Direct answer: The best current starting route for Apricots and Lemons is Olive Grove on The Blue Gate. If that map is unavailable, too contested, or your extraction line is poor, search the gardens around Marano Park and Grandioso Apartments on Buried City. Dam Battlegrounds is a broader Nature-area fallback, not a proven fixed orchard. On every route, check the ground around the small fruit trees, circle the trunk for an interaction prompt, and leave once the required count is safe. Fruit trees can be empty, so “best farm route” means the best place to start—not a guaranteed spawn.
This is an evidence-bounded route reference rather than a frozen coordinate list. The item mechanics and current Scrappy requirements were checked against the ARC Raiders Wiki Lemon page, Apricot page, and Scrappy page on July 26, 2026.
Location names and route risk are cross-checked against PC Gamer’s Lemon and Apricot guide, PCGamesN’s route guide, and the interactive Blue Gate map, Buried City map, and Dam Battlegrounds map. The interactive map pages can load as a JavaScript shell, so use their markers as search aids rather than proof of a guaranteed live spawn.
Lemon and Apricot route coverage
The three-map scope below separates direct route signals from broader fallback evidence. The first two rows are the routes to try when the objective is specifically a Lemon or Apricot. Dam is useful when a Nature-heavy condition or another task already sends you there, but the available evidence does not justify calling one Dam POI the universal best spot.
| Map | Direct locator | Search area | Evidence level | Reader action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blue Gate | Blue Gate interactive map | Olive Grove, especially the smaller trees and ground beneath them | Strong named route from maintained item/map data plus independent guides | Start here when the map is available; check trees, ground pickups, then nearby baskets |
| Buried City | Buried City interactive map | Gardens around Marano Park and the pond near Grandioso Apartments; Residential baskets are a backup | Independent route signal; exact tree-by-tree availability is not guaranteed | Use as the safer fallback when Blue Gate is contested or unavailable; keep an extraction nearby |
| Dam Battlegrounds | Dam Battlegrounds interactive map | Nature-marked areas and baskets when the map condition supports them | Broad Nature-route signal; no fixed orchard is claimed here | Search only when Dam is already your route, a condition improves Nature loot, or a task justifies the extra risk |
For a live search, open the map locator before the raid and filter for Nature or resource markers if the page exposes them. Then use the in-game map symbol and the physical tree shape to validate the area. A stale marker, old screenshot, or empty tree is not enough to claim a current spawn.
Blue Gate Olive Grove: the first route to try
Olive Grove is the strongest named location for both fruit types. Guides place it on the southern side of The Blue Gate, and the area can also produce Olives, which makes it useful if the real objective is a wider Scrappy food run. It is also an obvious meeting point for other Raiders with the same upgrade goal, so the route has a competition cost.
Run the outside edge of the grove first. Look for the smaller fruit trees rather than the larger olive trees, then scan the ground underneath each crown. The maintained Lemon reference describes a small tree with a thick green crown and skinny trunk; the Apricot reference describes a small, spindly tree with green and yellow leaves. These visual cues are more reliable than running toward a generic Nature symbol and hoping the inventory icon appears.
After the ground check, circle the trunk. The public item references describe a possible interaction that can drop additional fruit, but the prompt may not appear on every tree. If the first cluster is empty, check the next nearby tree once. Do not turn a missing Lemon into a cross-map chase while carrying other valuable loot.
Blue Gate route: spawn near the grove → sweep the outer trees → check ground pickups → circle each trunk once → inspect nearby baskets if the condition supports them → extract. If other players are already holding the grove, switch to Buried City or take a cheap observation run rather than forcing a high-value kit through the hotspot.
Buried City: the practical backup route
On Buried City, the most consistently repeated public route is the garden area around Marano Park, with another search area near the pond east of Grandioso Apartments. The surrounding buildings and ARC activity can make the park dangerous, while the apartment-side route gives a more defensible starting point and a nearby extraction option according to independent guide coverage.
Treat the gardens as a compact sweep, not a full POI clear. Check each small fruit tree from cover, then search the ground before moving to the next. In Residential areas such as Santa Maria Houses, Wicker Baskets can provide a second chance at both fruit types. Baskets are not a replacement for the route, but they are a useful fallback when the trees have already been harvested.
Buried City route: choose the garden closest to your spawn → check the visible trees from the edge → move through cover toward the pond or apartment-side fallback → inspect Residential baskets if available → extract when the Scrappy or quest count is complete. If ARC pressure and player sightlines turn the garden into an open fight, stop searching; these are upgrade materials, not a reason to donate a full kit.
Dam Battlegrounds: when the fallback is worth it
Dam Battlegrounds appears in broad Nature-area references for Apricots and Lemons, but the evidence is weaker for a single fixed orchard than it is for Blue Gate’s Olive Grove or Buried City’s named gardens. Use Dam when you already need to visit the map for a quest, when the current condition makes Nature loot more attractive, or when the other routes are heavily contested.
The Lush Blooms condition increases Nature loot and Wicker Baskets on its supported maps. That improves the logic of checking baskets and Nature areas, but it does not convert every tree into a guaranteed Lemon or Apricot source. The official Map Conditions page is the right place to check the live condition before deployment; do not rely on a weekly schedule copied from an old guide.
Use the Dam route as a condition-aware opportunistic sweep: inspect Nature-marked areas, search baskets when Lush Blooms is active, and leave after one useful batch. If the condition is absent and you are entering only for one fruit, Blue Gate or Buried City is the cleaner decision.
What the fruit is for
Lemons and Apricots are Uncommon Nature items that provide a small stamina burst when consumed, but their most important early use is progression. The current maintained item pages list both for Scrappy III, requiring 3 Lemons and 3 Apricots. Apricots also appear in the later Scrappy requirement of 12 Apricots, 12 Mushrooms, and 3 Very Comfortable Pillows. Check the in-game upgrade panel if your client shows a different requirement after a patch.
Both fruit can also be used for Fruit Mix with one Prickly Pear, one Lemon, and one Apricot. That creates a direct competition between crafting and upgrading Scrappy. Reserve the amount your next upgrade needs first; consume, recycle, or craft with surplus only after the progression gate is covered.
To make the search less error-prone, use the Train Scrappy objective when available. PC Gamer reports that tracking the objective adds a distinct marker to the item card. That marker helps with container scanning, but it does not protect the item from a failed extraction. Put the first required copies in a protected slot when your current loadout offers one, then move toward extraction.
The stop-or-extract rule
Fruit runs fail when the player keeps searching after the objective is already secured. Use this five-point gate:
| Check | Continue only if… | Stop or extract when… |
|---|---|---|
| Route | The current map still has an unsearched nearby cluster | You would cross the map for one missing fruit |
| Tree | You have checked both ground and interaction prompt | The tree is empty after one deliberate loop |
| Condition | Lush Blooms or another relevant condition makes the basket detour worthwhile | You are treating an old event screenshot as current evidence |
| Threat | You have cover and a clean exit | Another squad, ARC pressure, or open sightlines remove the exit |
| Count | The next fruit changes a real Scrappy or quest decision | The required count is already secured |
The recommended order is therefore simple: Blue Gate Olive Grove first; Buried City gardens second; Dam only when its condition or another objective gives the route a reason to exist. If the first route is empty, change the route on the next raid instead of spending a premium kit trying to prove that one tree should have produced fruit.
Sources and version boundary
Core item, tree, basket, and Scrappy details were checked on July 26, 2026 against the Lemon, Apricot, Scrappy, Lush Blooms, and Wicker Basket references. Route signals were cross-checked against PC Gamer, PCGamesN, and the three linked interactive map pages.
Prices, spawn density, map conditions, item requirements, and route safety can change; recheck the live client and official condition panel before a high-value run. The route card and cover are original AI-generated illustrative bitmaps, not official ARC Raiders screenshots or maps.
FAQ
Where is the best place to find Apricots in ARC Raiders?
Start at Olive Grove on The Blue Gate and search the smaller fruit trees and nearby ground pickups. Buried City gardens near Marano Park and Grandioso Apartments are the main backup. Neither route guarantees fruit in every raid.
Where can you find Lemons in ARC Raiders?
Search Olive Grove first, then the gardens around Marano Park and Grandioso Apartments on Buried City. Check both fruit trees and Wicker Baskets when a Nature-focused condition is active.
Do Lemon and Apricot trees always spawn fruit?
No. Public item references describe ground fruit and a possible tree interaction, but do not guarantee a drop from every tree. Treat each named area as a search route, not a fixed per-raid farm.
Is Lush Blooms required for Lemons and Apricots?
No. It is a timing advantage, not a hard requirement. Lush Blooms increases Nature loot and Wicker Baskets, so it is a good time to combine fruit-tree checks with basket searches.
Should you eat or craft with the fruit?
Reserve the Lemons and Apricots needed for your next Scrappy upgrade first. Use the surplus for Fruit Mix, stamina, or recycling after checking the current in-game upgrade panel.
Why is the named location empty?
Trees can be empty, another Raider may have harvested the area, or the map condition may have changed. Check the tree shape, scan the ground, circle the trunk once, and extract or switch routes instead of forcing a long search.
