The days are getting shorter, the air is getting colder, and the leaves are starting to turn brilliant shades of red, orange and brown—Fall is here. If you’re looking for an excuse to head outside and enjoy the cool weather, Fall colors and festivities, here are 5 ways you can have a little Fall fun this weekend.
1. Hiking under the Fall Leaves
Say goodbye to swarming insects, humidity and the heat of summer, and hello to 70 degree weather and vibrant colors of changing leaves—for many states, Fall is the best time of the year to go hiking in the woods. If you’re on the East Coast, hit up Doubletop Mountain in Maine, Mount Chocorua in New Hampshire or the Berkshires in Massachusetts for some prime leaf peeping. If you’re on the west coast, Mammoth Mountain in California or the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon are also great leaf viewing destinations. If you’re somewhere in the middle, Aspen Colorado or the Ozarks in Missouri are also famous for their color changing leaves—you really can’t go wrong if you’re hiking in North America this Fall.
2. Apple Picking
The apple—the fruit of Fall’s labor—what better way is there to spend a weekend in the Fall than picking apples at your local farm or orchard? Apples make up the key ingredient in many of the season’s signature treats and festivities—bobbing for apples, homemade apple cider, apple pie and caramel apples—apple picking is about more than having fun on the weekend, it’s about stocking up on an essential ingredient for the rest of the season’s festivities. If you’re looking for some of the best places to go apple picking this Fall, the Stribling Orchard in Virginia, Sky Top Orchard in North Carolina, Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Oregon, Bear Swamp Orchard in Ashfield are some of the most famous apple picking sites in the nation. It’d be impractical to list all of them here, so check out your local newspaper for apple picking opportunities near you.
3. Pumpkin Festival
You know that Fall is here, when the scent of pumpkin spice starts permeating the air of cafes and restaurants across America—pumpkin pies, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin beer and pumpkin doughnuts are mainstays of the Fall season. What better way is there to kick off the fall, than with a pumpkin festival? Pumpkintown USA on Route 66 in Connecticut is one of the largest Halloween attractions in the nation, with Jack O’Lanterns of all shapes and sizes lining the road. The Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular in Rhode Island transforms a Zoo into a Halloween wonderland. If you can’t make it out to New England this Fall, have no fear, heading to the local pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin for Halloween is a tradition practiced across all of North America.
4. Oktoberfest
No list of Fall fun activities would be complete without mentioning Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival in the world. Even if you can’t make it to the annual Volksfest in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, the holiday is celebrated by beer enthusiasts worldwide. Taking place across the months of September and October, beer festivals can be found from Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest in California to the Harpoon Oktoberfest in Boston. Consume copious amounts of beer and Bavarian cuisine at an Oktoberfest near you.
5. Camping under the Fall Foliage
There’s nothing quite as relaxing as spending a weekend under a vibrant canopy of orange, red and yellow. The weather is cooler, but not quite cold enough to require heavier camping gear and clothing, and the lack of insects and humidity makes camping in the Fall especially relaxing. Whether you decide to pitch a tent in the middle of the untamed wilderness or rent a homely lakeside log cabin for a weekend of fishing, you’ll be glad you found an excuse to spend a weekend under the colors of Fall leaves.
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