Fall is here, so pull on a cozy sweater, grab your camera, and head outside to enjoy the cooler weather and the incredible autumn colors. Here’s your guide to the best corn mazes, pumpkin patches, festivals, ghost tours, and other fall activities to visit with your family and friends. Don’t forget to stop by a Beerwerks brewery for a pumpkin ale or other seasonal brew after your adventure!
Fall Family Fun
- Your family will have a blast at Rockingham County’s Back Home on the Farm. Not only can you pick over 60 varieties of pumpkins, but there’s a giant corn maze full of “cornundrums” to solve, barnyard mini golf, slides, zip lines, wagon rides, farm animals, games, a “spook-takular enchanted garden,” and much more.
- Troyer’s Fruit and Produce Farm (Waynesboro) specializes in summer strawberries, but they get into the fall spirit, too, with a pumpkin patch, a big corn maze with waypoints and a leaderboard to see how you did, and a giant, fall-themed teddy bear to help out with your selfies.
- Celebrate October by getting lost in the Muppets Mayhem-themed 6-acre corn maze at Skeeter’s Cornmaze at Creative Works Farm (Crimora). When you find the way out, there are lots of other fall-themed things to do like gaga ball, corn hole, and shopping for pumpkins. (October 1-23)
- Bond with the crew while working together to escape the five-acre corn maze at Overlook Produce and Farm Adventure. You can also pick your own pumpkins and buy nutritious fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, and seafood in the farm market.
- The weather is perfect for visiting the animals at the Virginia Safari Park (Natural Bridge). Feed the animals in the drive-thru section, then explore the rest of the park on foot. There’s even a giraffe-feeding station and an aviary where birds will perch on your fingers.
- Another great way to enjoy the season with an animal is at Point of View Alpaca Farm (Mt. Sidney) where you pair with an alpaca for a stroll around the beautiful farm.
Apple, Pumpkins, and Fall Farmer’s Markets
- Spend a wholesome afternoon picking apples at Showalter’s Orchard. Choose from over 30 varieties of apples, enjoy the panoramic views, and quench your thirst with some orchard-made sweet or hard cider.
- Bond with the family as you head to the farm to select your favorite pumpkins and decorative gourds.
- Besides great deals on pumpkins, Mount Crawford’s Mulberry Hills Pumpkin Patch also offers hayrides, photo ops, and a menagerie of friendly farm animals.
- Swisher’s Farm (Fairfield) sells a large selection of pumpkins and other fall-themed items.
- Enjoy breathtaking views from the you-pick pumpkin patch at Every Soul Acres (Keezletown). You can also grab a pumpkin from the pre-picked selection.
- The family-operated pumpkin patch at Middle River Farm (Grottoes) sells over 30 varieties of pumpkins and gourds. Their $40 wagonload deal is one of the best around!
- Don’t forget about the bounty to be found at our local farmers’ markets. Look for fresh vegetables, flowers, meats, baked goods, and more.
Fall Sports
- The annual Fall Foliage Bike Festival (October 14-16) draws cyclists from all over the mid-Atlantic region to Augusta County. This weekend of riding, sightseeing, and activities includes a variety of well-marked routes suitable for riders of all abilities. It even features one of the “finest ride lunches in the country.”
- Run your fall race on the Chessie Trail (October 29). Select from distances that include full, half, and relay marathons as well as 5 and 10Ks. The beautiful, flat course is run on the rail trail stretching between Lexington and Buena Vista.
- Enjoy the fall colors on a trail ride through the George Washington National Forest with North Mountain Outfitter (Swoope). Taking inspiration from the Old West, “North Mountain Outfitter rekindles the cowboy way of life by providing riders with a unique wilderness adventure.”
- Fun fall activities at four-season Massanutten Resort include leaf peeping from hikes and decks, spa services, mountain biking and E-Bike tours on the Western Slope, archery, new Escape Dinners, golf, and the indoor water park. Choose lodgings from condos or hotel rooms and dine at several on-site restaurants.
Fall Festivals and Events
- Learn about the historic mechanical reaper and how a watermill operates at Mill Day at McCormick Farm (October 1). There’s a Q and A session as well as vendors, music, food, activities, and farm tours.
- Dayton Days Autumn Celebration (October 8) and Elkton Autumn Days (October 15-16) are both fall festivals featuring arts and crafts vendors, live music, food trucks, and fall-weather activities for everyone.
- Celebrate the season with beer, German food, and live music at Oktoberfest at the Frontier Culture Museum (October 1): Explore the museum and listen to music from the Stadtkapelle Gersthofen band and Elbe Musikanten German Band.
- Car enthusiasts will love Waynesboro’s Annual British Car Show (October 1) at Ridgeview Park. There will be lots of British cars and motorcycles, a food vendor, and door prizes. Proceeds will benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Also on October 1, the annual “Lost in the 60s” show comes to Eastside Speedway bringing drag races, a car show, and a flea market. The following weekend, head to Elkton for the Myers Ford Company’s Fall Cruise-In (October 7) for music, food, and door prizes.
- Historic downtown Waynesboro will close to vehicular traffic for the 51st Annual Fall Foliage Art Show (October 8-9). This juried show will feature 150 fine artists specializing in various media. Besides unique artwork, you’ll find craft beer, delicious food, and lots of live music. More arts, crafts, and food can be found at Waynesboro’s annual Apple Days Arts and Crafts Show, which will be held on October 15-16.
- Mountain Day is Buena Vista’s annual Lost Arts and Craft Community Festival. Enjoy live music, local food, arts and crafts, and lots of activities for the kids. (October 8)
- There’s something for everyone at the annual Fall Festival at Massanutten (October 8). Let the kids discover the kids’ activities while you enjoy food, beer, wine, and cider. Three bands will light up the stage, and you can get a bird’s-eye view of the changing leaves with a scenic chairlift ride.
- Head to historic Wade’s Mill for the 26th annual Apple Butter Festival on October 15. Learn how apple butter was traditionally made, enjoy tasty food and drink, and shop for local crafts.
- The Halloween Spooktacular Carriage Rides & Petting Zoo Event (October 22) at McGaheysville’s Valley Olive Oil & Balsamics will feature a carriage ride, Halloween displays, face painting, a petting zoo, a DJ, seasonal treats, and other fun stuff for kids.
Ghostly Adventures
- Professional guides will lead 90-minute Haunting Tales Ghost Tours through the spookiest areas of historic Lexington, combining entertainment and interesting history.
- Black Raven Paranormal’s Ghosts of Staunton Tours explore the most haunted spots in Staunton by candlelight. Experiences include Staunton’s Haunted History, Dark Tales and Haunts, Haunted American Hotel, and Haunted Depot Spirit Tours.
- Get ready to face your nightmares at Harrisonburg’s Fear Forest where there are three interactive, haunted spaces. Get spooked in the forest, run from zombies in the corn, and tour a factory haunted by demonic clowns.
- If you hate jump scares, you should avoid Madame Redrum’s Nine Gates of Doom. This Waynesboro haunted house experience promises one of the “most frightening haunted attractions in Virginia.”