The hike Johnson Farm at Peaks of Otter Combine a walk to the farm with a trek over Harkening Hill and you have a 3.9-mile walk full of history and discovery. Text and photos by Leonard Adkins The Johnson Farm/harkening hill loop at the Peaks of Otter at Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 85.9 is one of my "go-to" hikes. I go to it when I want The Other Johnson Farm Descendents of those who farmed the land at the Peaks of Otter now operate Johnson's Orchards (johnsonsorchards.com) on Sheep Creek Road near Bedford. Some of the first trees planted in this orchard were from the Peaks of Otter's Johnson Farm. In an interesting twist, the fifth generation of this agricultural family donated 11 trees grafted with some of the same apple species to the park service so that they could be planted back at the original farm in 1998. Johnson's Orchards is open daily from April to December and on weekends January to March. 24 BlueRidgeCountry.com a bit of exercise, but don't want to put forth the effort involved in a major mountain trek. I go to it because it's fairly close to home and I don't have to invest hours to reach it. I go to it when hunting season brings the cracks of rifles to the mountains, because that activity is prohibited on parkway property. But, mostly, I go to it becausehttp://www.johnsonsorchards.com http://www.johnsonsorchards.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com