The 7: Where to go and what to do in Green Bluff in October
October is one of the busiest months at Green Bluff.
The pastoral community northeast of Spokane, home to dozens of small family farms and artisan food and beverage producers, attracts all sorts of visitors on October weekends because there are so many seasonal activities to do there.
Here are seven highlights.
Feed the whole family. Start your visit to Green Bluff with an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast – with pancakes, applesauce, eggs, sausage and beverages – from 8 to 11 a.m. Sundays through Oct. 22 at the Green Bluff Grange, 9809 E. Green Bluff Road. The cost is $7 for adults and $3.50 for children 6-12 years old. Children 5 and younger eat for free.
Eat an apple dumpling during Apple Fest at the Green Bluff United Methodist Church at the corner of Mt. Spokane and East Green Bluff roads. Apple Fest features all kinds of arts and crafts and food vendors and runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays through this weekend. Call (509) 979-2607.
Pick your own apples. Several orchards offer U-picking. Some offer discounts if you bring your own box. And if all that harvesting makes you thirsty, Hansen’s Green Bluff Orchards offers fresh-pressed cider in its store. So does Walters’ Fruit Ranch. (Don’t forget to feed the sheep and ride the wiggle worm, a tractor ride that’s popular with the kiddie set.) Find a list of orchards and the apples they have for the picking at greenbluffgrowers.com.
Pick up a pie. Walters’ Fruit Ranch also sells pies. (The huckleberry-apple is to die for.) Find pies, also, at High-Country Orchard and Beck’s Harvest House. For more info, visit greenbluffgrowers.com.
Get your own great pumpkin. Along with U-pick apples, some Green Bluff growers also offer U-pick pumpkins. Wander through the pumpkin patch until you find just the right one. Or, take home several. For more info, visit greenbluffgrowers.com.
Spend an afternoon at Beck’s Harvest House. The Fall Harvest Festival is an annual tradition for many families, who brave the crowds to come here to pick out their pumpkins, get lost in the corn and straw-bale mazes, listen to live music, ride a pony and wait in what’s likely going to be a very long line for their trademarked World Famous Pumpkin Donuts. 9919 E. Green Bluff Road. Call (509) 238-6970.
Sip some craft beverages. After all of that picking, playing and waiting in line, unwind. Green Bluff is home to a handful of artisan adult beverage producers – from beer and wine to mead made from honey. Hierophant Meadery (16602 N. Day Mt. Spokane Road, 509-294-0134. hierophantmeadery.com) specializes in off-dry, traditional and infused mead in flavors such as rose-cardamom and vanilla. Twilight Cider Works (18102 N. Day Mt. Spokane Road, 509-570-8748, twilightciderworks.com) produces six kinds of cider with Green Bluff apples. The tasting room at Townshend Cellar (8022 E. Greenbluff Road, 509-238-1400, townshendcellar.com) is open weekends throughout the year. Trezzi Farm Winery (17710 N. Dunn Road, 509-238-2276, trezzifarm.com) is open for tasting by appointment. For beer enthusiasts, there’s Big Barn Brewing (16004 N. Applewood Lane, 509-710-2961, bigbarnbrewing.com) and 238 Brewing (10321 E. Day Mt. Spokane Road, 509-238-2739, 238brewing.com).
