November Field Trip – Palomar Mountain Apple Festival

Palomar Mountain Apple Festival
Palomar Mountain State Park
Saturday, November 1, 2025
7:30 AM – 9:30 AM

This beats other SoCal apple festivals by far! You can join me early and hike to the OLD WEIR and the DOANE VALLEY NATURE TRAIL for fall colors, then drive up to the SILVERCREST PICNIC AREA. Food, fresh crushed apple juice, live music, fun games, horse driven carriage rides, old fashioned fun. The park opens at 8 am. For the hikes, meet at the DOANE POND PARKING LOT. Enter the park, drive past SILVERCREST PICNIC AREA and turn right on DOAN VALLEY ROAD and drive down to the pond parking lot.

DIFFICULTY: Nature trail is EASY, about 1 mile roundtrip (1.6 km). Trail is packed dirt. The trail to the Weir is longer, about 3 miles (4.8 km).
PLANT KNOWLEDGE: Beginner to Novice, Professionals always welcome.
ACCESS: Open to all, no charge for field trip.
REQUIRED FEES: Entrance fee to state park ($10).
AMENITIES: Pit toilet at parking lot.
DOGS: Not allowed on trails.
FACILITIES: None.
BRING: H2O, sunscreen, hat, good footwear, snack, camera and/or phone.

Download iNaturalist app (free). If you’re not familiar with it, I will demo it for you.

After the hike, we will drive to the Silvercrest Picnic parking lot and enjoy the festivities.