Fruit Trees for Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa and Gloversville, New York

On January 27, 1994, NOAA's Saratoga Springs 4 SW station, on the lowland southwest of the city at 326 feet, read −33°F, the coldest in its record. In the same cold snap Gloversville, nearly 500 feet higher in the Adirondack foothills, read −27°F. That's the pattern behind fruit trees for Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa and Gloversville: on a still, clear night the cold settles into the low ground, so the spot you plant on matters as much as the town you live in.

The map covers the north side of the Capital Region and the east end of the Mohawk Valley: Saratoga Lake, Malta and Ballston Lake, Wilton and Gansevoort, Greenfield and Corinth, Galway and the south end of Great Sacandaga Lake, Gloversville and Johnstown, the Mohawk at Amsterdam and Fonda, and the Hudson at Stillwater and Mechanicville. Type your address in the box on the map to get the number for your own place, and the list of what we sell that has come through it.

How to read this map

The big number is the spot's 30-year planning low, the bad winter night we'd plan a tree around. It leans cautious, so treat it as a safe number to plan for, not a promise of how often that night comes. The MFTC zone puts it in half zones, and the typical winter is an average year's coldest night, the kind of number USDA's map is built on. The spring layer shows how many degrees warmer or colder a spot runs than downtown Saratoga Springs on a still, clear bloom night (the downtown point itself reads 1°F warmer, since the reference averages the ground around it).

The middle of the growing ground plans for −26°F, the coldest 5 percent −31°F or colder and the warmest 5 percent −21°F or warmer. Downtown Saratoga plans for −28°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F). That's colder than anything the 4 SW station has read since the 1995-96 winter (−25°F, in January 1996), but it hit −33°F in 1994 and its own 30-year number is −28°F. The coldest places we checked are Kings in Greenfield and Clarks Corner north of Gansevoort, both −33°F (MFTC 3b); the warmest are Clifton Park and Bear Hill east of Saratoga Lake, both −20°F (MFTC 4b).

Why the map looks the way it does

This map sits on the step from the Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands up into the southern Adirondacks. From the Hudson at about 90 to 130 feet and the Mohawk at about 290 to 360 feet, the land climbs through Saratoga Springs (305 feet) to foothill towns at 590 to 850 feet. Much of the Hudson lowland here was the bottom of Glacial Lake Albany, which left sand 7 to 66 feet deep under Saratoga Springs. Kayaderosseras Creek drains the hills past Rock City Falls and Ballston Spa to Saratoga Lake, and Cayadutta Creek runs from Gloversville to the Mohawk at Fonda, the paths a still night's cold follows.

The biggest pattern runs north to south. Gansevoort, Wilton and the Greenfield hollows plan for −31°F to −33°F; Malta, Burnt Hills and Clifton Park −20°F to −23°F. The stations agree: the Albany airport has averaged −12°F at its coldest each year, the 4 SW station −18°F, and the Glens Falls airport, just north of the map, −20°F. The north end is part of the old lake-bottom plain that runs up to Glens Falls, and a wide, flat basin can pool harder than a valley that drains, since most of a pool's cold is made right on the flats. We haven't found a published explanation for why the Saratoga lowland runs so much colder than Albany.

Above the pools there's a thermal belt. Spier Falls, down by the Hudson at 390 feet, ran a median 7°F colder on the year's coldest night than Mount McGregor at 1,060 feet, 2 miles away. In the February 16, 1943 cold snap the old Saratoga Springs 4 NW station, in the foothills at 551 feet, read −35°F while Mount McGregor read −29°F. A Hungarian study of 69 clear, calm nights found the same: the valley floor averaged 6.7°F colder than a slope 230 feet higher. On the map, slopes with an outlet read best at bloom: Bear Hill and the hills west of Gloversville, Peck Hill and Clip Hill, run 12°F warmer than downtown Saratoga.

The foothills aren't one warm belt, though. Valleys inside the hills fill like any basin: Kings, on the floor at 605 feet, plans for −33°F, and the floor within 3 miles of Greenfield Center −33°F while the hamlet, 160 feet up, plans for −30°F. The old Greenfield Center station ran a median 5°F colder than Mount McGregor.

Lower down, cold collects in kettles, lake basins and creek bottoms. Ballston Lake fills a narrow channel of the glacial Mohawk, and the old Ballston Lake station ran a median 6°F colder than the Amsterdam lock station on today's Mohawk. Saratoga Lake fills the biggest hollow and doesn't warm its shore in winter, since a lake shelters its shore only while it's relatively free of ice. The muck hollows in the Lake Albany sand, with the water table within a foot of the surface, run cold too, being low and organic.

Wind flips the pattern. On February 3 and 4, 2023, arctic air came in on gusts to 48 mph at Johnstown, and the National Weather Service in Albany put the coldest readings down to the Adirondack air mass: Edinburg −24°F and Broadalbin −20°F, against −15°F to −17°F in Saratoga Springs. With no inversion, higher ground nearer the mountains runs colder. The planning low draws on both kinds of night; the spring layer is the still-night pattern only. Towns hold a little heat, and Gloversville's 77 inches of snow a year keeps roots warm while it chills the air above.

Saratoga Springs, Yaddo and the Saratoga Lake shore

Downtown sits at about 305 feet on the Saratoga Fault, where the west side, Broadway with it, rose and the east side dropped. Streets east of Broadway step down, and the race course grounds slope east toward the lake basin, the way a still night's cold drains. Downtown plans for −28°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F) with the floor within 3 miles at −30°F and the benches at −29°F, about as warm as the ground around the city gets. Yaddo, on the hillside southeast of downtown, plans for −28°F and runs 6°F warmer at bloom, and Eddy Corners, on a bench just south of it, −27°F and 4°F warmer.

The lake shore is the cold side. Ann Durocher's long ice-out log puts Saratoga Lake's median ice-out at April 6, so it's ice through the hard cold snaps. Riley Cove, on the west shore, plans for −27°F but runs 10°F colder than downtown at bloom, the coldest spring reading of any named place we checked, and Gilbert Corners and the hamlet of Saratoga Lake plan for −29°F and run 6°F colder. Climb into the hills east of the lake and it turns: Bear Hill, 340 feet above its floor, plans for −20°F and runs 12°F warmer at bloom.

Downtown and the benches take anything rated −30°F and colder: Liberty (−30°F, a Cornell pick for New York), Empire (−35°F) and Honeycrisp (−45°F) apples, Bartlett pear (−35°F), Toka (−45°F) and Superior (−35°F) plums, Lapins cherry (−35°F) and Siberian C peach (−35°F). Put the stone fruit on ground like Yaddo, and leave the lake flats to apples and bush fruit.

Wilton, Gansevoort and the Saratoga Sandplains

North of the city, Wilton sits mostly on the flat plain around the Hudson, old Glacial Lake Albany bottom whose sand the wind piled into dunes; the Saratoga Sand Plains Wildlife Management Area keeps about 1,000 acres of it as pine barrens for the Karner blue butterfly. Flat ground has nowhere to send its cold. Wilton hamlet plans for −31°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −15°F) and runs 6°F colder than downtown Saratoga at bloom, the Fairways neighborhood −31°F and 6°F colder, and Kings Station and Gurn Spring −30°F. Gansevoort, at 240 feet, plans for −32°F (MFTC 3b, typical winter −16°F) but reads even with downtown at bloom, and Clarks Corner, in a draw to the north, plans for −33°F. Grant Mountain, north of Wilton hamlet at about 1,230 feet, plans for −27°F and runs 11°F warmer at bloom.

The sand drains fast and holds few nutrients, so water with drip lines. Plant −35°F and colder, and favor −40°F: Haralson (−45°F), Cortland (−40°F) and Red McIntosh (−40°F) apples, Kerr applecrab (−50°F), Black Ice plum (−40°F) and Evan's Bali cherry (−45°F). Toward Moreau and Glens Falls, the Glens Falls, Queensbury and Lake George map covers you.

Ballston Spa, Milton and the Kayaderosseras

Ballston Spa, the county seat, sits at about 315 feet on Kayaderosseras Creek, the cold-air road here. The creek comes down from the Kayaderosseras Range through Greenfield and Milton to Saratoga Lake, and a still night's cold slides down its bottoms with it. Rock City Falls, in the draw where the Cottrell paper mill still runs, plans for −30°F and runs 8°F colder than downtown Saratoga at bloom; Milton Center, on the floor, −30°F and 5°F colder; Factory Village, in a draw just north of the village, 6°F colder.

The village plans for −27°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F) and reads 1°F warmer than downtown Saratoga at bloom, with the floor around it at −28°F and the benches at −26°F. North Ballston Spa, on a bench 150 feet up, plans for −27°F and runs 3°F warmer. Smith's Orchard and Bowman Orchards North are both in Ballston Spa. In the village and on the benches, Northern Spy (−30°F) and Freedom (−35°F) apples, Montmorency cherry (−30°F) and Contender peach (−30°F) fit; in the creek bottoms go −35°F and colder.

Malta, Round Lake, Ballston Lake and Clifton Park

South of the Kayaderosseras the land rises into low bench country that runs warmer. Malta, on a bench 120 feet above its floor, plans for −23°F (MFTC 4b, typical winter −10°F), with the floor within 3 miles at −27°F and the benches at −24°F. Malta Ridge, along US 9, plans for −25°F and runs 4°F warmer than downtown Saratoga at bloom, and Halls Corner and Country Knolls, on benches 100 to 130 feet up, run 3°F to 5°F warmer. East Line, on the floor, runs 5°F colder, and so does Maltaville in the draw north of Round Lake.

Round Lake village, on the west side of its kettle, plans for −25°F. Ballston Lake is the deeper story: the old station there has the coldest average yearly low of any station on this map (−21°F, 1905 to 1930). The Ballston Lake point, on the floor at 275 feet, plans for −25°F and runs 5°F colder at bloom, and since the winter number takes the terrain at only a quarter strength, I'd plant a notch hardier down there. Burnt Hills, on its bench at 412 feet, plans for −22°F, and Ballston Center, 130 feet up, −24°F and 6°F warmer at bloom.

Clifton Park, on the south edge, is about as warm as this map gets: −20°F (MFTC 4b, typical winter −7°F), with Clifton Knolls-Mill Creek at −22°F. On this side trees rated −25°F and colder fit nearly everywhere: Stella (−30°F) and Rainier (−30°F) cherries, Harlayne apricot (−30°F), Stanley plum (−30°F), D'Anjou pear (−30°F) and, where it plans for −25°F or warmer, Blushingstar peach (−25°F).

Greenfield, Corinth and Galway in the foothills

Northwest of Saratoga the Palmertown and Kayaderosseras ranges climb into the Adirondack foothills, and Greenfield's hamlets, down in valleys inside the hills, hold some of the coldest ground on the map. Greenfield Center, on a bench at 685 feet, plans for −30°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −15°F) and runs 2°F warmer than downtown Saratoga at bloom. Porter Corners plans for −31°F (MFTC 3b), Kings −33°F with a typical winter of −18°F, and Middle Grove −30°F. The hills above do better: Hyspot plans for −28°F and runs 10°F warmer at bloom, and Sky Ranch on Plank Road, at about 1,100 feet, −28°F.

Corinth, at about 605 feet beside the Hudson near where it cuts through the Palmertown Range at Palmer Falls, plans for −31°F (MFTC 3b) and runs 4°F warmer at bloom, while Bald Mountain above it plans for −24°F. Galway village, at about 833 feet, plans for −27°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −13°F) with its benches at −26°F, and East Galway, 250 feet up, runs 6°F warmer at bloom. Plant −35°F and colder in the hollows and −30°F and colder on Galway's benches: Wealthy (−50°F), Zestar!® (−40°F) and Cortland apples, Summercrisp pear (−40°F) on slopes, Westcot apricot (−45°F) on warm hills, and Honeyberry (−50°F) and Montana Black Currant (−50°F) in the bottoms.

Gloversville and Johnstown

Gloversville sits at about 800 to 900 feet with Cayadutta Creek running south through it. Historic Downtown Gloversville, Bleecker Square and Saint Thomas Square, on the creek's floor, plan for −27°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −12°F) and run 1°F to 2°F colder than downtown Saratoga at bloom; the floor within 3 miles plans for −28°F and the benches −25°F. DuBois Gardens, on flat ground on the west side, is the coldest Gloversville neighborhood we checked, −28°F and 6°F colder. Kingsboro and North Gloversville, a little higher, plan for −26°F and read 1°F warmer, while East Kingsboro, Boulevard and Melchoir Park, on flatter ground, plan for −26°F and run 3°F colder. The South Gloversville Financial District plans for −27°F.

The old Gloversville station hit −34°F on December 30, 1917. NOAA's Peck Lake station, 7 miles northwest at 1,455 feet, hasn't read below −24°F since it opened in 2008, though its own 30-year number is −30°F. Johnstown, the Fulton County seat, at about 700 feet, plans for −26°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −11°F) and runs 2°F warmer at bloom, and Progress, on a bench east of Gloversville, plans for −23°F (MFTC 4b). Rogers Family Orchard is in Johnstown. Downtowns and benches here take −30°F and colder, the Cayadutta bottoms −35°F and colder: William's Pride apple (−35°F), Seckel pear (−35°F) up off the creek, Italian plum (−35°F), Gold cherry (−35°F) and Westcot apricot.

Broadalbin, Mayfield, Northville and the Great Sacandaga

Great Sacandaga Lake is a reservoir, made when the Conklingville Dam was finished in 1930. It freezes hard enough for ice fishing, so don't count on it to warm a shore in winter. Broadalbin, on Kennyetto Creek, plans for −28°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −14°F) and runs 4°F colder than downtown Saratoga at bloom, with Vail Mills, on the floor just west, at −29°F; the benches near Broadalbin plan for −25°F. Mayfield, at the lake's southwest end, plans for −26°F and runs 2°F warmer. Northville, on its peninsula, plans for −29°F (typical winter −15°F) with benches at −26°F, and Edinburg, on a bench at about 924 feet, −26°F and 5°F warmer at bloom. Caroga Lake, at 1,469 feet, plans for −30°F (MFTC 3b).

NOAA's Conklingville Dam station has the longest frost-free season of the upland stations here (a median 167 days) and still read −30°F on February 18, 1979. Along the lake plant −35°F and colder: Haralson and Honeycrisp apples, Centennial applecrab (−50°F; Ed Schultz saw zero winter injury on it after a winter that hit −47°F), Bolshaya pear (−50°F) off the low ground and Nanking Cherry (−50°F).

Amsterdam, Fonda and the river towns

The Mohawk is a floor like any other, and it freezes most winters. Amsterdam, on both banks at about 287 feet, plans for −27°F (MFTC 4a, typical winter −14°F) and runs 4°F colder than downtown Saratoga at bloom, but climb north and it warms: Rockton, on the city's north side, plans for −24°F, and Hagaman, up the North Chuctanunda at about 719 feet, −25°F. The floor within 3 miles of Amsterdam plans for −28°F and the benches −24°F. Fonda, and Fultonville across the river (first settled as "Van Epps Swamp"), sit on the floor at about 298 feet and plan for −27°F, with Fonda 8°F colder at bloom; Tribes Hill, on a bench 140 feet up, plans for −25°F and runs 3°F warmer. Up the Mohawk past Fonda, the Utica, Rome and Mohawk Valley map takes over.

On the Hudson, Stillwater (−25°F, MFTC 4b) and Mechanicville (−24°F) sit down by the river at about 100 feet and run 2°F to 3°F colder at bloom, and the bottoms are worse: Willow Glen, between Round Lake and Mechanicville, runs 9°F colder and Bemis Heights 8°F. The benches near Stillwater plan for −22°F against −25°F on the floor. Keep the river floors for apples and bush fruit, and put Stella, Contender and Harlayne up on the benches.

Spring frost and bloom around Saratoga and Gloversville

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 medians put the last 32°F frost at May 6 at the 4 SW station and the last 28°F at April 24; one year in ten the last 32°F comes as late as May 20, and the frost-free season runs 152 days. The Sara New York station runs April 30 and 160 days, and the Glens Falls airport, just north, May 11 and 143. Cornell's rule is to expect lost flowers where frost often comes after May 10 and to plant later-flowering varieties there; that line runs between the Saratoga lowland and Glens Falls.

The local record is rough. Spring freezes devastated the 2012 crop at Saratoga Apple on Route 29 and at Goold Orchards in Castleton, just south, which sold 720 bushels against an average of about 55,000. On May 18, 2023, a killing freeze hit at apple bloom: Saratoga Apple lost 40 to 50 percent of its crop, some growers lost all of it, and Saratoga County was named a primary natural disaster area. Cornell's Greg Peck said orchards near big water like Lake Ontario were spared because the cool water held bloom back, and Saratoga Lake is nowhere near that size. In April 2026 a warm spell followed by freezing nights hurt some varieties at Saratoga Apple.

On the spring layer the coldest ground is the lowest and most enclosed: Riley Cove 10°F colder than downtown Saratoga, Willow Glen 9°F, Rock City Falls, Bemis Heights and Fonda 8°F. NC State's fruit people figure 3°F to 4°F can separate no crop from a full one. Open blossoms start dying near 28°F (Michigan State's numbers), but only about 15 percent of apple blossoms need to set and open haskap flowers take 19°F, so the frosty bottoms go to apples, haskap and currants, and stone fruit and pears go on warm slopes, east-facing by Bob Purvis's rule. Don't dam a slope with a hedge across it, keep the grass short through bloom, and mix bloom times as Cornell advises. None of that warm ground helps in a windy freeze.

What the weather records say

The coldest readings in NOAA station records here: −38°F at Spier Falls on the Hudson (December 30, 1917); −35°F at Greenfield Center (January 27, 1924) and the old Saratoga Springs 4 NW station (February 16, 1943); −34°F at Gloversville (December 30, 1917) and Ballston Lake (December 27, 1914); and −33°F at Saratoga Springs 4 SW (January 27, 1994).

Timing matters as much as depth: a tree that hasn't hardened off can die in a November freeze it would shrug off in January, so we taper water from mid-August. USDA's 2023 map is built on the average winter's coldest night, and NOAA station records show the worst night in about 30 winters runs a median 13°F below that, which is why our zones read colder than USDA's.

What you can grow here

Southern Saratoga County, the river benches and the warm hills, −20°F to −25°F (Clifton Park, Burnt Hills, Malta, Ballston Center, Stillwater, Mechanicville, Hagaman, Progress). Trees rated −25°F and colder: Liberty and Northern Spy apples, D'Anjou and Bartlett pears, Stanley and Italian plums, Stella and Rainier sweet cherries, Montmorency, Harlayne apricot, and Contender and Blushingstar peaches. Put stone fruit where the spring layer reads warm.

Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Galway, Gloversville, Johnstown, Amsterdam and the Sacandaga shore, −26°F to −29°F. Trees rated −30°F and colder: Honeycrisp, Empire, Freedom and William's Pride apples; Bartlett and Seckel pears off the low spots; Toka, Superior and Italian plums (Toka is a good pollenizer for Superior, and our pollination maps show what pairs with what); Lapins and Gold sweet cherries; Westcot apricot; Siberian C and Contender peaches on warm ground; and Marquette and Frontenac (−35°F) grapes.

Wilton, Gansevoort, Greenfield, Corinth and the cold hollows, −30°F to −33°F. Trees rated −35°F and colder, with the most room in −40°F and colder: Haralson, Zestar!®, Cortland, Red McIntosh and Wealthy apples; Kerr, Centennial and Trailman (−60°F) applecrabs; Summercrisp and Bolshaya pears on rises; Toka and Black Ice plums; Evan's Bali; and Honeyberry, Montana Black Currant, Red Lake currant (−40°F; both currants fruited well for us in 2026 after their flower buds saw about 22°F) and Nanking Cherry. Lapins and Siberian C clear it too, on slopes that read warm at bloom; trees rated −30°F, like Liberty and Contender, are worth a try only on the best ground.

Roots are the weak link, and snow is their best cover: at Ed Schultz's farm in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, Bud 118 apple rootstock has seen near −50°F under snow with no damage. Cornell rates Bud.9 hardier and more fire blight resistant than M.9 and wants tree fruit at pH 6.0 to 6.5. On the Lake Albany sand, use drip lines and feed the trees; skip the muck hollows. The local troubles are spring freezes, hail (2023), apple scab, fire blight, black knot, cedar-apple rust, plum curculio, voles and deer. Montana State recommends an uphill site on a 4 to 8 percent grade. Our cold hardiness calculator sorts everything we sell by the coldest temperature it has come through.

Fruit history here

Early farms in the Saratoga Lake watershed grew grain, hay, potatoes and apples. Saratoga Apple in Schuylerville, started in 1994 by Nate Darrow and Christine Gaud, runs about 200 acres with 40 in apples (about 40 varieties, McIntosh and Cortland among them) plus stone fruit and pears; Nate died in 2022, and his son Eric runs it with Christine.

Questions people ask

What growing zone is Saratoga Springs, NY?

On our scale downtown Saratoga Springs is MFTC zone 4a: it plans for −28°F, the bad night we plan a tree around. USDA's 2023 map is built on the average winter (−13°F there), so its zone reads warmer than ours. Nearby it runs from 4b in Malta and Clifton Park to 3b in Wilton and Gansevoort.

When is the last frost in Saratoga Springs?

At NOAA's Saratoga Springs 4 SW station the median last 32°F frost is May 6 (1991 to 2020), and one year in ten it comes as late as May 20. The Sara New York station's median is April 30. Low spots like the Saratoga Lake shore run later than town.

Can you grow peaches in Saratoga Springs?

Yes, with a hardy variety on the right ground. Cornell says peach flower buds usually die at −15°F, but Siberian C has come through −35°F and Contender −30°F, both colder than downtown's −28°F planning low. Plant them where bloom nights read warm, like Yaddo or Ballston Center (6°F warmer than downtown), not by the lake at Riley Cove (10°F colder).

Is Gloversville colder than Saratoga Springs?

It depends on the night. On still, clear nights NOAA's Saratoga Springs 4 SW station runs a median 5°F colder on the year's coldest night than Gloversville, nearly 500 feet higher; on the map Gloversville plans for −27°F to Saratoga's −28°F. In windy arctic outbreaks it flips: on February 3 and 4, 2023, Broadalbin hit −20°F and Edinburg −24°F while Saratoga Springs read −15°F to −17°F.

Where are the frost pockets around Saratoga Springs?

The low, enclosed ground. On a bloom night Riley Cove on Saratoga Lake runs 10°F colder than downtown, Rock City Falls 8°F and Wilton 6°F. For winter cold, the flat plain north of the city and the Greenfield hollows are worst: Kings plans for −33°F, Gansevoort −32°F and Wilton −31°F.

Warmer spots, colder spots

Here's the number to plan for at named places on the map, warmest first. Each one is the 1-in-30-year low for that spot: the cold hardiness calculator's number from the same weather stations, sharpened by our microclimate model for the ground right there. Zone is our MFTC zone, set by that one bad night, not by an average.

The weather stations behind it

These are the long-record stations in and around this map, with each one's own numbers since the winter of 1995-96. The last column is this map's 30-year number right at the station, which won't match the station exactly: it's a blend of the stations around it, the way the calculator works everywhere.

Source: NOAA records through ACIS, winters 1995-96 through 2025-26. What the "carried forward," "gaps filled" and AWOS rows mean is explained in how our microclimate maps work.