Swanson's Mountain View Orchard
Updated: Sep 27
If you live in the Bitterroot Valley or have visited in the fall, chances are you've been to or at least heard of Swanson's Mountain View Orchard in Corvallis. Apple picking and snagging some cider donuts is a fall staple. They also have a storefront where you can buy cider, apples, beef, and other food products. Swanson's is also a remnant of an interesting time period in state history: the Montana Apple Boom.
The Apple Boom
Today Swanson's is the largest apple orchard in the valley, but it was once joined by dozens of others that sprang up in what is typically referred to as the "apple boom" of Montana. The first orchard in the valley was planted in Stevensville as early as the 1840s and commercial orchards began springing up around the valley by the mid-1860s. In 1894, fruit growing is declared a legitimate business in the state of Montana, and by 1899, horticultural districts are laid out across the states and inspectors are assigned to each district.
Right at the turn of the century, the Bitterroot Valley had numerous apple orchards and there is even a note that at one point 25 train car loads filled with apples left Hamilton to other areas of the state and beyond. In 1909, the first apple canning plant opened at the Stock Farm in Hamilton with a capacity of 4,000 cans per day!
Unfortunately the winters from 1915 to 1917 were quite harsh and successive freezes killed off many of the apple trees in the state. Around this time, apple growers in Washington and Oregon had begun to overtake Montana by production and at a cheaper cost. Some orchards have survived like Swanson's but many transformed into something else.
History of Swanson's
Swanson's has been a critical part of the Bitterroot Valley community since 1910 towards the end of the apple boom and has been family owned and operated for three generations. Charles J. Swanson (a Swedish immigrant) and his wife Emma Lynde purchased 20 acres for $20 an acre. This is still the main core (no pun intended) of the orchard today. Carl Swanson, Charles and Emma's son, diversified the farm to include cattle and hay, and then his son Charlie expanded the farm by an additional 5 acres. Charlie expanded the orchard to include over 8,500 trees between 2000 and 2012. That's a lot of trees! Today, the Mouw Family operates the farm with Charlie still taking an active roll in the operations.
Swanson's is a very efficient operation, supplying apples to stores not just in the Bitterroot Valley but all across the state. They also supply apples to over 50 schools!
Fall Apple Picking
In the fall, Swanson's typically does two weekends of u-pick days where you can pick apples straight from the trees in 5, 10, 20, or 40 pound-sized baskets. They also have a food truck serving made-to-order cider donuts and cider slushies. These u-pick days are typically in mid-September and are determined by the apple harvest.
This year the u-pick weekends were September 12 & 13 and September 19 & 20. If you missed it, don't worry, the storefront opens on Thursday, Oct 1 and Swanson's will also be at Apple Day in Hamilton on October 3rd. Better set a calendar alert for October 3rd, because that's also the debut of their apple cider this year. Look here to see other upcoming events they'll be a part of. I'd highly recommend stopping by the storefront late October to see the orchard in all its fall color glory. Grab a bag of apples and gallon of cider at the storefront, and wait in line for fresh donuts. The wait for donuts can be a bit long, but trust me, it's worth it. They're made fresh!
Comments