A Greenhorn Campground Neighbor
Pie the way Grandma made it — est. 1974.
In 1902, Ludwig and Elizabeth Bierwagen arrived in what's now Chicago Park — by way of South Dakota — bought land, and started farming grapes, plums, and Bartlett pears. Their son Christian bought the adjoining ground and planted more, the beginnings of what became Donner Trail Fruit.
A generation on, Marianne Corbett came to Nevada County to teach Home Economics at the old Nevada City High School. She met Ernie Bierwagen at a square dance, married, and they raised five children on the very farm where Ernie was born.
In 1974, Ernie and Marianne opened the Happy Apple Kitchen, where Marianne started baking the apple pies she'd become famous for. Today their daughters Anna and Teresa own and run the place — still making pies "the way Mom taught us," still using fruit grown right up the road at the family farm. With Rosie, the fifth generation, now in the mix, the person who grew the fruit and the person who baked your pie still share a last name.
"You will fall in love with our little piece of the country."
The kitchen in the pines · founders Marianne & Ernie
They make the pies just like Grandma did — handrolled crust rolled fresh every morning and farm-fresh fruit. Get a slice with their homemade cider sauce, or call ahead and take a whole one back to camp.
Classic 9-inch or mini 3-inch · call for today's specials & whole-pie orders. (They don't ship them — they're too good, they never make it to the mailbox.)
When summer hits, they blend the family orchard's own ripe peaches into a shake that regulars plan their whole visit around. Thick, cold, and made with real fruit — absolutely worth the trip.
Seasonal · ask if they're pouringFamily owned & operated since 1974
Make a day of it — a slice of pie on the way in, the lake all afternoon, and a whole pie for the road.
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