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Horticulture has an important role in the socio-economic context of people of remote and inaccessible Himalayan mountains. The intensive cultivation of horticultural crops however, has led to heavy usage of different pesticides resulted into the contamination of environment. Pesticide residues were determined in soil and water samples from integrated apple farming systems falling under dry temperate and cold desert (Zone-IV) of Himachal Pradesh, a north-west Himalayan state of India. The pesticide residues of HCH and DDT were detected in soil samples, despite their non-use history in apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) orchards for the last 15 years. Sigma-endosulfan, dicofol, Sigma-HCH and Sigma-DDT were detected as the major contaminants among organochlorines, whereas, chlorpyrifos was the only organophosphate pesticide present in the soils. Endosulfan sulphate (16.67%) was the most encountered soil contaminant in Zone-IV followed by beta-endosulfan, chlorpyrifos, alpha-HCH, alpha-HCH and p, p-DDE’ each in all 2 samples (8.33%) with a maximum concentration of 0.015, 0.008, 0.006, 0.006, 0.007 and 0.008 mg/kg, respectively. The monitoring of potable water revealed presence of no pesticide contaminants in natural resources used as potable water. The microbial counts were found higher in the soils of apple farming systems in Kinnaur district than in Lahaul & Spiti.