This year Chiles Peach Orchard requires a $10 Apple Orchard Pass for anyone 12 and older who wants to pick apples on four October weekends. The orchard says it uses the reservation system to control crowd size during its peak fall weekends. Put the rest of Crozet's October calendar next to those dates and you'll see that most of the month's big events fall on the same Saturdays and Sundays.
So the Crozet calendar has a clear pattern this fall. Four weekends carry most of the load. The weekdays around them, plus the stretch after October 25, are the easiest times to go.
The four weekends Chiles meters
The ticketed dates are October 3–4, 10–11, 17–18 and 24–25, with pass hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Children under 12 don't need a pass but must come with a responsible adult. The pass only gets you into the orchard. You pay for your pick-your-own containers on site.
The orchard is also direct about the other option:
"Apple Orchard Passes are not required on any other days this fall. We are open 7 days per week and encourage you to visit on a non-ticketed day!"
If you live ten minutes from 1351 Greenwood Road, that's an easy invitation to take. On most fall weekdays the pumpkin patch is free and open to the public, and you prepay for pumpkins when you arrive. Chiles notes that picking conditions can change with weather and visitor traffic, so check its current availability before you head out.
What else is scheduled on those weekends
The overlap is easiest to see in a table. Each row is a pass weekend at Chiles, with the other dated events in and around Crozet on the same days.
| Pass weekend | At Chiles | Elsewhere around Crozet |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 3–4 | Apple passes; Patch of Fun | Starr Hill live music with Kurt Crandall, Sat. 5–7 p.m.; "Long Live the Jam!" Sun. 2–5 p.m. |
| Oct. 10–11 | Apple passes; Patch of Fun, which also runs Mon.–Tues. Oct. 12–13 | Fall Crozet Arts & Crafts Festival at Claudius Crozet Park, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. both days |
| Oct. 17–18 | Apple passes; Patch of Fun | King Family Vineyards Harvest Party, Sat. 6–9 p.m. |
| Oct. 24–25 | Apple passes; Patch of Fun | Crozet Trails Crew race, Crozet Book Fest, Bar Botanical Halloween Drag Bingo |
The pattern builds as the month goes on. The first weekend is mostly the orchard plus two Starr Hill shows at 5391 Three Notch'd Road. The second weekend adds the arts festival, which expects more than 130 artists and exhibitors at Claudius Crozet Park. The third brings an evening event at King Family Vineyards, 6550 Roseland Farm, which bills its Harvest Party as a behind-the-scenes look at harvest with tastings, food and music. Because the Harvest Party starts at 6 p.m., an orchard morning and a winery evening fit on the same Saturday without overlapping.
The arts festival weekend has one extra feature. Patch of Fun, the Chiles pumpkin picking and outdoor play area, also runs Monday and Tuesday, October 12–13. That gives households who spend Saturday at Crozet Park two weekday chances at the pumpkin patch without needing an apple pass.
October 24 is the busiest day of the month
The last pass weekend is when downtown gets as busy as the orchard. In date order, the Saturday looks like this:
- 9 a.m. The Crozet Book Fest opens with a panel at Bar Botanical. The festival spreads across Bluebird & Co. Annex, Mudhouse Crozet, Bar Botanical, Crozet Pizza and Crozet Library.
- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Crozet Trails Crew Community 5K/10K/Family Fun Run takes over Claudius Crozet Park at 5665 Park Road. The 10K starts at 9:45 and the 5K and family run at 10, followed by pancakes, coffee, beer, cider and music.
- 9:30 a.m. to noon Crozet Library at 2020 Library Avenue hosts a children's Book Fest mini-festival with storytime and an author panel.
- 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Apple passes are required at Chiles.
- 1 to 4 p.m. The Book Fest author marketplace fills Crozet Library.
- Evening Bar Botanical, 2025 Library Avenue, hosts Halloween Drag Bingo. The ticket listing gives Saturday, October 24, with doors at 8 p.m. and the show at 8:30. The venue's own events page shows a different date, so check your ticket before you go.
The Book Fest has two ticketed events. All other panels are free, and seating is first come, first served based on venue capacity. RSVPs aren't required, but Bluebird encourages them so it can gauge how many books to order. With the race, the library program and the Book Fest panels all running the same morning, arriving early at the free panels is the surest way to get a seat.
The weekday October
The calendar between the pass weekends is lighter but has plenty on it, and most of it is at the library on Library Avenue.
- Thursday, Oct. 1, 3–4 p.m. Family Art Drop-in: Watercolor Leaves at Crozet Library. All ages, no registration.
- Tuesday, Oct. 6, 7–9 p.m. Trivia Night at Starr Hill.
- Mon.–Tues., Oct. 12–13 Patch of Fun open at Chiles.
- Thursday, Oct. 15, noon–2:30 p.m. "Autumn in Your Nature Journal" at Crozet Library. Registration required.
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6 p.m. "U ASK, UVA ANSWERS: The Future of Food," with Bryan Berger on how biotechnology is shaping what we eat. Free and open to all.
- Monday, Oct. 26, 6–7 p.m. PEEPS Haunted Houses for Tweens at Crozet Library.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6–7:30 p.m. Pumpkin Painting for teens at Crozet Library.
Add the orchard itself, which is open every day and needs no pass on any of these dates, and a weekday afternoon covers most of what the busy weekends offer with fewer people.
After the passes end
Passes stop after October 25, and the month's Halloween events come after that. Bent Theatre brings a Halloween-eve improv show to Fallen Tree Vineyard, 4593 Clark Road, on Friday, October 30, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. On Saturday, October 31, Chiles holds Pumpkinfest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Starr Hill runs Captain Marrrrta's Halloween Extravaganza from noon to 11 p.m., with Halloween Karaoke Night from 7 to 11.
The final Patch of Fun run goes from Saturday, October 31 through Tuesday, November 3. Pumpkinfest weekend offers the same pumpkin patch and play area as the ticketed weekends, and apple picking doesn't require a pass.
November is already on the calendar
Chiles has two dates set for mid-November. Enchanted Orchard Days run November 14–15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the November Winter Market is Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Tree Farm Crozet, on Patterson Mill Lane just off I-64 Exit 107, is taking Christmas tree preorders now. Customers choose their actual tree during Thanksgiving week.
That trip takes you to a corner that is changing. VDOT is building a park-and-ride lot where Patterson Mill Lane meets Route 250, just south of the Exit 107 interchange. The lot will have two dozen parking spaces, a bus pull-through, bike racks and a passenger shelter, plus a longer westbound left-turn lane on Route 250 at Patterson Mill Lane. VDOT estimates completion in late 2026, so expect work at that intersection through the fall.
Autumn is also the season we photograph our Crozet listings. Our in-house drone work tends to catch the orchard rows and the ridgeline at their best in October's low light. If you're thinking about selling next spring and want to know where your home stands before the leaves drop, Better Homes & Gardens Pathways and the Marjorie Adam Team can walk you through it over coffee downtown. Request your free home valuation.
