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I love to travel year-round, but autumn is a particularly exciting time to explore because of how pretty the changing landscape can be! It is a photographer’s dream and is perfect for outdoor adventurers — especially in the United States. If this sounds right up your alley, you’ll enjoy the autumn bucket list ideas in this fall guide.
What To Expect From Autumn Weather In The US
Weather in different regions of the country during fall season.
Autumn in the US starts in September and continues through December, but the weather varies by region and altitude. If you aren’t familiar with the climate during this time, here’s a quick breakdown:
In mountainous areas and northern states September air gets fresh and crisp early. The trees start to show off in shades of gold and bronze, peaking by late October or mid-November. It is the perfect time for leaf-peeping road trips in the northeast and parts of the Pacific Northwest; just be sure to enjoy the fall foliage season while it lasts before the snow sets in for winter.
In some southern states, especially around the gulf, this is the season for heavy rains, flooding, and hurricanes so I recommend avoiding those areas or heeding any warnings.
Autumn is also a great time to head to typically hotter destinations like desert regions (where it is finally cooling down after a scorching summer). No matter which you choose, each area has some great activities worth adding to your autumn bucket list.
Why Travel Should Be On Your Autumn Bucket List
My reasons why fall travel is a must-have on your bucket list.
If you haven’t experienced fall in the US yet, here are some reasons why fall travel should be on your bucket list:
- You can enjoy cooler, milder temperatures outdoors
- It’s breathtaking to watch the changing colors in nature
- There are all kinds of harvest festivals and events to check out
- Fall means shoulder season pricing in many places (and fewer people since school is back in session)
- It’s your last chance to get good weather in northern coastal towns and some national parks
- Farms offer special fall activities like hayrides, apple picking, and hot apple cider
- There are Halloween-themed activities and events for those who celebrate
Okay, enough background details — keep reading to learn all the fun ways you can enjoy this beautiful season.
Fall Bucket List Ideas For Travel
1. Visit A Hot Air Balloon Festival
You’ll find that most hot air balloon festivals in the US are held in the fall because the wind is mild and the skies are clear. Why not plan a vacation around a hot air balloon festival and enjoy the show?
The Adirondack Balloon Festival outside of Queensbury, New York has been held in September for around 50 years. The 4-day event is free to the public and every year around 150,000 people come from all over the world for it. Letchworth State Park in western New York (Finger Lake area) is also known for its hot air balloon rides.
In Texas, the Plano Balloon Festival is also held in late September when the heat starts to dissipate on the plains. You can enjoy food vendors, music performances, family events, and fun competitions like parachute teams and balloon landing contests.
In October, head to New Mexico for the famous Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. You’ll love the fun shapes of the hot air balloons. The 9-day event involves sunrise and twilight balloon launches, which are a special sight to behold. If you want to experience a hot air balloon ride outside of festival times, you can book a ride here.
And Lancaster, Pennsylvania hosts the Spooktacular Hot Air Balloon in mid-October. There you’ll find carnival rides, a beer garden, and twilight balloon launches with fireworks!
2. Experience An Autumn Food And Wine Festival
Food and wine festivals make great fall bucket list ideas with seasonal foods, festive-themed events, and cool days. One of the most popular options in the United States is the EPCOT festival in Orlando, Florida.
The EPCOT Food and Wine Festival typically runs from the summer through mid-November. Attend in-depth seminars on cheese or watch a celebrity chef cook! It’s a fun opportunity for the Disney lover who’s also a foodie, with fun Ratatouille-themed challenges and special souvenirs.
In November you can also check out the San Diego Bay Food & Wine Festival. It’s full of offerings from California wineries and restaurants. Visit food vendors with San Diego Bay in the background or attend talks with James Beard award nominees.
3. Go Whale Watching
Consider adding a whale-watching cruise to your autumn bucket list. They migrate when the water gets cold, so this is a great opportunity to see whales in season. The further south you go, the later in the fall you can plan your trip.
Take a whale watching tour through October off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, or enjoy a ride through the waters of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary: one of the most popular places to see humpback whales, dolphins, porpoises, and more.
If you want to see orca whales, one of the best places to see them during the fall is at Friday Harbor in Washington. Take a tour of the San Juan Islands for a once-in-a-lifetime chance of spotting them.
4. Enjoy Harvest Season At A Vineyard
A unique fall experience is crush season at vineyards in the US. This is when the grapes are harvested and processed, starting in August and ending in late October. It’s a great opportunity to visit the vineyards in places like Napa and Sonoma.
Enjoy the comfortably balmy autumn weather of Northern California and book a wine tasting. Go on a vineyard walk and see the harvest in process. A lot of vineyards host fun events during crush season, like the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. It’s held annually in mid-October with fun things like carnival rides, food vendors, and grape stomping competitions.
But California isn’t the only place with vineyards! Enjoy wine in upstate New York’s wine country (the Finger Lakes), savor wines in Washington state (like Walla Walla), and more.
5. Take A Fall Foliage Road Trip
One of the most popular fall bucket list things to do is take a scenic road trip along popular routes for leaf peeping. Just remember that you’ll need to head out early in the season the further north you go. If you missed it, here is my foliage guide to figure out the best time to go.
Of course, some of the best fall foliage in the United States is in New England: in early October, drive the Scenic Route 100 Byway in Southern Vermont or the Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway Loop in Maine.
But further south, Shenandoah’s Skyline Drive is breathtaking and the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway runs through parts of Virginia and North Carolina. It’s a great opportunity to check off your autumn bucket list with stunning fall foliage set in the Appalachians and Smoky Mountains!
On the West Coast, drive through the Eastern Sierras in California or explore the Columbia River Gorge in Washington/Oregon.
In the Rockies, there is outdoor beauty everywhere but I particularly love Aspen (Colorado), with stunning views of the Maroon Bells.
6. Head To The Desert For Cooled-Down Temperatures
After a blistering hot summer, many desert destinations are nice to visit again! You may not think of the desert as a premier autumn destination, but I think it’s underappreciated.
Look at national parks like Joshua Tree in California. In the fall, school has started and visitor numbers are lower. The weather is still warm, but much more tolerable. Plus, you can find lower rates for a lot of things like lodging, transportation, and sometimes even gear.
Capitol Reef and Zion are both stunning in the fall too, with spurts of fall foliage against orange sandstone and beautiful scenic drives (Zion’s Scenic Byway reopens in October). Just make sure to start out early in the morning so you can enjoy great weather in the parks during fall’s shorter days.
7. Go Apple Picking And Pumpkin Picking
Probably the most popular of all fall bucket list ideas is going to an apple orchard or pumpkin patch. But apple picking isn’t the only thing to do! You can find all kinds of fun activities to do on the farm/orchard. Try some hot apple cider, fresh apple cider donuts, or pie.
Cider Hill Farm in Massachusetts is considered the best apple picking spot in the country. After you fill up your basket with apples, go shopping in the farm store or decorate a pumpkin with the kids.
Honey Hill Orchard in Illinois is another great spot with 25 varieties of apples, wagon rides, and lots of fall treats. Don’t forget to take pictures in the pumpkin patch, brave the hay maze, or buy some farm-fresh honey.
Shady Brook Farm is one in Pennsylvania I’ve visited often. With games, a huge cornfield maze, and lots of apples and pumpkins to choose from.
8. Go On A Hayride Experience
Continuing on with the orchard theme, I suggest you experience a hayride once in your life if you haven’t before! Plan a vacation in the countryside and head to a local farm (many of those places for apple picking will include this!)
The rides give you a great view of the farm and take you all the way to the pumpkin patch. This way you don’t have to lug your heavy pumpkin all that way back! Some farms also offer special hayrides that double as farm tours with guides.
If you celebrate Halloween, you could take a haunted hayride too. There are all kinds of these rides all over the country. Many are family-friendly, but some are scarier and have an age minimum, like the Abandoned Hayride in Chaska, Minnesota.
9. Experience The Northern Lights
You probably haven’t even thought of this but one of the most memorable things to do during the autumn months is see the Northern Lights. While they occur all year round, the shorter days offer a better chance of seeing them (compared to the bright summer months). Be prepared to button up though — this activity’s “fall” comes with much lower temperatures.
In the US, Alaska is probably the best place to get a good look at aurora borealis. It’s the northernmost state with large stretches of isolated wilderness void of light pollution. You can take a Northern Lights tour from Fairbanks with a visit to the Chena Hot Springs included! You can also take a late September cruise (I took a summer Alaska cruise with Princess and it was awesome).
Within the continental United States, you can check the northern lights off your autumn bucket list in places like Maine, Minnesota, Montana, and Michigan. Head to a national park for a stunning backdrop with evergreen trees and mountains. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a great place to see the lights as they reflect off Lake Superior.
10. Glamp In A Treehouse Or A-Frame Cabin
Take advantage of this last leg of autumn weather before the winter chill rolls in, with glamping! You’ll have to bring layers because it can get cold in northern states and higher altitudes, but a treehouse or an A-frame cabin might feel perfectly cozy.
I give a tutorial on how to find glamping spots in my Get Outdoors 101 crash course, but Airbnb has plenty of options: like the Owl’s Nest on Center Hill Lake in Tennessee. Go kayaking on the lake or enjoy a cup of hot cocoa while you listen to owls hoot in the evening.
If glamping in a treehouse is on your autumn bucket list, book an Ultra Luxury Treehouse in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York. You access it via a suspension bridge and every room has full window views of the forest’s fall foliage.
Tentrr also has its own line of safari-style glamping tents throughout the United States (without all the extra fees that come with Airbnb) so it is worth checking them out.
11. Take An Amusement Park Vacation For Halloween
A fun activity for an autumn bucket list is a trip to an amusement park — especially for fall festival season and Halloween.
Dollywood in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee hosts a month-long harvest festival. It’s complete with special fall-themed sweets and a glowing pumpkin light show alongside their regular attractions.
You can find both family-friendly and scarier, more adult-themed Halloween events at amusement parks. Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida opens in the fall with Hallow-Scream. Head to the Scare-Zone that’s full of Halloween-themed rides or just enjoy the fall weather in the rest of the park. Or, if you’re in the northeast, you might enjoy Fright Fest at the famous Six Flags Great Adventure.
12. Plan An Autumn Hiking Trip
Whether you pair this with an autumn road trip or just plan a day trip on its own, you can find beautiful fall hikes all over the country (click that link for my list of recommended autumn hikes).
It’s a great opportunity to take advantage of more comfortable temperatures and enjoy the changing colors of the fall leaves up close. Plus, a fall hike means fewer people joining you on the trail.
If you’re near Philadelphia, Bushkill Falls offers a lovely autumnal experience. Since it’s less than 2-hours from the city, it’s the perfect weekend morning hike!
If you’re on the West Coast, head to Yosemite National Park in California. You’ll get to experience some iconic fall foliage along the easy Cooks Meadow Loop Trail.
While some regions, like the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, make for gorgeous fall treks, just watch out for inclement weather. Try going in September or early October for fall colors. But understand that it will be a lot colder!
Which Of These Fall Bucket List Ideas Will You Enjoy This Autumn?
Now you have my picks for fun and memorable fall bucket list ideas for your next autumn getaway. Fall offers a myriad of opportunities for group trips, photography excursions, and delicious farm goods. On my own bucket list, I definitely lean toward leaf peeping, harvest season (apple cider donuts, mmmmm), vineyards, and hot air balloons! What’s on your autumn bucket list?
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