Fall in Southeastern PA: The Cozy, The Colorful, And The Can't Miss

nicole elizabeth
Sep 28
8 min read

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season, and fall in Pennsylvania is something I will never take for granted! I spent four years living full-time in eastern North Carolina, where I didn't get to experience a true fall season, so my first fall when I moved back to PA a few years ago really made me appreciate it even more. While I'm sitting here, writing this post in the Summer, it's a colder, rainy day and just felt like the perfect fall-vibe day to get me excited for the upcoming season. There's so much to do around where I live in the Fall, whether it's going to one of the many haunted attractions in the area, pumpkin or apple picking, wine tasting at the local vineyard, fall festivals, or a nice nature walk or hike to appreciate all of the amazing fall foliage! Here are some of my favorite things to do in eastern PA during the fall season.

Overview:

Fall is such a fun time in Eastern PA There's so much to do, and the weather is great! The temperature ranges by month, with temperatures typically still in the mid-70's in September, mid-60's in October, and mid-50's in November. There's typically an average amount of rainfall, but overall, the weather is pretty great this time of year here! Peak foliage kind of varies year to year, typically being from mid-October to early-November. You can check out the Commonwealth of PA's website for week-by-week peak foliage maps for the different PA regions. I live on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and there is so much to do within 2 hours of where I live. If there's one thing about me, I'm definitely down to travel for a good fall activity. There are definitely so many activities for people of all ages, couples, families, friends, etc to enjoy this time of year, and I encourage you to take advantage if you're in the area!

Nature Walks & Hikes

Anybody who knows me knows that I love to hike and be outside. In my opinion, the fall is the best time to hike in eastern PA, not only for the views of the changing leaves, but the temperature is usually perfect! Even though they're typically a bit more crowded, I absolutely love a good fall hike around here. Throughout my years of living in Eastern PA, I've done a lot of the hikes in the area, and here are some of my favorites to enjoy in the fall (or any time of year, honestly)

Starting off strong with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary located in Kempton, PA (Berks County). Hawk Mountain is the world's first refuge for birds of prey, covering 2,600 acres with over 60,000 visitors per year. Not only is this a beautiful mountain, but it also serves as a sanctuary for these birds and offers different workshops, lectures, programs, and events to help educate visitors. This mountain offers over 8 miles of hiking trails, including sections of the Appalachian Trail. Trails here are open from 9 am - 5 pm, and if you're not a member of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, you do have to pay a trail fee to hike here. The $10 admission fee helps to support the raptor conservation mission and trail maintenance. I also personally recommend bringing binoculars of some sort if you choose to hike here, because you may be able to see some of these raptors flying over the peak! There are a couple of different trail options here varying in elevation and length, so I suggest looking at the park map or checking out some of the trails on an app like AllTrails to see which is the best fit for you! I absolutely love this area for fall hikes.

Next up on my favorite fall hikes is Ralph Stover State Park, located in Pipersville, PA (Bucks County). I've been coming to this hiking spot since middle school, so there's something so nostalgic about it while also being a great spot to see the fall foliage. This park is open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset and is free to visit. There are a few different hiking trails here, but I recommend the High Rocks area specifically. The trails here vary in length and difficulty, but overall, none of these hikes are super challenging. The hikes also vary between creekside hikes, hiking through wooded areas, and overlooks, which provide a unique hiking experience!

I also love Mt Minsi (Pennsylvania side) nd Mt Tammany (New Jersey side) hikes in the Delaware Water Gap. These hikes are sister mountains, and both offer unique views! Mt. Minsi is located along the Appalachian Trail and offers two different trails, both totaling about 5 miles round trip. This hike offers panoramic views of New Jersey and is the easier of the two mountains. Right nearby, Mt. Tammany, also located within the Appalachian Trail, offers a few different hiking trails, with the most popular being the red dot/blue dot trail. The views from this hike of Mt. Minsi across the water are breathtaking!

While I could go on and on about all of the cool hikes around the area, the last one to make the list for today is the Lehigh Gorge Trail in Jim Thorpe, PA. This is a 26-mile multi-use rail trail; however, my favorite part is the overlook trail. This trail is about 3.5 or so miles with a stunning view of the gorge down below! This hike can also be combined with Glen Onoko Falls; however, I believe access to the falls is still closed off. As an avid hiker, I would definitely rank each of these hikes as easy to moderate, and they all offer amazing views of the fall landscape.

Wineries and Breweries

There are so many different vineyards around my town alone, let alone all over eastern PA. Vineyards are such a fun way to spend a day or night out with my friends, and a lot of them will offer wine tastings for pretty cheap! Each vineyard is different in what it offers and what the experience is like, which is part of what makes it so fun; each place you go is unique! My go-to winery in Southeastern PA is Bishop Estate Winery, located in Perkasie. A few other great wineries to check out in the area are Buckingham Valley Vineyards in Newtown, Karamoor Vineyards in Blue Bell, Crossing Vineyards in Newtown, and Domaine Pterion. Some great breweries to check out in the area are Neshaminy Creek Brewery in Dublin, Branch Creek Taphouse in Souderton, and my favorite for the fall, Warwick Farms Brewing in Jamison.

Fall Festivals

So many towns throughout eastern PA offer some sort of fall festival, whether it's a festival surrounding food, scarecrows, arts, haunts, etc., there is a festival for almost anybody! Personally, I have always been a fan of the Peddler's Village Scarecrow Festival in Lahaska and have basically gone almost every year since I was young. This festival is a month-long festival that features a multitude of themed scarecrows created by people throughout the community. Not only are there so many unique scarecrows, but there's also food, beer, and wine vendors, music, and so many shops! I am also a personal fan of haunted attraction-type festivals, such as those offered at Shady Brook Farm in Yardley and Sleepy Hollow Farm in Newtown. Some others that I haven't personally been to but have heard great things about are Ghost Tours of New Hope (New Hope), Doylestown Arts Festival (Doylestown), Froehlich's Farm Fall Festival (Furlong), and Autumn Alive (Quakertown.

Pumpkin & Apple Picking

This is another great activity to do here around fall time because there are so many orchards and farms to choose from, and once again, each offers a different experience! I enjoy going to one of the local orchards, and even if I'm not apple picking, and going into the shop to buy fresh-picked apples, sip some homemade apple cider, and enjoy a sweet treat. I highly recommend checking out the following places for apple picking around eastern PA: Tabora Farms (Chalfont), Solebury Orchards (New Hope), Styer Orchards (Langhorne), Highland Orchards (West Chester), Hamilton Family Orchards (Coopersburg), Scholl Orchards (Bethlehem). Pumpkin picking is also something I've always enjoyed growing up in eastern PA, and like apple picking, there are a ton of places around here to find your perfect pumpkin! I recommend checking out Kohler Farms (Ambler), Solly Brothers Farm (Warminster), Winding Brook Farm (Warrington), Wilcox Farms (Boyertown), and Shady Brook Farm (Yardley).

Haunted Attractions

I know I mentioned a few of these already, but eastern PA has so many different haunted attractions, and I've been to almost all of them at this point. I absolutely love a good spook, and here are some of my favorites that had me on the edge of my seat or death gripping my friend's sweatshirt as they're walking ahead of me haha. Starting off with my all-time favorite that I always recommend to anybody looking for a good haunted attraction- Pennhurst Haunted Asylum in Spring City. I can't wait to go back here this fall! Pennhurst was originally known as Batesburg State School and was an infamous and controversial institution now popularized by the ghost tales that stayed behind long after the institution shut its doors. Now a popular haunted attraction, there are 4 different attractions within Pennhurst. You can also do ghost tours here during the day. Another close second is Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. In my opinion, this used to be better a few years ago, but it was still an awesome attraction. Eastern State Penitentiary was an early 1800s prison that was built to encourage regret or penitence through a system of solitary confinement with labor. Similar to Pennhurst, this is now a haunted attraction with several different attractions to walk through. You can also do ghost tours here during the day. My favorite of the haunted hayrides/mazes in the area would probably be Sleepy Hollow Farm in Newtown, Field of Screams in Lancaster, closely followed by Shady Brook Farm in Yardley, with an honorable mention of Shocktoberfest in Sinking Spring.

Peddler's Village

If you live in eastern PA, you've probably been to, or at least heard of Peddler's Village located in Lahaska. I absolutely love Peddler's Village all year round, but especially in the Fall. Peddler's Village is a storybook village with several colonial-style buildings, gardens, restaurants, shops, etc. Every fall, Peddler's Village hosts a variety of events, including the scarecrow fest running from early September to late October, scarecrow making workshops, murder mystery dinners, Octoberfest, Scarecrow shuffle, Halloween Happenings, and the apple festival. I definitely recommend checking out one of these events, my favorite are always the scarecrow fest and the apple festival!

Final Thoughts & Highlights

These are just some of my favorite things to do around the fall time in Eastern Pennsylvania. There truly is so much to do around this area to experience a true Pennsylavnia fall season. From hiking, to festivals, to haunted houses, apple picking and more, I hope this post gave you some ideas of fun fall activities to look into around where you live, and if you're from around the same area as me, then definitely check out some of these activities if you haven't already! Thanks for reading, and as always, there's always more to be explored :)

-nicole elizabeth