Your Fall Bucket List Isn't Complete Without These 12 Best Activities

Fall is an enchanting time of year in the United States. As the weather starts to cool, the leaves begin to fall, and the nights slowly grow longer, the calming energy of harvest season settles over the nation like a plush, oversized sweater. And nestled in that gentle but all-too-brief season between the blazing heat of summer and the biting chill of winter is a world of opportunity to savor the slow down. It's also a much-needed excuse to get out and experience your favorite fall traditions or even make a few new ones.

Whether your perfect autumn day involves a pumpkin spice latte, open-air shopping, or cinematic jumpscares, there are some things that just hit better in the fall months and others that only come around once a year. Summertime cruises are great, but you may find you like a spooky Halloween vacation even more. From apple picking to autumn drives, the best way to enjoy fall starts with a good bucket list.

While some people kick off the spooky seasons by breaking out their Halloween decorations mid "Augtober," there's nothing like a visit to a local pumpkin patch to truly spark the spirit of autumn. Obviously, the best reason to visit a pumpkin patch is to pick out a pumpkin (or a few). Here, you'll find loads of gorgeous orange traditional pumpkins — the kind that are perfectly suited for carving into jack-o'-lanterns or creating a dreamy backdrop for autumn photos, especially when your kids are not much bigger than these gorgeous gourds.

But unlike the local grocery store, where you might find bins full of piled-up orange pumpkins, many pumpkin patches will feature plenty of other varieties of both pumpkins and gourds in a wide range of shapes, colors, and sizes. You might find pale white, pink, or even purple pumpkins or sweet pumpkin varieties grown especially for baking into pumpkin pies. Tiny pumpkins that make for great coffee table decorations or kid-pleasers are also abundant. Because you can only look at so many pumpkins, most pumpkin patches also offer other fall activities. Kid-friendly tractor-drawn hayrides, petting zoos, corn mazes, inflatables, and large slides are all fairly common pumpkin patch activities. Many pumpkin patches charge admission with prices ranging from about $8 to $25 per adult, so it's good to check out the website or call ahead before going so you know what to expect. 

Fall marks the harvest season for one of the best southern Thanksgiving pie ingredients: pecans. Although there are varieties of pecans that can grow just about anywhere, including some parts of Canada, these tasty nuts are most commonly found across southern states where they are grown commercially. In areas where pecans grow easily, it's not uncommon to find pecan trees growing in parks. And while it's always best to check with your public park system about any statutes regulating pecan harvesting, many parks allow visitors to harvest fallen pecans. In various areas of the south, foraging for pecans is a favorite fall pastime among locals.

Many private pecan groves also allow the public to harvest nuts for a reasonable per-pound fee. For instance, at The Grove, a South Carolina outdoor event venue and pecan grove featuring more than 300 pecan trees, guests are invited to participate in their annual U-Pick Pecans event beginning in October each year. Pecans can easily be harvested by hand with no special skills needed and are ready to gather as soon as they've fallen off the tree. You'll need to bring a foraging bag or container for the nuts you collect. Once home, inspect individual pecans to make sure they're free of wormholes, cracks, or tapered ends. Let the pecans dry for a couple of weeks, and then shell them with a nutcracker and get ready to enjoy your delicious autumnal treasures.

Enjoying the fruits of a fall apple harvest is one of the most quintessentially American ways to celebrate autumn. There's nothing like the smell of an apple orchard on a crisp fall day. And apple picking is a fantastic fall activity to enjoy with young children, who take pride in picking their own fruit and getting to eat what they've gathered. It's also a good way to help younger family members learn to appreciate the value of American farming.

Although harvest season can depend on the variety of apple and an orchard's location, many popular varieties like McIntosh, Jonathan, and Honeycrisp apples ripen in the beginning of September. No matter where you live, there's a good chance you can find an apple orchard within driving distance. While only 36 U.S. states cultivate and harvest apples commercially, these trees are grown successfully in every state of the union.

For folks who want to really get in on the tradition, apples tend to truly thrive in the northern United States. More than half of America's apples are grown in Washington state, with New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania following in terms of production. These states are also home to some of the oldest apple farms, such as Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, which is a beautiful family-owned New York apple orchard, and named one of the best in America.

Stephen King may have done his share of PR damage to cornfields, but plenty of cornfield mazes are more "Wizard of Oz" than "Children of the Corn" meets "The Shining." A staple of United States spooky season, these life-sized mazes made from live cornstalks are a fun way to kill an afternoon that leaves you feeling completely immersed in the sense that autumn is all around.

Although some corn mazes are filled with seemingly endless identical rows of twists, turns, and dead ends, many contain plenty of hidden surprises. Take the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville, Vermont, for instance. The attraction actually features two mazes. There's the "Big Maze," a 24-acre corn maze of 10-foot-tall corn stalks that features an underground tunnel, more than 100 feet of bridges, and mythical creatures hidden throughout the maze. As this maze can take as long as three hours to complete, visitors are encouraged to bring food and water and follow the maze map on the website. For those who require (or prefer) something a little less challenging, there's also the "Scenic Maze," a 45-minute version with tunnels and dinosaurs along the way.

The Mega Maze in Sterling, Massachusetts, integrates maze games like mini golf, ax throwing, and candy trivia. So does Richardson Corn Maze, the Illinois maze that claims to be one of the world's largest with its four interconnected smaller mazes stretched across 28 acres that make up a tribute to John Deere when viewed from above.

After a long, hot summer, fall is the time to start rolling out tasty Halloween treats. But if you've ever scrolled through TikTok or Instagram and marveled at all the dreamy holiday baked goods, but realized your version would probably be more suited for Cake Wrecks, consider treating yourself (and a few friends or a date) to a cookie or cake decorating class.

Similar to sip-and-paint or ceramics painting events, many professional bakeries offer evening-out-style events where attendees can create something new under the direction of an expert. If you happen to be in the Chicagoland region, Wilton's offers spooky-season-themed cake decorating classes. You can also find virtual cake decorating classes online, such this workshop for $55 on MakerPlace by Michael's.

Or consider taking a professional pie-baking course through a culinary academy like Bake!, the Zingerman's Bakehouse teaching bakery located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Available both in-person and virtually, Bake! workshops teach nontraditional Thanksgiving piemaking (think chocolate chess pie and cranberry walnut pie) from crust to completion.

It's really never a bad idea to visit a farmers' market, but it can be an especially enjoyable activity in fall. There's something purely magical about walking around in the crisp autumn air surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of a farmers' market. In the modern world where it's so easy to feel detached from the food growing process, attending a farmers' market can bring us closer to the harvest traditions our ancestors marked the years by. It's a great way to learn what foods are actually in season where you live or in places you're traveling. Shopping at these types of venues, whether at home or on a trip, is also a superb way to support the local economy.

If you happen to be traveling during fall, visiting new farmers' markets can be a great chance to sample regional foods. Additionally, a lot of farmers' markets sell far more than just eats, with stalls offering unique finds like handmade pottery, jewelry, and other crafted items like soaps and lotions which can make for one-of-a-kind souvenirs or gifts. However, don't think you need to drive out to the country or visit a different state to find a good farmers' market (although that's fun too). New York City, for instance, has almost two dozen farmers' markets to visit, including the famous Union Square Greenmarket that boasts over a hundred stalls, and which is the perfect place to pick up some seasonal bounty like apple cider, artisanal pies, and floral arrangements.

Many regions of the United States are home to a resplendent — if ephemeral — display each fall when the autumn leaves start to drop. In some locales like New England and the Ozark Mountains, the countryside seems to come alive with vibrant vermilion, gold, and rust in a way that feels almost unearthly. If ever there was an appropriate time for a road trip down some of the United States' most stunning highways, it's fall. Throw on a cozy sweater, queue up a little Stevie Nicks, and you're ready to immerse yourself in the bejeweled beauty of autumn.

While New England tends to get all the glory when it comes to fall splendor, there are plenty of other heavenly vistas to take in across the United States. Although many parts of California are known for their consistent year-round warm weather, the Sierra Nevada Mountains feature breathtaking California fall foliage that's perfect for a road trip, and gives New England's landscape a run for its money. Southeastern Oklahoma's spectacular Talimena Scenic Byway is a 54-mile route that winds through the Ouachita Mountains between Arkansas and Oklahoma. And the densely treed Ozark Mountains feature a fair selection of dreamy driving routes to choose from. including the Boston Mountains Scenic Loop.

Older generations have every right to be nostalgic about the Halloweens of yore when trick-or-treaters flocked to the streets, plastic pumpkins in hand, uncomfortable, mass-produced plastic masks disguising their faces. Although things like aging communities and stroads can dampen the fun in some areas, traditional trick-or-treating is still very much alive in many American neighborhoods. And if you've got children or grandkids, or simply want to soak up the spooky spirit — but don't live in an area where trick-or-treating is still a big deal, you owe it to yourself to experience the pure magic and energy of a bustling neighborhood on Halloween. And that may just mean taking a trip to Minnesota.

That's because Anoka, Minnesota, claims to be the "Halloween Capital of the World" and the origin point of the trick-or-treating festivities we've all come to know and love today. According to local lore, Anokans once found themselves overwhelmed with Mischief Night shenanigans of the worst order — we're talking serious vandalism. To give the town's unruly kids something better to focus on, locals came up with the idea of a huge Halloween block party complete with a costume parade. The tradition caught on quickly and grew through the years. Today, people come from all over to share in their celebrations, which include several parades, costume contests, pumpkin decorating contests, and of course, trick-or-treating.

You don't have to travel to a remote German village (but if you want to, this walkable Bavarian city is a lively European gem) to enjoy the time-honored festival of food, beer, and dancing known as Oktoberfest. The celebration, which dates back to 1810, began as a wedding party to kick off the nuptials of King Ludwig (then still a crown prince) and Princess Therese in style. Over the past two centuries, the festivities have grown into a global affair, with cities across the United States and the world joining in on the fun. And there are some pretty fantastic Oktoberfest celebrations across our great nation.

While cities with historic ties to Bavarian culture tend to really go big with their Oktoberfest celebrations, even places that don't have a particularly large history of German immigration like to get into the spirit of things. But if you want to experience one of America's favorite Oktoberfest events, then you may need to travel to Tulsa. Tulsa, Oklahoma's Zeeco Oktoberfest celebration is ranked by USA Today as the top Oktoberfest event in the country.

At Tulsa's Oktoberfest, beer lovers can check out more than 200 varieties of "bieren" or indulge in traditional German food like schnitzel, strudel, and bratwurst. And you don't have to be German or even a beer lover to appreciate the festivities, which often include music from both local and international German bands, crafts, competitions, games, and plenty of great food. Most importantly, don't miss out on that chicken dance, which incidentally, originated right in Tulsa, when a costume couldn't be found for the original "Duck Dance".

If you're looking to get truly immersed in the spirit of autumn, one of the best ways to experience the full ambiance of the season is by a campfire, preferably while holding a marshmallow on a stick with a ghost story or two in your back pocket. And that makes a pretty good excuse for a fall camping trip, perhaps even in the United States National Park System. 

Thanks to the moderate temperature that comes with cooler autumn weather, late fall is considered one of the best times of year to camp in California's Joshua Tree National Park, one of the best national parks for a camping trip in America. That's because temperatures in this desert biome can hit the triple digits during the summer months and get down to sub-freezing levels during mid-winter.

If you're looking for more color in your autumn camping adventure, the Appalachians are nothing short of magnificent this time of year. Shenandoah National Park in Virginia tends to really glow up around the end of October. Or visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which stretches from Tennessee to North Carolina, where the leaf show lasts for a few weeks each year beginning about mid-September.

If you like your spooky season served with a generous helping of chills and thrills — perhaps even a little splatter gore — there has never been a better time to experience a haunted attraction in the United States. If you're looking to go all in on the Halloween festivities, there are a few American theme parks that aren't afraid to go big with spooky festivities, and some of the celebrations are so good they're hard to quantify. Knott's Scary Farm, the Knott's Berry Farm Halloween celebration attraction, features 10 mazes and five "scare zones" with varying themes, as well as a selection of "hair-raising" shows. Crossing to the East Coast, Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights is home to notoriously intense haunted houses.

If you'd prefer your Halloween adventures packaged in something a little less overstimulating than a theme park, try attending a Halloween event like the Castle of Muskogee Halloween Festival in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Located on the grounds of a sprawling annual Renaissance faire that gets transformed into a magical Halloween village, the event includes a number of individually ticketed haunted attractions like the Domus Horrificus and Casa Morte. The festival also features a handful of family-friendly attractions like an enchanted train ride through a whimsical forest of Halloween inflatables and shopping from artisan vendors.

It wouldn't be fall without a scary movie marathon — or at the very least, a spooky movie or two. Of course, it's never a bad idea to snuggle up in your favorite comfort hoodie with a treasure trove's worth of movie snacks for a next-level Netflix-and-chill session. But don't sleep on some of the coolest spooky movie opportunities that happen each fall.

For serious fans of horror movies, plenty of horror marathons and film festivals take place in the fall. Phoenixville, Pennsylvania's Colonial Theatre features an epic 24-hour horror marathon each fall, with a general admission fee of $65. And every October, the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles runs for 10 days and features a collection of horror shorts, animations, feature films, and student films for horror lovers to enjoy. L.A. horror fans are also lucky enough to have BeyondFest, a genre film festival that features plenty of horror in the mix. Other popular horror film festivals set in October include Tennessee's Knoxville Horror Film Fest, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and the Atlanta Horror Film Festival. Many local theaters will also run classic horror movies during October, so be sure to check your local theater listings.