident while searching for a different place but we will definitely be coming back next year!

Came here with parents and husband on a mission – pick a ton of peaches and distribute to family and friends. I think they had opened the white peach orchard just the weekend before so we had quite the selection to choose from. We ended up with 79lbs of peaches (yes, 79lbs) and paid just under $ 100 ($ 1.25/lb). 79lbs only took us half an hour; we’ll be coming back with our friends this weekend! Hopefully they’re not out…

We came yesterday to pick peaches, and weren’t sure what to expect because my friend had come to Brentwood (to another farm) the day before and said that the season was over and there were no more peaches left. :(
Having driven all the way from SF, we were filled with glee as we drove into the orchard and saw that the trees were abundant with large white and yellow peaches! We checked in, and were ecstatic to hear their prices! $ 1.25/lb for white peaches if you can gather 17 lbs, and $ 2/​lb if it’s less than that. Yellow peaches were even cheaper. I had it in my head that we’d be paying primarily for the experience… was thinking maybe $ 5-​$ 7/​lb. $ 2 sounded amazing!
Armed with our buckets, we started on our adventure. I was thankful that fruit was plentiful on the low branches, because at 5 months pregnant, my hubby and friends would not let me climb any ladders.
Between our group of 4, we collected 23 lbs of white peaches, and they were all SO INCREDIBLY SWEET. And juicy.
Despite the 90-​degree heat (we went right after lunch), it was an incredibly enjoyable day. There were plenty of patrons, but for the most part we felt like we had the orchard to ourselves because it was so expansive.
The only thing I didn’t like was that they weighed our peaches in the buckets without taring (empty scale was set at 0), so it seems we paid $ 1.25/lb for the weight of two buckets. Probably 1−2lbs each? No biggy, as I was expecting to pay much more anyway.
Otherwise, our experience was good. The fruit was sweet, the grounds were well maintained, and the people were so nice. Would definitely come back again. Maybe earlier next year for cherries! :)

We really enjoyed our visit to Wolfe Ranch today. Really nice people and great peaches.

BYOF: BRING YOUR OWN FLATS
We’ve been coming out here for over a decade and the Wolfe Ranch is consistent. The owners are very friendly and the pricing is fair. Being a small surviving farm in Brentwood is good since the housing boom that went bust about a decade ago saved all these small farms.
Went during apricot and peach season and the fruit is perfect. We plucked our own peaches and ended up with about 80 pounds of fruit. We took the fruit from the tree and placed these in our own fruit flats from Costco (they weigh them first to subtract the weight when you’re ready to pay). This prevents the peaches from getting smashed and from being over handled during the plucking, packaging and transporting (to home) process.
The pit toilets are always a reminder that you are on a farm. Enjoy!

If you love peaches, this place is PEACH HEAVEN! I’ve been thinking about going fruit-​picking for a while. I found the ranch on Google and signed up for their e-​mail list. When I received an e-​mail notifying me that peaches are in season, I knew this was my chance to go!
My siblings and I arrived at 8 AM. Usually the farm opens at 9AM, but I received an e-​mail saying that the farm was going to open an hour earlier to accommodate for the heat wave. The farm was pretty easy to find. You literally drive into the orchard, in between fruit trees, and you’re parking your car right next to the rows and rows of trees. So cool! As soon as you step out of your car, you are surrounded with peach trees everywhere! It was awesome!
The ranch equips you with little wagons, buckets, step stools, and ladders to complete your fruit-​picking experience. The trees are about 7 feet tall, so tall enough to provide some shade, but short enough that you can reach most of the fruits without a ladder. We walked around and picked random fruits from random trees. We filled a bucket of yellow and a bucket of white in no time. Our peach haul consisted of 22 pounds of white peaches (~ 55 peaches) and 21.5 pounds of yellow peaches (~ 45 peaches) for $ 45 total. All the peaches were so delicious — super fresh, seriously some of the best peaches I’ve ever tasted! Love how the fruits are organic too, no pesticides added!
How to plan your trip:
+ Yes, definitely recommend signing up for the e-​mail. It seemed like only a handful of people knew that the farm opened an hour earlier. When we left at 9AM, there was a large crowd of people ready to pick fruits.
+ Check online before you go to see if the fruits are in season. The e-​mail list also tells you this information.
+ Bring lots of water, sunglasses, hats, sunblock! You can also use the water to rinse the peaches, so you can sample them in the field.
+ Bring lots of cash!
+ Arrive early to avoid the sun
Thank you Wolfe Ranch for a wonderful experience!
I will definitely come back next season!

We will never go back to Wolfe’s. Cherry-​picking in Brentwood has become a fun family tradition for us. We’ve tried several orchards. We don’t do it because it inexpensive. If you count gas and effort, it’s pretty expensive, really — so it had better be fun.
A few years ago we tried Wolfe’s and were put off by the cranky staff. We thought we’d give them another chance this year, but regret doing so. We ran into a particularly rude and awful staff member this year. She apparently found our daughter sitting on the wrong rung of a ladder and said some very inappropriate and awful things to her. Then she came over and chewed us out too. While I understand the concern for safety, at least one courteous request to obey a safety rule is always in order before you start threatening a kid with «kicking her whole family out», making her cry and ruining her whole day, and the family’s whole day.
So, never again.

This is what an orchard should be! Tons of trees that are tall and actually provide shade to enjoy your fruit picking. I only picked white peaches here, but these peaches are gorgeous. Trees upon trees of big, tender (or crunchy if you like those too), juicy white peaches.
There are ladders scattered everywhere for your picking convenience. The orchard is a little out of the way from the main grove attractions, but these are the best. I personally think the more inward these orchards are, the better protected they are (and fewer people taking all the good peaches!). It’s also a drive-​in parking orchard which actually makes the whole experience so much better. In drives the car to park and you are literally driving with peach trees on both sides of your car. Then, as soon as you walk into the orchard to do your picking, you are surrounding by the delicious aroma of fresh peaches. It smells so good in here!
They sell the white peaches at $ 2/​lb for partial bucket or $ 1.25/lb for a full bucket. If you love peaches and plan on picking at least a bucket of peaches, this is the place you want to go. I am definitely a returning peach picker at Wolfe Ranch!

Nice fruit but they need to understand how their attitude impacts customers’ desire to return. First, you must sign a full-​blown waiver (i.e. with name, signature, address) just to pick one piece.
We had a great time picking with our kids, and asked — after paying $ 2.50/lb — if we could wash a few of our bushel, to eat them right away. The male cashier nicely and casually pointed us to a huge thermos of water. We carefully *dripped* water over just 5 of our selection of peaches, and a middle-​aged woman barged over to us and blurted «GUYS, umm, that’s our water, could you please not make a mess???» We stated «we’re done!» (and we are) and left.
The owners and managers need to consider how their stringent policies and condescending attitude affect customer return rate. I’d read Unilocal reviews before going but hadn’t realized how one rude person can squelch your happy picking visit. Boo on her!

I never been fruit picking so I decided to do it. And I must say … it’s pretty boring. We came here last week which was near the end of the season so almost all the other places had bare trees. This was one of the only places with fruit left. We picked yellow peaches and plums from here which were both decent. The price for the fruit was not bad.

Ah, Woke up around 8:30am on a SUNDAY morning to pick cherries!!! From SJ to Brentwood, it was about 1.5 hr drive. You see these cool wind powered generators on the way there!
Originally, we were going to a cherry ranch on Walnut (main road), but they were selling $ 2.50/lb. Are you serious? The grocery stores are selling them for $ 2/​lb. I pick them myself and I have to pay more?
So we decided to detour from the place, and came here!
Cherries were crunchy, sweet, and delicious. Cherries are one of my favorite fruits, along with many other. The weather was perfect. Not too many people, and ladders were scattered along the field so you can conveniently walk down a few trees and pick up a ladder and bring it to your tree.
Tip: Bring a few bottles of water (one for washing cherries, others for drinking) and many pieces of napkin. Before you taste the cherry, wet the napkin, and clean the dirt and dust off the cherries. This way, you can wet the napkin and taste-​test the cherries before you pick them, knowing you won’t get sick (hopefully!)
Among us, we purchased a measly of 9lb (NOT ENOUGH)! Although we were eating a lot of cherries as we were picking them, In retrospect, would definitely recommend about 10lbs per person if you have family/​friends you need to disperse too!
Keep the cherries in the fridge, and only wash the ones you want to eat. This keeps the freshness longer. After three days, the cherries are still crunchy=D
Next, white peach picking!

We found the signs along the road for cherry picking. it was a little bit off the road as compared to some of the other farms along the road. Parking was easy and there were SO many cherries to pick so it was a lot of fun.
It was hard to find ladders to get to the really high, juicy cherries though!
Some groups of people were sitting under the trees in groups on this particularly hot day… and I thought how great it would have been to have benches or a little kiosk for cold drinks and ice cream in the shade. any chance in the future???
Most importantly, cherries are delicious and perfect for $ 2/​pound! (Just remember to bring cash – no cards accepted!)

Went to Brentwood over the summer for cherry picking. We left early morning for the long drive for juicy cherries. It was the first time I had ever gone cherry picking, and what an experience it was. We went cherry picking at Peaser Ranch. There were so many cherry trees of both Bing and Rainier Cherry types. As we walked along the aisles, we kept picking cherries off the trees and sampling them, looking for the perfect tree to fill up on. With the sun beating down on us, we got down to business and started filling in our buckets. In the end, I picked about 5.5 lbs of cherries! Afterwards, we went next door to McKinley Ranch to pick white peaches and white nectarines!!! They were totally sweet! After 10 lbs of peaches and nectarines, it was time to go home! Sunday, we were farmers; tomorrow, back to reality as a cubicle worm!

Hello,
I’ve been going to the Wolfe Ranch for about 10 years now. I live in Concord & I get their email so I know what is ready for picking each. week.
We’ve picked fruit 3 or 4 times since this season opened on Memorial Day.
This is pretty much the only u-​pick farm that I deal with. I love the family feel.
I never feel like I’m getting jipped.
We did go out & try to pick cherries on Memorial weekend & it was PACKED!!!
To me, if your business is PACKED like the Wolfe ranch was~~that means the business is a good business to deal with.
I’ve learned, if you;re going to go, go early & not on opening day :).
ALso, bring water & paper towels. The fruit can be deliciously juicy!!!
We usually buy around 40 lbs of peaches. This last weekend, we picked WHITE peaches & they were THE BEST EVER!!!
I pick fruit often, but I don’t know why, these white peaches were out of this world with & juiciness!!!
I feel like the prices are totally fair & they have not raised the prices in quite a few years.
I want to go back out this weekend for more peaches.
My hubby is mexican & he’ll just eat fruit the whole time we’re picking, so I always tell the cashier when they are charging us, please add 2 lbs, we ate a BUNCH. Sometimes they do not add on the few lbs, sometimes they do. I think they are entitled for payment,
Now this last time I went picking, the last weekend in June, I could not believe what I seen.
This family was in the back corner of the field, with a blanket laid out, the whole family was picnicking on the blanket in the back of the orchard & eating peaches that they were picking off the trees~~& they were eating a lot of fruit~straight from tree~~to mouth. Obviously, they were not paying for that fruit.
I hate it when I go to pick, I see people letting their kids pick HELLA fruit & then they ditch the buckets in the field & do not pay for it.
They usually have other fruit for sell. One time, I bought a HUGE basket of ugly heirloom tomatoes for a CHEAP price~all because they were ugly~they were so delicious. I made a HUGE pot of spaghetti sauce
Again, I personnaly recommend the Wolfe Ranch for all the u-​pickers out there.
If you’re seriously picking, you should sign up for their email.
Have fun picking!!!
Support your local farmers!!!

If you go to Pease Ranch or Wolfe Ranch before June 19, 2009 you may still be able to get cherries — but call ahead!!!
We went to Wolfe Ranch last Sunday and bought picked Perfection and Royal Blenheim apricots after being offered (and consuming) samples of both. I have happily picked peaches and other fruit in Wolfe Ranch orchards in years past. (We stopped here after picking our fill of cherries at Pease Ranch, and cherries was the only u-​pick fruit available at Wolfe Ranch last weekend.)
With regards to the other reviewers’ comments about sampling and rounding up, I’m sorry that you had less than pleasant experiences — but I am guessing where some of the attitude came from. For example, as I was waiting to have my pickings weighed in at one of the other farms, a woman came up to me and asked «Do you have to buy everything that you picked?». Ummm, yah. You expected what? And then there are the branches broken off and discarded, and the occasional pile of cherries lying on the ground — perhaps by an over-​zealous having second thoughts, or by a fickle picker who found a variety more to their liking. I have never been given flack about sampling — but I am obviously a serious picker, not a serious picnic’er. That does not excuse poor customer service, but having spoken with some of these farmers, and having sadly observed the encroachment of mini-​malls and housing developments on the farms over the past few decades, I know that the farmers struggle to keep their farms viable, and to find younger generations interested in farming. (With the new Highway 4 Bypass bisecting their orchard, DC’s Extraordinary Cherries almost closed this last year; instead they sold the far side of the orchard to the adjacent farm, Lopez Ranch.) I am happy to pay a little extra to keep the farms going — and as fair payment for the fruit that gets routed directly into my mouth instead of into the picking bucket.
Please see my review of DC’s Extraordinary Cherries for tips on a successful u-​pick excursion.

These people totally spoiled my day. I will never go back.
I have never been cherry picking in the US; so when I arrived at their Concord Ave farm today, I asked them if I could eat their cherries while in their orchard. That was a perfectly innocent and reasonable question, but the lady’s response – positively dripping with disdain – was something like: «No. What do you think? Is this a park? Is this a market?» I didn’t translate this to my wife, whose English is not good, but she asked me afterwards why that lady’s attitude was so bad. So it wasn’t just my imagination.
I was in such a fine mood before arriving there. Before moving back to the Bay Area earlier this year, my wife and I had lived in China for a number of years, where we went cherry picking every year in her hometown. We always enjoyed it there. So it was with high spirits that we went on our first US cherry picking expedition – and we were really unprepared to meet such a crappy reception.
We should have turned and left, but I gave them a chance. We picked our cherries and on leaving, our cherries weighed in at 3.75 lbs. But the guy rounded it up to 4 lbs without so much as an explanation. That really did it for me. I notice another poster (Christina C.) here who had the same thing done to her, so this is not isolated behaviour, but a systematic policy of greed.
We also noticed that the lady who gave us the cold reception was really friendly to this other non-​minority family ahead of us. She might be racist.
Overall, this business is ethically questionable. Do NOT go there.

Note: located at 164 Payne Ave. The Unilocal team has been notified!
I’ve always wanted to go fruit picking (even though I do have a peach tree in my backyard and could easily pick peaches for free… but that’s a different matter) and decided this was the summer to do it!
We heard of this place from a friend who had come here before. The drive from the Peninsula takes about 1.5 hrs. Once you’re in the area, you turn on a side street and the place is on the left. At first it just looks like a stand but then you’ll see rows and rows or peach trees.
Our group arrived around 10 AM (hours: daily, 9 AM — 3:45 PM) and were informed the pricing, location of white peaches, yellow peaches, yellow cling peaches and plums. They also had already picked peaches (white and yellow), Hierloom tomatoes, plums and potatoes that you could purchase.
Once in the orchards, we spread out and did our picking. They provide you with buckets to carry your picked fruit in and even wheelbarrows when the bucket gets too heavy with fruit (but the lady recommended to carry the buckets since the fruit will bruise easily in the wheelbarrow). The rules (check out the picture) say that you can’t eat the fruit, but that doesn’t mean everyone follows, especially with peach seeds and half eaten peaches on the floor and seeing other pickers noshing on their freshly picked peach. When you’re done picking, you give it to one of the employees and they’ll weigh it and you pay and then you’re off to enjoy your peaches!
Here’s the pricing:
U-​Pick Prices:
White Peaches, full bucket (18−20lbs) — $ 1.00/lb
Less than a bucket — $ 2.00/lb
Yellow (Suncrest) Peaches
U-​Pick $ 0.70./lb
Picked $ 18.00/box
If you decide to go, here are some tips:
1) Go early, it gets crowded and HOT in the afternoon.
2) Bring jugs of water (highly recommended) to wash the fruit you want to taste off the tree.
3) Wear sunscreen or a hat.
4) Eat a big or filling breakfast or bring starchy/​salty snacks. Don’t go eating a bunch of peaches on an empty stomach! One guy in our group ate 5 peaches there and of course, suffered the rest of the day (there is a port-​o-​potty on site).
5) Decide how much you want and can finish. It’s very easy to go picking crazy and before you know it, you’re left with x amount of lbs of peaches!
6) Pick some fruit very ripe and some less ripe to spread out the ripening window.
7) You can bring garden shears (there are ladders on site) and snip off the stems in tact with the fruit so that the stem does not puncture the ripe peaches you’ve already picked. You can also just twist the peaches off the branches.
8) Don’t fill up the buckets all the way because the weight of the peaches can crush the softer, more ripe peaches. Also, bring the top to a box to transport the peaches back home. When you pile them in a bag, you’re prone to crushing the softer peaches.
You will not be disappointed with the white peaches from here. They are sweet and over the next couple of days, will just get even sweeter. It’s pure, all natural, sugar! So YUM! Happy picking!