Strawberry picking in Yorkshire runs from the sun-warmed rows of Sessay to a free-entry field near the Humber, and none of it comes from a supermarket punnet.
Everyone knows the supermarket punnet, grown under polytunnels somewhere you will never see, picked by hands you will never meet. Yorkshire still does it the other way round. Across the county, working farms open their fields each June and let you walk the rows yourself, filling a punnet with fruit that was ripening on the plant twenty minutes earlier.
This is strawberry picking in Yorkshire as it has worked for decades: a family farm, a scale, a field, and whatever the sun did that week. The season runs from roughly mid-June to late July, sometimes stretching into August if the weather holds. Every farm below depends on that weather, so check their social media before you set off. A wet fortnight can empty a field faster than a bank holiday crowd.
Region: North, West, South and East Yorkshire
Best for: families, couples, anyone who wants fruit that has not travelled
Getting there: most farms are a short drive from Leeds, York, Doncaster or Huddersfield; none are within easy reach by public transport, so a car is the practical option
Time needed: one to two hours per farm, plus travel
Spilmans Farm, Sessay
Spilmans grows its strawberries the plain way: uncovered, bedded on straw, ripening in whatever sun North Yorkshire gives them that week. The farm, run from Church Farm in Sessay near Thirsk, plants eight named varieties, including Malwina and Elegance, chosen for flavour rather than shelf life. Two acres of raspberries sit alongside the strawberry fields, so most visitors come away with more than one punnet.
Entry costs £2.50 per person, or £2 per person on a family ticket, and if you spend £5 per person on fruit, the farm refunds your entry fee. Walk the rows in the early morning, and you catch the smell before you see the fruit, warm straw and ripe sugar carried on whatever breeze is moving across the field.
Where to Stay: The Poplars B&B and Holiday Cottages, Carlton Miniott, sits a short drive from Sessay, with three en-suite rooms and five self-catering cottages a few minutes from Thirsk market place.
Worth Knowing: Spilmans lists eight strawberry varieties on its own soft fruits page, a level of detail most PYO farms do not bother to publish.
Bentley Grange Farm, Emley
The Moorhouse family has farmed at Bentley Grange since 1889, and the fruit fields sit in the shadow of Emley Moor’s transmitting mast, the tallest freestanding structure in the United Kingdom. Strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants come ripe at different points through the summer, so a visit in late June looks different from one in late July.
This is one of the few farms in the area still offering pick-your-own at this scale, and the rows sit on raised beds in places, which makes picking easier on the back and knees. Arrive on a still morning, and the moor above sits quiet, the mast the only thing breaking the skyline.
Where to Stay: The 3 Acres Inn, Roydhouse, is a working restaurant with rooms set directly beneath Emley Moor mast, a few minutes from the farm gate.
Worth Knowing: Bentley Grange still trades primarily as an animal feed merchant, with fruit picking as a summer sideline rather than the main business, according to its own farm history.
Farmer Copleys, Pontefract
Farmer Copleys runs its picking as a ticketed event rather than a casual drop-in, and it works. The Strawberry Experience returns each year at Ravensknowle Farm on the Pontefract Road, with entry at £3 per person plus the cost of whatever you pick. The farm has increased its planting for the current season, meaning more rows and a lower risk of early field closure on a busy weekend.
Book a time slot, and you get a set arrival window, but no pressure to leave once you are in. The fields run close enough to the farm shop that the smell of baking drifts across from the café on a warm afternoon, competing with the strawberries for your attention.
Where to Stay: The Olde Tavern Lodge, Pontefract, is a family-run B&B on the main road through town, a three-minute walk from Pontefract Castle.
Worth Knowing: Farmer Copley’s picking season for 2026 runs from June into early July, depending on conditions, as confirmed directly on the farm’s own event page.
The Balloon Tree, York
The Balloon Tree has grown soft fruit and vegetables at Gate Helmsley for more than 35 years, and its pick your own fields are among the closest to York itself. Strawberries lead the season, followed by raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants as summer moves on. Entry costs £2.50 per picker, added to your fruit payment.
A farm shop and café sit beside the fields, so a picking trip here easily turns into a longer stop. Children’s play equipment keeps younger visitors occupied while the adults finish a row, and the flat, open fields make it an easy farm to manage with a pushchair.
Where to Stay: B+B York, on St Peter’s Grove, is a dog-friendly boutique bed and breakfast a ten-minute walk from York’s city walls.
Worth Knowing: The Balloon Tree charges its £2.50 entry fee at the till alongside your fruit rather than at the gate, as confirmed on its own pick-your-own page.
Scalby Grange, Gilberdyke
Scalby Grange keeps things deliberately simple. There is no booking system, no entry fee, and no fixed opening hours outside the picking season. You turn up, take a container, and pay for what you pick by weight, currently £7 per kilogram. Free roadside parking sits alongside the field.
The farm, on Scalby Lane a few minutes from Gilberdyke Garden Centre, has run this way for years, and the lack of ceremony is part of the appeal. This is East Yorkshire farming without the extras, a field, a scale, and a family who has done this every summer for a long time.
Where to Stay: Saltmarshe Hall, near Howden, is a Georgian estate with boutique rooms a short drive from Gilberdyke.
Worth Knowing: Scalby Grange has no dedicated farm website, running its picking updates through Facebook and the regional PYO.co.uk listing instead.
Horsforth PYO, Kemps Farm, Leeds
The Kemp family opened Horsforth PYO in 1984, and it remains the closest pick your own strawberry field to Leeds city centre. More than a dozen strawberry varieties grow here alongside three types of raspberry, giving regular visitors a reason to compare one week’s fruit against the last. Entry costs £3.49 per person, with strawberries priced at £7.50 per kilogram.
The farm also runs a second site near Malton, but the Horsforth fields make more sense for a Leeds-based day out. Come on a weekday morning if you can. Weekends bring the crowds, and a quieter visit means a longer, more considered pick.
Where to Stay: Outwood House, Horsforth, is a B&B dating from 1754, five miles from Leeds city centre, with south-facing rooms overlooking fields.
Worth Knowing: Kemps Farm has run Horsforth PYO since 1984, over four decades of continuous picking seasons at the same site, according to the farm’s own Horsforth page.
Eastfield Farm, Tickhill
Eastfield Farm, run by Brittain’s Berries on the edge of Tickhill near Doncaster, keeps its picking as unfussy as Scalby Grange’s. No booking, no entry fee, no parking charge, just a field open daily from 10am to 5pm through the summer, with the last pick half an hour before closing. Sunflowers and wildflowers join the strawberries later in the season, and a maize maze opens in August.
A farm shop sells the day’s surplus alongside jams and chutneys, and a tearoom runs through July and August serving homemade cakes. This is South Yorkshire’s answer to the more polished operations further north, plainer, cheaper, and no worse for it.
Where to Stay: Hannah’s Guest House, on Sunderland Street, Tickhill, is an eighteenth-century family-run B&B in the centre of the village.
Worth Knowing: Eastfield Farm charges no entry or parking fee at all, unusual among the farms on this list, confirmed on Brittain’s Berries’ own site.
Practical Tips
- Check each farm’s Facebook page the morning you plan to visit. Fields close for a day or two when fruit needs more time to ripen, and this varies week to week.
- Wear old shoes and clothes you do not mind staining. Strawberry fields are wet and dark red juice does not come out easily.
- Bring your own containers if a farm allows it, though most provide punnets or trugs as part of the entry fee.
- Pick strawberries that are fully red with no white or green at the tip. A half-ripe strawberry left on the plant will not ripen further once picked.
- Arrive early on a weekend. Fields empty of the easiest-to-reach fruit within the first hour of a Saturday morning.
Responsible Visiting
Stick to the marked rows and containers each farm provides. Picking outside the allocated area damages plants that need to keep producing for weeks yet. Take your litter home, and if a farm asks you to park on verges rather than the field itself, do it. These are working farms first and visitor attractions second.
Reader Q&A
When is strawberry season in Yorkshire?
Mid-June to late July, most years. Some farms, weather permitting, keep picking into August or early September.
Do I need to book?
It depends on the farm. Farmer Copleys and Kemps Farm both use online booking systems, while Scalby Grange and Eastfield Farm operate on a walk-up basis with no booking at all.
How much does it cost?
Entry fees range from free (Scalby Grange, Eastfield Farm) to around £3.50 per person, with fruit typically priced between £7 and £7.50 per kilogram on top.
Can I bring children?
Yes. Every farm on this list is used to family visits, and several, including The Balloon Tree, have play areas or farm shops to occupy younger children once the picking is done.
Are dogs allowed?
This varies by farm and by field. Check directly with each farm before bringing a dog, since working fruit fields are not always dog-friendly during peak picking weeks.
What should I wear?
Old shoes and clothes you do not mind staining. Strawberry fields are often damp underfoot even on dry days, and the fruit stains fabric on contact.
Where to Stay
The Poplars B&B and Holiday Cottages, Carlton Miniott. Four-star rooms and self-catering cottages near Thirsk, closest to Spilmans Farm.
The 3 Acres Inn, Roydhouse. A restaurant with rooms beneath Emley Moor mast, closest to Bentley Grange Farm.
The Olde Tavern Lodge, Pontefract. Family-run B&B in the town centre, closest to Farmer Copleys.
B+B York, York. Boutique bed and breakfast near the city walls, closest to The Balloon Tree.
Saltmarshe Hall, Howden. Georgian estate with boutique rooms, closest to Scalby Grange.
Outwood House, Horsforth. Eighteenth-century B&B five miles from Leeds, closest to Kemps Farm Horsforth PYO.
Hannah’s Guest House, Tickhill. Eighteenth-century family-run B&B, closest to Eastfield Farm.
The fields will empty by late summer, the straw will be turned back into the soil, and next June the whole cycle starts again in exactly the same rows.
This piece pairs well with our guide to Yorkshire family days out and our roundup of food festivals across Yorkshire in 2026, both of which cover ground near several of these farms. For more of the Secret Yorkshire travel archive, keep exploring.
