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March 2024 by Jessica Mingoia
This is a review from October 2022 that I forgot to post.Dressel Farms is NOT what it used to be. Now, you have to pay $5/person just to get in. Frankly, there are not enough activities to make it worth it since the cost of apple picking is extra. (Not that we even went there for apples anyway.)I had gone here since I attended SUNY NP from 2006-2010. It was a tradition I started with friends, then my parents when they would come visit, then extended family, and as of 2014, the guy who would become my fiancé. It was a tradition to walk to where the rocks overlooked the valley across to the Gunks and take a few pictures every fall. We don’t even pick apples and never have. (In fact, I hate apples and spent my childhood telling people I was allergic so no one would give me any.) But we would buy pumpkins, donuts, veggies, etc. every time we came.We parked at the farmstand on Sat. 10/22/22 and intended to walk over and take our picture before buying pumpkins, gourds, donuts, etc. My fiancé and I did this same thing on Sun. 10/2/22 and also mid-October 2021 without issue. We weren’t sneaky about it or trying to be and no one stopped us. We had no idea we did something “wrong” as we were planning to buy things in the farmstand like we always did after taking our picture.However, on 10/22 as we passed by the booth, the woman inside came out yelling and stopped us. She was very rude while telling us that we needed to pay to get in. We explained we were going to spend money at the farmstand, but wanted to walk over there just for a minute to take some pictures and would come right back. We were shocked to be told we’d need to pay $5 per person to do that ($20 total) especially since it literally just would have been 5 minutes for pictures sitting on the rocks.We told her that we had walked over on 10/2 and in 2021 and that no one had stopped us. The woman in the booth then angrily implied that we snuck past her while she was busy, when we did no such thing. I was shocked at her tone and implication which was angry and accusatory.When my fiancé and I were there on 10/2, we parked at the farmstand and walked hand in hand right next to the booth, talking, not hiding or trying to be sneaky or anything. We didn’t know we did anything wrong. In fact, there were no cars waiting to enter and 2 attendants in the booth whom we were in full view of. Neither stopped us. We did not try to “sneak past” anyone as she so angrily implied. We walked over for 5 minutes, took our pictures and enjoyed the view, walked back again to the farm stand, and made purchases before leaving. If I knew that’d be the last time we’d have been allowed to do that, I would have sat on those rocks for an hour. We planned to walk over and do the same the next time with my parents.It took only a moment to ruin a long-standing tradition, but it would also have taken only a minute to be kind instead. They could have let us just walk over to take the picture for less than 5 minutes remaining in view of the booth (even if it was the last time they made such an exception), but both the woman in the booth and the owner she called over were exceptionally rude. We had no malicious or dishonest intent, and the situation could have been handled with much greater kindness. (They eventually let us walk to a different area, but it was NOT the same and not the same spot where we’re taken our traditional picture for 16 years.) The entire experience was also accompanied by immense rudeness.I’m devastated that what was a long-standing tradition has been ruined forever, but the blow might have been taken a little easier to take if the employee and owner were at least nice about the whole thing and spoke to us calmly rather than treating us so rudely and approaching us in anger. We did not have bad intentions or try to "pull one over" on anyone but we were treated terribly. If the policy changed, it could at least be conveyed to customers in a polite manner. It could have been a conversation and not a verbal attack and accusation.We did not attempt to return in 2023.
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December 2023 by Anne Tichy
Best Apple Cider in the Hudson Valley, so fresh no sediment on the bottom. My family and I love Dressel!
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November 2023 by Maria K.
I miss coming here since moving out of New Paltz. I especially enjoyed the apple picking season here and their ciders
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September 2023 by katrina Amsden
I absolutely love this place. I found the most delicious white peaches, tomato, and honey crisp apples. I had visited a different farm/bakery in the area and they had next to nothing.
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January 2023 by Crystal P.
I'll be nice because we weren't that mad but I checked their instagram to see their winter hours. We drove a little bit out of the way to come here because I saw all the great reviews about their cider etc. We were excited to grab some things before heading back down to go home. So yeah only to find them closed :( I know it's the winter but don't post on instagram hours then not stick to them! I'd understand if it was yelp because most places aren't updated in the winter (hours and we've learned this the hard way lol) but to post on their own instagram. Maybe next time we'll get to try some of their cider!
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November 2022 by Dave Sundlof
Nice stand but a bit limited.No pies available during peak foliage season on a Thursday.Fair pricing.Nice point of sale representative.
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October 2022 by K Boogie
Great experience apple picking, hay ride, cider doughnuts, adult cider bar and mountainside overlook were very nice. A must try it experience. Plus the town of New Paltz is a bonus with Lola’s live band Herbert Goulding that rocks!
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October 2022 by Antonia O.
I've been coming here for years with my nieces and nephews ( I'm an Aunt) and though they are slowly out growing the place it's always a nice outing for my parents who enjoy the time with their grandkids. Today we had an unfortunate experience with the man who gives the hay rides and it really made what's usually a nice experience really sour. The kids ages 9&10 picked up sticks and used them to knock a few apples off of a tree. A Dressel farms employee, jumps off the tractor, rushes toward us urgently, he comes up to me & utters the word "parents" before I could even get a word out he rips the sticks out of the kids hands and screams unacceptable over and over and then he charges back to his tractor. My first point is that it's never appropriate to touch a child. If he had spoken to me respectfully I would have happily asked the kids to drop the sticks. They are well behaved kids with manners, if he addressed them humanely which is the right course of action they also would have had the chance to correct their actions which would have been a better learning experience. They were bored, and I agree a stick shouldn't be used to pick the apples but 1 they are kids and 2 they were not vandalizing the property like the employee made it seem. Im disappointed by the actions taken by someone who's an adult. He should have spoken to them respectfully . The response was a major turn off and I'm actually shocked.
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October 2022 by Keith Alarie
Amazing apples and cider! Pleasant hardworking staff!
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October 2022 by Jasmine Feng
Still the best apple cider donuts I've ever had. They charge a per person entrance fee. Apples are great. There's also a fantastic hot dog stand near the farm stand.
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October 2022 by H. S.
Great experience apple picking, hay ride, cider doughnuts, adult cider bar and mountainside overlook were very nice. A must try it experience. Plus the town of New Paltz is a bonus with Lola’s live band Herbert Goulding that rocks!
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October 2022 by Heysteve
I have never gone apple picking and to be honest I always thought of it to be gimmicky but Dressel Farms changed my mind. Their staff were very friendly, every time I walked past them they asked how I was doing and answered any questions I had. Their apples were unbelievable. I forgot how good fresh apples truly are and these are a game changer. They had many varieties, a few I never heard of, and all of them were delicious. A visit to Dressel will always be on the list whenever I'm upstate.
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September 2022 by Jennyrose Ball
Great location and neat and tidy farm stand. Apple cider doughnuts are LIGHT and FLUFFY!
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September 2022 by April Colombo
The staff was nice however they blamed the extra pricing on Covid. It's $5 per person just to get in. Then you must buy a bag to pick apples for a minimum of an additional $16 for the small bag. You can't use your own and pay afterwards. So the $5 you pay to get in just allows you to walk a round. Qe were told by the staff that you can't even ride the haywagon without paying an additional fee. Not the experience we were looking for.
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September 2022 by Gregg Isaacson
Great farm stand, lots of good stuff there especially their own Ice Cream. I love the blueberry and strawberry ice cream they make it's out of this world and you might want to bring some home and if you do you might want to get two or three pints. It's a little pricey but I can certainly tell you that it's worth it! ?
