Washington and Oregon’s peach season is just peaking — Brentwood, California’s is already over for the year
Brentwood, California built its reputation as the West Coast’s U-Pick Capital on peaches — more orchards open their rows to the public there than almost anywhere else. Right now, in the second week of August, several of its best-known farms have already picked their trees clean and shut the gate for the year.
Two states north, the season’s just hitting its stride. Peaches ripen from south to north as the weeks go by, which is exactly why Brentwood’s harvest front-loads into summer while Washington’s Yakima Valley and Oregon’s Hood River Valley both still have fruit on the branch through September.
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Yakima Valley, Washington
Thompson’s Farm sits about 12 miles west of Yakima in Naches, and starts picking Delp Hale peaches in mid-August before working through Suncrest and white peach varieties, then finishing with Elberta and O’Henry in September. Weekend visitors get a wagon ride out to the trees — yes, it’s exactly as charming as it sounds.
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A few miles away, McIlrath Family Farms in Yakima usually has peaches, pluots, plums, and nectarines ready by late July into early August, right alongside the tail end of cherry season. Both farms sit in the greater Yakima Valley, an easy pairing with a stop in one of the small towns nearby, and a solid excuse to book a room out here for the weekend.
Hood River Fruit Loop, Oregon
Packer Orchards runs u-pick peaches all August, and the payoff isn’t just the fruit — their farm bakery turns the same peaches into jam, pie, and ice cream the same day you pick them. Draper Girls Country Farm opens its peach, pear, and apple rows August 10 through the end of the month, plus dahlia and sunflower fields if you’d rather come home with a bouquet.
Kiyokawa Family Orchards throws its Stone Fruit Celebration August 22–23, with peaches, plums, pluots, and pluerries ripe for picking and a hay wagon ride through the orchard. All three sit along the Hood River Fruit Loop, where orchard rows run under Mount Hood’s snowy shoulder the entire drive — the easier of the two states to plan, since you can hit three farms without much driving in between, and it’s worth booking a room nearby if you want to spread it over two days.
What happened to Brentwood?
Brentwood’s u-pick season usually runs from May into late August, but Mike’s U-Pick and Airaya U-Pick Farm — two of the town’s best-known orchards — have both already closed their gates for 2026, sold out weeks ahead of schedule. Where else does an entire county run out of a fruit before Labor Day?
If peach picking is the actual point of the trip, Washington and Oregon are the better bet for the rest of the month. Call ahead before you drive out, though — a good weekend can pick a row clean by noon.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get between orchards, or trade the sedan for a camper van and turn the whole loop into a proper road trip.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
