American to the Core : Apples: The Jonagolds, pippins, Staymen Winesaps and other varieties at 12 local orchards make picking easy in Oak Glen area.

Apple-picking--it’s a pastime as American as . . . well, apple pie. And every autumn, this is where a growing number of Southern Californians come to do it.

For loads of fruit and fun--by the bag, basket or bushel--they come to this mile-high, apple-growing region about 90 minutes east of Los Angeles.

A bumper crop of Jonagolds, pippins, Staymen Winesaps, Arkansas Blacks and 50 other varieties grown in the glen, offer visitors easy pickings right through the holidays, say growers.

Pioneered by Enoch Parrish, a potato farmer-cum-apple rancher in the 1860s, 12 local orchards now produce about 360,000 bushels of apples each season, or roughly 1,000 bushels an acre. Several of the apples turn up in some of the 3,500 pies sold each weekend from five restaurants along the Oak Glen Road “loop.”

“This is our slice of paradise,” said Mark Robertson, co-owner of the 320-acre Los Rios Rancho, the area’s largest apple farm.

In fall, Oak Glen’s native sycamores, box elders and liquid ambers are awash in crimson and gold. Here is vivid evidence that Southern California does experience all the blaze and glory of the changing seasons.

“Oak Glen is the closest you’re going to come to the scenery of the Appalachians and Blue Ridge mountains,” said Scott Riley, co-owner of Riley’s Historic Farm and Orchard, formerly part of the Joe E. Wilshire ranch founded in 1871.

But even in such a pristine setting, a few seeds of discontent are beginning to take root. Farmers struggle against the vagaries of Mother Nature, such as freezes, drought and coddling moths, while enthusiastic developers wave fistfuls of cash for their land.

“Anybody in his right mind would put houses in here,” said Freeman House, the fiddle-playing owner of the nine-acre Stone Pantry Orchard, a stone’s throw from Riley’s.

To keep the developers at bay, some farmers are resorting to recreational farming. They open up their orchards to visitors who pick their own apples and press their own cider for free.

At Riley’s, Oak Glen’s first recreational farm, ranch guests can enjoy hayrides, hoedowns, hiking trails, campfires, pioneer crafts, barnyard animals and carriage weddings.

“It’s become 60% of our income,” Riley said. “And we need to do more of that to pay for the trees.”

Neighbor Freeman House described entertainment farming in simple economic terms: “I’m getting 80 cents a pound for U-pick, which is more than you pay in the market for fruit,” he said. “But the thing I’m really selling is a day in the country and the experience of going out and picking the apple and learning about it.”

At Los Rios, another recreational farm, visitors find two commercial cider presses, a winery, bakery, salesroom, bird pen, animal corral and weekend pony rides.

“We’re not in competition with Disneyland,” Robertson said. “It doesn’t cost money to get in. Our hope is that people will come up and buy a few apples and have a piece of pie.”

On fall weekends, however, Oak Glen can attract what seem like Disneyland-size crowds, swelling the mountain enclave’s population of 500 by several hundred.

“It’s a little Coney Island-ish at times,” said Alex Law, who opened Oak Glen’s first fruit stand in 1931. “But it’s our livelihood.”

Harvest time in the glen promises a full crop of activities for the whole family, say growers. Call local ranches and salesrooms for picking schedules and information on coming events. Many are open to the public only on weekends.

To reach Oak Glen from Los Angeles, take Interstate 10 east to the Yucaipa-Oak Glen off-ramp. Follow Yucaipa Boulevard east to Oak Glen Road, then follow the well-marked road to the orchards.

* Hi-Country Orchards, 38695 Oak Glen Road, (714) 797-4249.

Owners Doug and Sandy Sheets say they share the best of both worlds. Apple trees on the property are available for U-pick and U-press cider. Customers also can purchase a wide assortment of apples brought in from their family-run orchard in Omak, Wash. A large, stainless-steel kitchen on the premises produces apple butters, jellies, jams, pie-fillings as well as a variety of sugar-free apple products.

* Johnny Appleseed Ranch, 38070 Potato Canyon Road, (714) 797-7575.

A former dairy farm, the 50-acre U-pick ranch produces 11 varieties of apples. There is a self-serve cider press as well as fresh-picked apples and raw cider for sale in the apple shed.

* Los Rios Rancho, 29610 Oak Glen Road, (714) 797-1005.

Owned and managed by Mark, Robbie and Annie Robertson, Los Rios has four acres of U-pick apples. The cider press squeezes 4,000 gallons of cider a week. Behind the barn, Frank Rivers runs a small winery and produces a hard apple cider with a 9% alcohol content.

* Law’s Cider Mill and Ranch, 38392 Oak Glen Road, (714) 797-1459.

From Alex Law’s roadside stand has grown a mini-apple empire, which now includes a coffee shop, gift shop and cider mill, all operated by family members. The senior Law still runs the apple stand and the family’s 60-acre apple ranch. While customers wait in line for a slice of hot apple pie, they are entertained by a machine that automatically peels, cores and slices the apples. About three pounds of apples fill each pie.

* McFarland’s Ranch, 38500 Oak Glen Road, (714) 797-4060.

From 1951 to 1989, Pat and Minabelle McFarland divided chores on their 22-acre ranch. Pat ran the salesroom while his wife supervised the cider mill. With Pat’s death last year, Minabelle presses on, promising to stay open “through February or March, or until the last apple is sold.”

* Parrish Pioneer Ranch, 38561 Oak Glen Road, (714) 797-2010.

Enoch Parrish planted Oak Glen’s first apple tree here in the 1860s. Today several varieties are grown under the supervision of Juan Vasquez, ranch foreman since 1942. Owners Joe and Betty Burkle manage the 101-acre ranch, including a village with bakery, restaurant and several specialty shops. Enoch’s home, built in 1876, is now an antique shop. Each Sunday, Johnny Appleseed distributes small pouches of apple seeds, with one set of instructions for city folk and another for country folk. On Dec. 1, carolers and a hand-bell choir will usher in the Christmas season. At 6 p.m. Betty will throw the switch to light up the village. Visitors also can breakfast with Santa on Dec. 8, 9, 15 and 16 at 10 a.m. Reservations are $6 a person.

* Riley’s Farm & Orchard, 12253 S. Oak Glen Road, (714) 790-2364.

Joe E. Wilshire bought the ranch in 1871 for a chicken, a saddle, a jug of whiskey and $8. Today, owners Dennis, Scott and “Grandpa” Riley are committed to keeping the ranch “100 years behind the times.” On weekends at 12, 1 and 2 p.m., the musical Rileys lead guests through marches, reels and quadrilles in a cavernous red barn built in 1887. In the General Mercantile, pick up some horehound candy, grind your own coffee or play a game of checkers by the warmth of the potbelly stove.

* Snow-line Orchards, 34900 Oak Glen Road, (714) 797-3415.

Owners Mert and Shirley Hudson operate a 1920 mechanical cider press for which parts no longer exist; each glass of juice may be the last. Irene and Nathan Simpson, better known among locals as Grandma and Grandpa Apple, host the apple-tasting bar. Strangely enough, Snow-line may be more famous for its spreading chestnut tree, reputed to be the Southland’s oldest, than its apple trees.

* Stone Pantry Orchard, on Oak Glen Road between Willowbrook Ranch and the Wilshire Apple Shed. No phone.

Carved from the old Wilshire spread, Stone Pantry is a small U-pick, U-press orchard owned by Freeman House, a cello and trumpet-playing member of the Garden Grove Symphony. He says his nine acres of trees are irrigated with the same mountain spring water that supplies the Arrowhead Water Co. “If it was legal for me to bottle the water, I’d be a millionaire,” House said.

* Willowbrook Ranch, 12099 S. Oak Glen Road, (714) 979-7624.

Bob Weir, a medical researcher and laboratory equipment designer for 26 years, now fashions pioneer crafts in his woodworker’s shop. During the week, he dons his tricorn, operates his peddle lathe and performs on the claw hammer banjo in conjunction with Riley’s weekday school tours. He also sells Staymen Winesap apples in season.

* Wood Acres, 38003 Potato Canyon Road, (714) 797-8500.

The smallest apple ranch in the glen boasts 29 varieties of apples and an antique apple polisher that resembles a small car wash. A half bushel of apples and pears goes into each bottle of cider, enough to generously fill a one-gallon bottle to take home and a couple of glasses for your immediate refreshment. Jim Woods prunes all his own trees, carefully opening center branches so that the sunlight can color the fruit. Wife Pat serves apple samples like a wine connoisseur, her slices ranging from bland to tart to sweet.