Demarest Farm

well first of all i came late, i guess it is a good thing that i came late. i came here on november 1^st, but if i came here before that i wouldve been pissed off! the line looks ridic and there are no parking spots! anywho they charge you $ 5 per person to just go on the 5 mins hay ride… to the pumpkin patch. they squish you in a small hay ride with like 20 people… but honestly you can really just drive there yourself!!! anywho i am upset because there were no pumpkins left!

Good place for seasonal treats, pumpkin and apple picking. Go during the weekday to avoid the extreme weekend chaos during the pumpkin picking season. It’s extremely packed and parking is scarce if you don’t arrive during the early morning hours.

Went here with my roommates and our boyfriends. Such a fun place for a group date. The hay ride is $ 5 and picking a pumpkin at the patch is $ 14, but you can choose to just do the hay ride if you want. The food there is really cheap which is awesome when you’re used to going places that overcharge every time based on the season.

Around this time of year Demarest Farm turns into an absolute madhouse! And I love it.
I am a huge fan of everything they have to offer here farm fresh produce from apples, peaches (when in season) that are grown on the property, homemade apple cider donuts, apple cider, and how can I forget those crispy potato pancakes. They offer peach picking along with apple and pumpkin in the orchards located across the street and just a short hayride away. Everything here is reasonably priced though some may say its a little over priced but I feel you get what you pay for. They also have ice cream and a salad bar area and if I’m not mistaken a small deli area with prepared foods (salads/​sandwiches) that you can grab and go.
Came here yesterday for some fresh apples to make a pie or two and of course I had to grab a dozen of those cider donuts fresh out the fryer! My pies came out great and tasted amazing with the help of Demarest Farms golden delicious apples!
An absolute great place to come spend a Saturday or Sunday with the family! They have a cute little play area for the kids to blow off some steam and a few cutouts for the perfect face in hole photo ops. I love coming in here a few times a year to get my fix of apple goodies.

Do not come here.
This place is poorly managed.
It’s over crowded and there is not enough parking on site. After waiting on line for the mandatory hay ride, we found out there are no more apples to be picked, but they do not tell anyone still waiting on the half-​a-​mile slow moving line, under the scorching sun.
The workers are stressed by the overcrowding, as are the children and their poor parents.
If they respect our precious weekends, they should shut the place down.

I came on their last day of apple picking yesterday which means options were limited. I knew that, so I didn’t expect much, but I must knock a star off what would’ve been a 4 star rating for the rude attitude given to me by the girl up at the farm selling goodies and renting picks. She was some young girl, blonde hair that had an attitude when I asked for a napkin, and a bigger one when I asked her if the apple cider donuts up at the farm were brought up immediately from the their store before people hop on the hay ride.
Onto the apple picking itself, theres just no way I can give 5 stars for the farm itself with the limited amount of apples even though it was the last day. There were only a few types left to pick from with the Red Romes being the most accessible. My group and I spent more time looking and found some Mcintosh, Delicious Greens, and another big type I forgot. The rest were all gone, but the farm did have Fujis semi-​hidden in crates for people to fill up their bags.
Cider was good, donuts were amazing, pumpkin patch is always good for pictures. I even found my favorite Gouda cheese imported from Holland at their store! It was a good day, but I’m a big grudge holder and am not gonna give this place a 4 star fixin’ because of that attitude given for absolutely no reason.

Came here for Apple picking on Saturday. Very busy, a lot of people.
Bags are not too big but you can still fit a good amount of apples.
Overall nice experience, except for the parking, had to park very far.

Came here twice on a weekend and holy moly, this place gets packed!!! The line was so long, the first time we ended up just sitting outside near the store, getting a few cider donuts, and just hanging out. The second time we just turned around and left. Who wants to spend half the afternoon waiting in a line that long? Was very hopeful for a memorable time but never got to experience it. To be fair, the apples and cider donuts we bought were delicious!

I visited this place for the 1^st time last Sunday. I arrived at 10:30am and found parking in the adjacent lot — if you arrive around noon, expect a hike to the other parking lot. Potter-​a potties are available near the parking lot. There’s a market and a play area for kids at the entrance. Tons of benches as they sell food from a grill — hot dogs, burgers, sausages — for their patrons. There is also food inside the market. The play area is good for kids as there’s a small jungle gym, wooden tractor, and Halloween props — great for pictures.
Now to the apple and pumpkin picking… To get to the orchard, you have to take a hay ride to the location — less than a 5 min ride (and yes this is the only way to get there). The orchard is vast in size with a tiny animal farm. Kids can feed the animals at .50 a pop for animal food. The pumpkins are in the center of everything and range in size. There are rows and rows of apple trees. The Apple trees carry cortland, rome, red delicious, greening, mcintosh, and jonagold apples. If you are looking for honeycrisp apples, get there in early September as they are the first to go. The trees off the path don’t have as many apples as those towards the center to end of the rows. Some apples are at your fingertips while others require some climbing. They offer a pole for getting the apples for about $ 5 but I think climbing is much more fun. You can only collect apples in the bags provided to you. I went with kids who absolutely loved it as they were able to climb the trees and pick their own apples. It was such a great experience for them.
If you don’t carry cash, be sure to pay before you get on the hay ride otherwise you need cash to buy a bag for apples and ticket for a pumpkin on the farm. It’s moderately priced as entrance is $ 5 pp, $ 9 for bag for apples, $ 9 for any sized pumpkin on the farm. There are more apples and pumpkins available at the market for different prices. Great experience and will return next year.
Tips: arrive early, carry cash or pay before you jump on the tractor, bring hand sanitizer and water.

This was my 2^nd year pumpkin picking with my friends and it really is optimal for fall festivities. If I had little siblings or young children of my own, I would definitely come here for family fun. When I came last October, it was a beautiful fall Sunday and it was absolutely packed, from finding parking to waiting to purchase hay ride tickets to waiting for the hay ride, there were so many people but it was still enjoyable. The apple cider donuts are scrumptious along with their hot apple cider, and such a bargain too. Each donut was only $ 0.89! The hay rides are $ 5, and I think the pumpkins were $ 9. I’m not sure how much it costs for apple picking.
I went when it was the first cold weekend this season with passing drizzle, and there were barely any customers. Parking was a breeze. There were no lines to purchase hay ride tickets. It was easy to grab and purchase whatever you wanted at the farm stand. It’s like we had the whole place to ourselves and were able to accomplish a photoshoot, pick pumpkins, and play with the goats in 40 minutes. I would suggest coming here on a weekend with less than perfect weather to take full advantage of everything.

My favorite weekday getaway for lunch. Love the outdoor seating and great food from the market. If you want a great salad bar they have everything on it. Want something hot try a soup like their chicken noodle or «Boston Clam Chowder.» They have a daily selection of hot entrees that you can get weighed by the pound and eat it there or take it home. You name the sandwich and they will make it fresh for our if you’re in a rush they have pre-​made ones and salads that are just as tasty. But for the kid in me I love buying Halloween decorations, Candy and Caramel Apples, candy corn and homemade ice cream after I eat my lunch. It’s a fun place for Apple picking and pumpkin picking too!

Based off of other reviews I decided we should arrive early. First time apple picking with our toddler wanted to have a good experience.
Everyone was very friendly and polite, there wasn’t a crazy wait line (no line at all actually) to get on the hay ride that takes you to the orchards. It was perfect. We got to feed a few animals. Apples that were ripened and ready had a pink ribbon around them. After making our way through the orchard we headed back to the store for some apple cider donuts. So delicious! Also picked up some apple cider to take back home. shared & enjoyed a roast beef sandwich from the deli and their potato pancakes are so yummy!
Prices are fair. $ 5 per person for the hay ride that takes you to the orchard (children 2yrs & under are free. $ 9/​bag for apple picking. Overall it was a great experience. My daughter had a blast. Cannot wait to come back :)

Peach picking is a rip off
There was five of us at 5 $ admission each plus 9 $ for each bag you want to fill (for us it cost us 34 $) for a small bag of peaches. Walking around the peach trees it was disgusting. Tall grass tons of peach seeds on ground and many unripened peaches. Not to mention there was only five small rows of peach trees to pick from.

As the previous reviewers have mentioned, we also had an issue with Jason the owner. At the checkout, when the cashier gave my friend a peach picking bag, she said the bag was too small and the cashier handed her a plastic bag saying «I’m not supposed to give it to you, but shh! take it and go». Once we were done with the peach picking and were heading back, we were stopped by Jason for using the wrong bag, even though we showed him the receipt of bag purchase, he took all the peaches very rudely from us and said he didn’t give a sh*t about what the cashiers said. He clearly doesn’t have any manners or customer service skills. We just decided not to ruin our mood and left this place. Go to other farms, they give you bigger bags, they have better trees and much nicer people.

Took the 14 month old and the wifey to Demarest Farm for peach picking. Had a great time. Tips: you need to prepay before you head up to the tractor hay ride. The hay ride is the ONLY way to access the orchard for picking. So arrive early. The line /​wait for the hay ride is not shaded so bring sun protection. The farm store itself is a great place to get lunch. Self serve buffet style, lots of outdoor seating. Kid friendly. How to up the fun factor? Arrive. Early.
Extra: BBQ Thursday nights with live music.

Peach picking this year 2015 is a total ripoff!
In theory for fruits picking, you would expect to do better than shopping from grocery, fresher, bigger (since you get to pick your own) and most of all better value. Unfortunately this isn’t the case at Demarest Farm!
You spend $ 5 for the admission, $ 9 for a bag. The bag you get is no bigger than a 5lb potato bag! That’s right! You would probably fit just about 5lb of peaches in the tiny bag. So, for $ 14 bucks, you would get top 7lb of peaches, that is $ 2 per lb!!!
If you had gone peach picking last year 2014 at demarest farm, I guarantee you would be disappointed for what you get this year.

This review concerns our Pick Your Own peaches experience.
See Carol I’s 10÷6÷14 review for same picking quantity issue & small bag size. If you are picking for entertainment or novelty, with children for example, this will satisfy your needs.
Total Cost of picking: $ 14.00 pp ($ 5.00 ticket, + $ 9.00 per bag) Each bag weighed approx. 5.9 lbs. Average approx. cost $ 2.30 per lb. (see Aug. 9, 2015 photo)
This is the smallest bag I’ve ever been given to use at a Pick Your Own farm.
I’ve been coming to Demarest Farm to pick peaches since 1994, 20 years, and during that time they always used the same clear plastic bags with handles. Their previous larger bags could hold at least 3 – 4 times the amount of peaches that their new bag can hold.
When questioned about the change in bag size, we were told they changed bags, because the old ones were ripping. For 20 years, I pushed those «inferior» plastic bags to the limits of their capacity, and never once ripped thru. Further, and more importantly, upon purchase, counter help claimed the bags would expand to hold 10 lbs of peaches, also untrue, weight came in at: 5.9 lbs (see Aug. 9, 2015 photo).
This is the closest farm in the area for peach/​apple picking, so Bergen/​Rockland County residents are a captive audience. Again, if you are picking for entertainment or novelty, with children for example, this will satisfy your needs. However, should you wish to can, preserve or freeze, you’ll want much larger quantities, and should see links below for other farms in NJ or go to:
.
See this
article for peach picking alternatives should you need larger quantities:

Came here Sunday for a tree at around 1ish. Went inside first to get donuts, muffins (chocolate chip and low fat peach, both were phenomenal), and an apple pie (which we had later on and was delish), then to tree hunt. There was plenty of parking, everyone inside was very friendly and there were NO lines.
Still tons of trees left at great prices for the area. I got a 5′ tall tree for $ 50 (other trees were between $ 50 – 70 for ~5′-6′ though they did have really huge trees), and as soon as we had selected it, a worker came to see if we needed help. He took care of us instantly, sending us inside to pay while he cut the bottom and trimmed it before helping us tie down the tree to the roof of my car. We encountered NO problems with unfriendly service or ridiculous prices/​issues with parking.
It was a great experience all around.

Came for the wine tasting event.
They had some really fabulous local wines and some great live music.
Vendors were complaint about the lack of crowds and lack of advertising. Can’t say anyone that I knew in Hillsdale knew about this event.

Possibly my worst overall experience ever at an establishment. Was directed by parking attendant to park in a congested and heavily restricted residential area and received parking ticket (while the car behind me was allowed inside). I respectfully addressed this behavior with the manager «Jason» but he disregarded my concern since he was «tired of hearing this complaint all the time» and told me to «get out of here» rather than show sympathy. I didnt ask for compensation, an apology for the bad experience or acknowledgement that giving poor parking advice to paying guests is a problem that will be addressed would have been enough. Instead he resorted to being childish and rude. Good customer service is the most important part of any business, that is the #1 cardinal rule.
$ 5 for a mandatory hay ride and $ 9 for a small pouch to keep picked apples. $ 9 for pumpkins, $ 12 for a 12 ounce jar of honey, $ 8 for a chocolate candy apple, $ 4.50 for a pint of ice cream, and $ 8/​lb for the buffet food. The petting zoo consisted of 2 sheep, 2 goats, and a calf in a tiny pen of about 40 sq feet, both the pumpkin and corn field are tiny as well.
Expect VERY limited and troublesome parking, extremely SLOW LONG lines for that mandatory hay ride to AND from the orchard (which is walking distance but walking is prohibited by the farm). Apple picking is a fun activity ANYWHERE you go, however here with around a 1.5 — 2 hour of total wait time on lines, indifferent management with poor customer service skills, unattractive prices, and parking woes I must say to avoid this place, far too many negatives and too many better alternatives. Come here and you may never want to pick an apple again.
PS: I am confident we can all spot fake 5 star reviews when we see them.