Strawberry Picking Near Aliso Viejo, CA
The nearest strawberry rows to Aliso Viejo are at South Coast Farms on Ortega Highway in San Juan Capistrano, a plain field where the last reported prices were $5 to park and $5 a pound. Also in San Juan Capistrano, on Alipaz Street, The Ecology Center offers the guided version: $15 to get in, $9 a pound, and Regenerative Organic berries picked alongside a field guide.
Beyond that, the farms split on how they charge. Manassero Farms, Tanaka Farms and Carlsbad Strawberry Company sell one ticket with the berries included, which is simple with small children. The Ecology Center, Kenny's Strawberry Farm and South Coast Farms charge an entry fee and then by the pound or bucket, so you pay only for what you pick.
Our picks
- A spontaneous Saturday with no booking: Carlsbad Strawberry Company. The only true walk-in field here, open daily with tickets sold at the stand; $18 buys a bucket of about 2 lbs plus the sunflower maze.
- Young children who want a tractor ride: Tanaka Farms. A guided wagon tour with stops, barnyard animals and a pound of berries included, $27 on weekdays.
- Knowing the bill before you go: Kenny's Strawberry Farm. $5 entry, then $11 for a small bucket or $23 for a large one, with no minimum number of buckets.
- Picking in January: Nicolson Strawberries. Fields open in January and stay pickable into July, the longest window here, with a roadside stand selling raw honey and jam.
At a glance
| Option | Entry Cost | Address | Berry Price | Reservations | Open Days | Picking Season | On-Site Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15source | 32701 Alipaz Street, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675source | $9 per poundsource | Requiredsource | Friday to Sundaysource | Farm stand and the Campesino Cafesource | ||
| $5source | 33201 Ortega Hwy, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675source | $5 per poundsource | Friday to Sundaysource | April to Julysource | Umbrella-shaded chairs beside the fieldssource | ||
| $16source | 33 Irvine Valley, Irvine, CA 92618source | 1 lb container included with the ticketsource | Requiredsource | Dailysource | April to Julysource | Flagship farm market and event spacesource | |
| $27source | 5380 3/4 University Drive, Irvine, CA 92612source | 1 lb included with the tour ticketsource | Requiredsource | By tour reservationsource | Mid-March to late Aprilsource | Guided tractor tour and barnyard animalssource | |
| $18source | 1050 Cannon Rd, Carlsbad, CA 92008source | Included with the bucket admission (about 2 lbs)source | Walk-in welcomesource | Dailysource | February to Julysource | Sunflower maze, tricycle track, bounce area and shaded seatingsource | |
| $5source | 953 Rainbow Valley Blvd, Fallbrook, CA 92028source | $11 small bucket, $23 large bucketsource | Requiredsource | Friday to Sundaysource | February to Julysource | Sensory play area and a free coloring page for kidssource | |
| 8112 Foothill Blvd, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730source | Call aheadsource | Dailysource | January to Julysource | Roadside stand with pre-picked berries, raw honey and jamsource | |||
| $5source | 5714 North River Road, Oceanside, CA 92057source | Thursday to Sundaysource | Late March to mid-Maysource | Weekend tractor rides through the farmsource |
Berries included in the ticket, or paid by the pound
Manassero's $16 ticket covers entry and a one-pound container, Tanaka's $27 tour includes a pound of berries (weekends are $29), and Carlsbad's $18 buys a bucket that holds roughly two pounds. On a per-pound basis Carlsbad is the most generous of the three.
The Entry Cost column mixes two bases, so read it with care. Five farms charge per person, while South Coast Farms and Mellano Farm Stand charge $5 for parking instead of admission. Mellano does not post its berry price outside the season, and Nicolson Strawberries publishes no prices at all.
When each field opens, and on which days
Nicolson opens first, in January, and Carlsbad and Kenny's follow in February, all three running into July. Manassero and South Coast Farms pick from April to July. The short seasons belong to the most event-like farms: Tanaka runs from mid-March to late April, and Mellano's strawberry and flower festival weekends run roughly six weekends from late March, Thursday to Sunday.
Only Manassero, Carlsbad and Nicolson open every day in season. The Ecology Center, South Coast Farms and Kenny's pick Friday to Sunday, and at Tanaka the tour booking decides the day, with weekend slots selling out first. As of September 2026 every field here is closed for the year, with Carlsbad closed for the 2026 season and Kenny's pointing to spring 2027.
Where you need to book
Four farms require a reservation: The Ecology Center, Manassero, Tanaka and Kenny's, which books online partly so it can reach you if weather closes the fields. Nicolson asks you to call ahead, and its rows do get picked out. Carlsbad, off the 5 near the Flower Fields and Legoland, is the one farm that says outright you can decide that morning and still pick; South Coast Farms and Mellano state no policy either way.
The options in detail
The Ecology Center
A nonprofit working farm on Alipaz Street that turns picking into a guided experience: you walk the rows with a field guide rather than just filling a bucket. Its berries are described as the only Regenerative Organic strawberries in Southern California, grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, which is the reason most families choose it over a cheaper field. The farm stand is open daily and the Campesino Cafe is on the same property, so a picking morning turns into lunch easily. U-pick runs only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings and is sold through a ticket page, so it is not a drop-in.
South Coast Farms
The closest u-pick field to Aliso Viejo, farmed on Ortega Highway beside Tree of Life Nursery a few miles inland from the coast. George Kibby started the farm in 1996 and grows without pesticides or fungicides, though it is not certified organic. It is the plainest operation on this list: no ticket portal and no activities, just rows, a few umbrella-shaded chairs and a scale at the end. Its own website has gone dark, so Instagram and Facebook are where opening days get posted, and the prices here come from a visitor report rather than the farm, so call before driving out.
Manassero Farms
A century-old Orange County farming family whose Irvine flagship market sits at the edge of Irvine Valley College, close enough to Aliso Viejo for a weekday morning. The u-pick is a straightforward ticketed field: one price covers entry into the rows and a one-pound container, and extra containers can be added when you book. Olallieberries come off the same fields later in the season, which is unusual for this area. Parking is the one wrinkle, because a full lot sends you to the college kiosk to buy a pass.
Tanaka Farms
One of the last working farms inside Irvine and the best known strawberry outing in Orange County, farmed by the Tanaka family since the 1940s. Picking here is a guided tractor tour rather than open field access: a wagon ride with stops, a pound of berries to take home, a seasonal vegetable and a visit to the barnyard animals. That makes it the most expensive and the most structured option here, which suits young children and school groups better than a serious berry haul. Weekend slots sell out first, and the strawberry window is the shortest on this list.
Carlsbad Strawberry Company
Four generations of one family farm 25 acres of strawberries on Cannon Road, right off the 5 and a short walk from the Flower Fields and Legoland. It is the only genuinely walk-in field on this list, with tickets sold at the stand and no reservation system at all, which makes it the dependable choice for a spontaneous Saturday. Admission buys a bucket that holds roughly two pounds, and the flat fee also covers a sunflower maze, a tricycle track and a bounce area; petting the sheep and goats and the tractor ride are sold on top. The farm is open about the fact that it is neither certified organic nor pesticide-free.
Kenny's Strawberry Farm
A family farm in Rainbow, the cool pocket of hills north of Fallbrook, where the growers credit the temperate weather for the sweetness of the fruit. Pricing is the most transparent of any farm here: a small entry fee per person, then a flat charge for each bucket you fill, with no minimum number of buckets. The farm is not organic and says so, following integrated pest management instead, and grows seven varieties in a season. Reservations are required and booked online, partly so the farm can reach you if weather closes the fields; pets are not allowed.
Nicolson Strawberries
A 1985 farm on Historic Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga, one of the last agricultural plots left inside the city and still run by the Nicolson family. The draw is the longest picking window on this list: the fields open in January and stay pickable into July, and the roadside stand keeps going into October with pre-picked flats, raw honey and homemade jam. Nothing is ticketed and no prices are published, so this is a farm you phone rather than plan around, and the fields do get picked out. It is also the longest drive from Aliso Viejo of anything here, an inland trip rather than a coastal one.
Mellano Farm Stand
The Mellano family are flower growers first, and their Oceanside farm on North River Road opens strawberry rows alongside its ranunculus fields each spring. That pairing is the reason to come: picking weekends run as a Strawberry and Flower Spring Festival with tractor rides, food trucks, live music and a kids' zone, rather than as a quiet morning in the rows. The strawberry window is the shortest here, roughly six weekends from late March, and the farm charges for parking rather than admission. Berry pricing is not posted outside the season, so call or check the festival page before you drive down.
How we researched this
The farms here run from San Juan Capistrano and Irvine out to Oceanside, Carlsbad and Fallbrook, plus Rancho Cucamonga, which has the longest season and the longest drive of the eight. Underwood Family Farms, McGrath Family Farm and Prancer's Farm in Ventura County run good strawberry programs but sit roughly 90 to 100 miles away, too far to call near. Family Farms in Chino and Los Rios Rancho in Oak Glen have no working website, and Temecula Valley Strawberry Farms appears to have closed, so none of them appears.
Prices come from the farms' own pages with two exceptions. South Coast Farms' website has gone dark, so its $5 parking and $5 a pound come from a 2022 visitor report, and Tanaka's $27 comes from a 2026 event listing because its strawberry page goes quiet off-season. Empty cells are details a farm does not publish: Nicolson's prices, Mellano's spring berry price and whether it takes bookings, South Coast's current reservation policy, and The Ecology Center's season dates. Every farm sets its opening by the weather, and the first picking day shows up on its own page or social accounts, not in this table.