The Blackberry Fields

“After a beautiful drive through wine country and a few back roads, you'll find yourself at the gates of the blackberry fields. The last stretch of De Portola Rd is most likely a private road because it is real rough and has lots of potholes. Be careful driving! Arrive early in the morning to beat the heat and bring water, bug spray and sunblock. A pint (about 1lbs) is $10, a quart (about 2lbs)is $20. A group can share one container. You get unlimited time to fill your container and you can pile your berries past the top of the container. If you're looking for the sweetest berries, look for the plump and slightly mushy black berries. If they're firm, they'll be a little more tart.”

“The Blackberry Fields is a MUST GO if you have littles! My toddlers had the best time picking berries, and Jenna and Hayden's little helper was the best teacher of picking the perfect berries. The cobbler was TO DIE FOR! 😩😋 It is hot out there, so bring water, your hat, and sunscreen!”

“Love this place! Can't wait for picking this summer! They are the best blackberries I've ever had!”

“Can't wait for this year's blackberries!!! Beautiful location and so easy to find!”

“Directions: Google maps will drop you off pre-maturely. Continue going on De Portola Road after the said drop off, turn right on Geisbauer Road. You’ll then see signs and two purple flags and a Porta potty in the parking lot. Geisbauer road is like walking on beach sand. Hours: 8am-12noon daily 6pm-8pm sunset picking Fri and Sat Parking: You see the purple flags, park and walk in. They didn’t have designated handicap parking but they do have closer parking if you drive past the flags and parallel park along the fence. We were the first at 8am to beat the heat. Cost: $10 pint $20 quart Cash or Credit Tips: -Wear a hat -Sunblock -Water -Wear close toed shoes -Watch out for fire ants! One crawled up my boots and bite my leg. -We brought gloves to avoid the berry juice -We shared 1 quart size -Bring a cooler if you have a long drive -You may sample 1 or 2 while picking -An area with picnic tables in the shade -Bring step stool if you want the kiddos to reach the higher branches I actually found blueberry picking to be more satisfying than blackberries. At least with blueberries, they were are ripe and you look for the largest one. Blackberries are different because you only pick the black ones and ignore the red ones. Takes more effort to look for ripe ones that are decent in size to fill up our bucket. You’ll have to look high and low. It can also get messy. When I paid, I asked for tips. He said he saw ripe ones on the left. So we went straight there and glad we did because other aisles were either red or empty. It’s great for first time experience but I don’t see us coming back next year unless there are more activities like food trucks, boutique vendors, blackberry snacks. I appreciate them opening the farm to the public but the heat seems to affect the berries and need more water and maintenance. Also I think it’s towards end of July so it was a bit run down as more people attend.”