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Christa and her husband Tom Heflin moved to El Dorado County in 1977 and founded Rainbow Orchards in Apple Hill. When asked why they chose our area, she explained, “we wanted to raise our children in an area away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Feb 14, 2022 · Christa Campbell and her husband Tom Heflin moved to El Dorado County in 1977 and founded Rainbow Orchards in Apple Hill.
Aug 2, 2019 · Christa Campbell and Tom Heflin bought a run-down Camino apple farm in 1977. Today, Rainbow Orchards is a diversified operation and the couple are leading champions of Apple Hill.
- Emily Hamann
- Staff Writer
- ehamann@bizjournals.com
- Sacramento Business Journal
Christa Campbell, fondly known in the county as the “Donut Queen”, is the proud owner of Rainbow Orchards along with “Farmer Tom” Heflin and her family.
- A Perfect Day
- The Pie-oneers
- Prep Talk
- Apples to Apples
- Just Desserts
- Smashing Pumpkins
- O Christmas Trees
- Open Seasons
- Liquid Assets
- Five Vintners to Visit
Rainbow Orchards
The early bird gets to worm out of having to wait for warm, fried-to-order cinnamon-sugar-dusted cider doughnuts (by late morning, the line for these locally famous goodies can wrap all the way around the orchard’s barn). Even if you’re bleary-eyed, you can’t miss the bright, happy-looking rainbow on the building’s façade, which lends a hippie vibe to this pleasingly rustic stop—fitting, as current owners the Campbell family acquired the farm (and its secret doughnut recipe) in 1977. Snag a p...
Denver Dan’s Apple Patch
Just around the corner from Rainbow Orchards lies quaint Denver Dan’s, established in 1961, where an antique apple peeler-corer has proved so riveting an attraction that its store can barely keep the home version of the contraption in stock. A picture window affords a view into the bakery turning out fresh pies, but for a hands-on experience, call ahead to reserve a slot for the baking class, offered weekday mornings at 10. On weekends, explore the orchard’s dozens of varieties or snap a farm...
Jack Russell Farm Brewery
Trust us, noon’s not too soon for a cold one—and once you enter the newly renovated taproom at Jack Russell, you’ll be parched for a pint. The brewery offers more than a dozen taps (for peak local-seasonal flavor, try the pumpkin spice and apple-spiked ales). That’s more than enough to keep dedicated hopheads busy tasting, but you’ll want solid food, too. Whether you brought lunch from home, snagged those pasties at Denver Dan’s, or succumbed to the wafting scent of honey BBQ wings and other...
The ’49ers are long gone from El Dorado County—which was named, during the region’s mining heyday, after a fabled place in South America abundant in gold—but now every fall its hills centered around Camino welcome an eager apple rush of visitors armed not with picks and mining pans but with ice chests, plastic forks and cameras. So just how did the...
Bring storage for goodies.Shallow cardboard boxes (like the kind used by grocery stores for canned goods or by online retailers) are great for keeping pies and other delicate baked goods from sliding around in the trunk and making a mess. An ice chest is indispensable if you want to grab frozen pies or fresh-pressed cider. Reusable shopping bags co...
Illustrations by Emilee Rudd Call it the Miss Congeniality of the local apple pageant. This beloved sweet apple is excellent for a range of uses, from making pies (the slices hold their shape and, true to its name, the fruit offers delicious flavor) to applesauce and eating. It also keeps well, and has long been one of the most popular apple variet...
Rainbow Orchards’ Cider Doughnuts
Rainbow Orchards’ owner, “Doughnut Queen” Christa Campbell, says there’s “no telling” how many doughnuts her fryer turns out to order on a typically busy day. Though the original recipe is a closely guarded secret, it’s the use of freshly milled cider in the tender-crumbed, cake-style beauties that lends them their delicate, aromatic apple flavor, complemented by a lavish cinnamon-sugar coating. Back in the days when each Apple Hill bakeshop had its own unique specialty, Rainbow’s originally...
Delfino Farms’ Walkin’ Pie
Joan Delfino—the late matriarch of this family farm—initially created the Walkin’ Pie in her home kitchen, in response to the mess her seven kids created eating wedge-shaped apple pie slices. Handheld mini pies meant the kids could take their dessert outside—which is exactly where we now like to indulge in her creation on a crisp fall afternoon. A softball-sized sphere of apples encased in pie crust and baked free-form, Delfino’s popular treat has the classic cinnamon-laced taste of a bigger...
Abel’s Apple Acres’ Caramel Apple
The thick house-made caramel at Abel’s Apple Acres is the best we’ve tried from the Apple Hill area: good enough on its own to eat with a spoon (pro tip: the shop sells it in tubs for your late-night snacking pleasure, and it also stocks sea salt for sprinkling on the caramel), but even better thickly coating a crisp, sweet-tart fruit. We love the textural contrast of creamy, velvety sauce with a snappy fall-fresh apple. Abel’s offers several other candy treats, like caramallows (fluffy marsh...
O’Halloran’s Apple Trail Ranch
Patrick and Donna O’Halloran’s quiet ranch, tucked away at the far northeastern end of the Camino area, offers 30 acres to roam, with a popular cut-your-own-orb, 3-acre pumpkin patch that includes both jack-o’-lantern and pie pumpkins, as well as multicolored ears of jewel-like corn, knobby gourds, and dinner-plate-sized sunflowers for all your seasonal decorating needs. (Don’t worry, fall-fruit lovers: they’ve got you covered there too, with more than a dozen apple varieties, from Mutsu to W...
24Carrot Farm
This 13-acre gem of a farm is hiding in plain sight on the less-traveled Jacquier Road, where East Bay transplant Ben Hansen, a restaurant vet, relocated to grow organic produce. There’s a big farm stand featuring burgeoning bins of photogenic veggies, as well as a cornucopia of decorative gourds and pots of local honey. But come October, the sprawling pumpkin patch is where it’s at, with a dizzying choice of pick-in-the-field pumpkins, each one more flawless than the next. Pack a picnic to e...
Harris Family Farm
This seventh-generation farm lies at the far eastern edge of the Apple Hill area in Pollock Pines, at a higher—and thus wintrier—elevation. You’ll appreciate the hot apple cider after you’ve hit the slopes to choose and cut down one of its multiple varieties of conifers, including the cult fave silvertip firs, which have fragrant, gray-green needles on slender, mod branches that show off ornaments to perfection. After you’ve buried your nose in an armful of cedar garlands and boughs, we dare...
Santa’s Acres
Looking for the rustic experience of heading into wilderness to choose your own tree, but not quite up for an unmapped forest adventure? This chemical-free farm, with 10 ungroomed, rambling acres of choose-and-cut Douglas firs, white firs, silvertips and other conifers, feels wild, but you won’t get lost, making it the ideal compromise for city folk. Owner Matt Sorensen grew up on the farm, which was founded by his grandmother and forester grandfather, and in addition to Christmastime evergre...
Hillside Tree Farm
In 1964, the storied Apple Hill Smorgy, a dessert potluck that was the founding event of the Apple Hill Growers Association, was held at what was then El Dorado Orchards—now Hillside Tree Farm. The 20-gauge train that circles the farm’s two glassy ponds was used to collect the fruit harvest back in the day, and you get a free ride when you buy a tree, like a long-needled Swift Silver, which glows with a distinctive shimmery bluish hue in the dark. Owner Mark Visman, who opened Hillside in 199...
While many apple ranches close by Thanksgiving, some remain open into December, and by heading up the hill then, you can pick up holiday gifts and might even find a dusting of seasonal snow. For instance, High Hill Ranch (highhillranch.com) hosts a daily craft fair—with everything from handcrafted birdhouses to decorative candles through Christmas ...
The rolling elevation changes, rich volcanic soil, warm days and cool nights that make the Camino region ideal for apples are similarly suitable for grapes. El Dorado County is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) with a long heritage and an unusually diverse array of vintages, from sprightly whites to big, bombastic reds that make you sit up and sa...
Rucksack Cellars
Roll up to the casual open-air tasting counter, which opened last year, and the first thing you see is a wooden bunny on wheels, salvaged from a local theater company’s Monty Python production. Rucksack’s chardonnay lets the grape’s tropical notes shine, and the seco, a red blend of Portuguese varietals, offers deep, structured berry notes. 3030 Carson Rd. Placerville. 530-647-2113. rucksackcellars.com
Bumgarner Winery
Housed in a century-old barn, this winery specializes in refined and distinctive reds. We love the cherry-scented, high-elevation pinot noir and the smooth tempranillo. Don’t miss the unusual selection of hard ciders, including a citrusy dry-hopped version and a punchy gingered one. 3550 Carson Rd. Camino. 530-303-3418. bumgarnerwinery.com
Madroña Vineyards
Woodsy and welcoming, the tasting room pours about 10 of the 27 estate vintages the winery makes. Rhone and Bordeaux varieties stand out here, especially the cabernet franc, but don’t miss the inexpensive El Tinto, which makes a great table wine. Madroña is also known for its Portuguese blended port. 2560 High Hill Rd. Camino. 530-644-5948. madronavineyards.com
Earlier this week, State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil recognized @rainbow_orchards_ca’s beloved mother, grandmother, friend, mentor, and most famously, Donut Queen, Christa Campbell, as her honoree for the 2024 Woman of the Year award.
“When people ask for the recipe, I tell them if they want the secret, they have to buy the farm,” said Christa Campbell, the Donut Queen and CEO of Rainbow Orchards. “We still make them hot for every order and even though the lines may be long, they are worth the wait!”
