Enjoy the fall bounties of the Hood River Fruit Loop, from fresh apples to pear pizza - Here is Oregon

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Pears grow on the branches of an orchard at The Gorge White House, a prominent stop on the Hood River Fruit Loop. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

If farm-fresh produce and mountain views are your idea of a good time, the Hood River Fruit Loop will be a veritable paradise.

The orchard, farmstand and winery tour is found just south of Hood River on the northeast side of Mount Hood. And with 27 advertised stops along 35 miles of highway and back roads, each offering different produce and attractions from the late spring through the early fall, there are a ton of ways to approach the Hood River Fruit Loop.

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You would, in fact, be excused if you thought that the Fruit Loop was simply too wieldy to approach, so bountiful as to be overwhelming. You would, however, also be missing out on one of the most joyous little road trips in Oregon.

This year, on the balmy first day of fall, we decided to make our very first Fruit Loop adventure, with three of us piled into the car leaving Portland: me, my partner Sadie Leigh, and Vickie Connor, videographer for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

We could have had a perfectly nice day exploring the Fruit Loop spontaneously, driving back roads and stopping off at whatever places struck our fancy, but instead we decided to use the official map and plan a few stops in advance. Our goal was to see as much variety as possible, and to find out what was available in the verdant Hood River Valley as summer turned to fall.

A basket quickly fills with U-pick strawberries at The Gorge White House, a farm, orchard and brewery on the Fruit Loop just outside Hood River. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

Hood River Lavender Farms offers U-pick lavender, allowing visitors to make small bundles that can be dried or used for other purposes. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

A flight of hard ciders shows off a wide array of flavors available at The Gorge White House, a prominent stop on the Hood River Fruit Loop. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

WHITE HOUSE, PURPLE FIELDS

Our first stop was one of the most prominent landmarks in the area: The Gorge White House. Here, owner Mary Beth Kennedy and her family grow apples, pears, peaches, cherries, nectarines and berries of all kinds on their 30-acre farm on the side of Oregon 35. There are U-pick flowers and hard cider, while a food cart serves up pear quesadillas, cherry bacon flatbreads and more.

This is the kind of place where we could imagine spending a full day picking fruit, eating lunch and soaking in the views of Mount Hood. After touring the farm, we came away with a small bag of strawberries and some samples of cider, but could have easily gone home with heaping buckets of apples and pears, or a full bouquet of fresh-picked flowers.

Just down the highway, we made our second stop at Hood River Lavender Farms. Late September is typically past the end of prime lavender season, so we weren’t expecting much from our visit – maybe some lavender oil or lemon-lavender cookies in the aromatic gift shop. Although the fields looked more gray than purple, farm manager Hannah Hart assured us that we weren’t too late.

Hart sent us into the fields with pairs of scissors, telling us we could harvest as much as could fit into a closed zip tie. Our initial skepticism about the lavender was put to rest once we reached the plants themselves, where we discovered a surprisingly large bounty of second-bloom flowers: waves of purple emerging from the gray. We bounced with the bees from bush to bush, gathering enough for a medium-sized bundle to take home, happy that the car would now be filled with the wonderful smell.

A bucket of freshly-picked honeycrisp apples at Draper Girls County Farm in Hood River, a prominent stop along the Fruit Loop. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

A pear pizza is served up at Mt View Orchards, a farm outside of Hood River that also runs Mountain View Brewing and Grateful Vineyard, where visitors can stop for a drink and a bite to eat. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

A field of dahlias are offered for U-pick at Mt View Orchards outside of Hood River. (Jamie Hale/Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

APPLES AND PEARS

Back on Oregon 35, we decided to make a quick stop at one of the many highway farmstands along the Fruit Loop: Packer Orchards & Bakery, where visitors can pop off the road for a baked good, jar of pickles, fresh fruit or a milkshake. Inside, we followed our noses toward the bakery in the back, where each of us was handed a slice of soft, fresh-baked jalapeno and cheddar bread. The sample convinced Sadie and me to buy a loaf of rosemary garlic bread, while Vickie salivated over the assortment of fresh-fruit empanadas.

Our car was quickly filling up with goodies, though we hadn’t even made it to the most anticipated stop of the day: Draper Girls’ Country Farm. One of the best-known stops on the Fruit Loop, Draper Girls’ is known for its U-pick orchards as well as its friendly flock of goats, farm store and stunning view of Mount Hood. Farm director Theresa Draper, who runs the place with her three daughters, showed us around the orchards and demonstrated her way to pick an apple (twist, press the stem and pull).

Honeycrisp apples were fresh and bountiful on the first day of fall, though Draper said the trees were not as full as usual, thanks to late-season rain and snow that interrupted the pollination process. Wandering from tree to tree, we filled a small metal bucket with the sweet apples, which the farm says will stay fresh in a refrigerator for up to two full months. Draper wouldn’t let us leave without trying some of their hard apple cider, and we couldn’t leave without saying hello to all the goats and taking a quick ride on the farm’s beloved tree swing.

Between fruit picking, goat feeding, lavender harvesting and bakery browsing, we realized we had neglected to actually eat a square meal. Already into the middle of the afternoon, we made tracks to reach our final stop of the day, Mt View Orchards. Found near the southern end of the Fruit Loop, Mt View is home to u-pick orchards as well as a full winery and brewery, inviting visitors to stop and spend a full day on the farm.

Inside the Mt View Orchards dining room, where tall windows gave beautiful views of Mount Hood, we ordered a round of house-made sodas and a delicious wood-fired pizza topped with pears and blue cheese. After eating, we wandered through the apple and pear orchards to pay a visit to Carlos the Steer, a beloved mascot for the farm, who was too busy eating to pay us any mind.

We headed back to the car ready to make our way home, but looking at our many goodies from the day, all piled into the back seat of the car, it still felt like something was missing. A small farm stand at Mt View Orchards knew just how to help. There, a worker sold us a handful of fresh pears and tempted us with a late-season sale: 15 U-pick dahlias for $10.

Sadie wandered into the field of flowers and thoughtfully picked out three bouquets – one for each of our homes. Between the flowers, the fruit and baked goods we acquired, we were ensured a beautiful and tasty transition from summer to fall. All of it is thanks to the fertile Hood River Valley and the bounty of the Fruit Loop.

— Jamie Hale

503-294-4077; jhale@oregonian.com; @HaleJamesB

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