Last update: September 2024
Riotous color, historical surprises, dark night skies and some not-so-traditional sights and sounds of the season—New England fall activities are a delight that you’ll want to add to your travel bucket list.
We’ve gathered the best activities across the region to get you on your way and help you enjoy the singular experience of autumn in New England.
Harvesting New England Fall Bounty
There are few places in the world where the fall season ushers in the same magnitude and beauty as you’ll see when traveling from Connecticut through Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Cornflower blue skies are the perfect backdrop for the resplendent carpet of autumn hues that blanket hillsides and valleys as warm days give way to cool nights.
New Englanders have learned to welcome the end of summer despite the portent of bitter cold waiting just around the bend, glorying in autumn’s bounty with a full slate of New England fall activities. Many celebrate the harvest, harkening to the early days of settlement when a bounteous crop meant winter survival.
Apple picking remains a favorite fall pastime with apple orchards nearly as proliferous as autumn leaves. Our usual favorite is Lost Acres Orchard in Granby, Connecticut. This small family-run fruit farm and bakery offers pick-your-own and pre-picked apples in a number of varieties as well as a bounty of cider and exceptional baked goods. Head over at lunch time and enjoy a scrumptious farm-cooked meal on the outdoor covered patio. Weekends welcome hayrides and a chance to watch the cider pressing in action.
There are few New England treats as quintessential and revered as the apple cider donut, and Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts offers an award-winning culinary experience. In fact, you can make a day of it at Red Apple Farm, picking apples, visiting the farm store and sealing the deal with a fresh plate of home-smoked barbecue perfectly paired with the hard apple cider or local brews. Enjoy live music on select weekends while reveling in the perfect view of the fall color over Wachusett Mountain.
For a harvest of a different kind, why not try cranberries. There are few places outside of New England where you can tour a working cranberry farm and join in the fun of the harvest. Cranberry Bog Tours offers just such an experience, taking visitors out onto a working bog to learn about one of New England’s most historic industries. It’s a new way to view the colors of the season as cranberries begin ripening for harvest beginning in September and an unusual New England fall bucket list item to check off your list.
New England Fall Activities Outside the Ordinary,
If you’re looking for a way to soak up all that magnificent regional fall beauty while experiencing something new, you’ll find an A-list of fall activities in New England to meet your goals. Start with the Mount Washington Cog Railway, where steam engines chug the three and a quarter miles to the summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. That’s a steep 25 percent grade you’re covering to reach the 6,288-foot summit, so sit back and let someone else do the work.
Mount Washington is part of New Hampshire’s White Mountain range, once one of the most popular tourist destinations for New England travelers. While in the area, there are other ways to enjoy the colors of nature, such as a scenic chairlift at Cranmore Mountain Resort. Once you reach the summit, take in a meal at the historic Meister Hut and enjoy a different view of Mount Washington.
To kick your scenic viewing into high gear, head over to Backyard Adventure Tours in Canaan, Connecticut. You’ll revel in the full-throttle feel of your personal UTV as you hit the open trail, splash through streams and scream down hills. In fact, you might find you miss some of the color whizzing by, but you won’t regret it immersed as you’ll be in all the off-road excitement.
For an historic perspective on New England fall, take a time machine back to a colonial town and join the people at Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. Costumed historians bring the past to life in this immersive encounter of days gone by.
Fall is an especially interesting time to visit Sturbridge Village as Phantoms by Firelight welcomes visitors after daylight hours to explore the creepy side of Old New England in the dark. Witness horrifying tales by firelight, participate in Halloween games, watch a cabinetmaker construct a coffin and more.
Given its witchy history, it’s no surprise that Salem, Massachusetts also comes alive with haunting surprises as fall winds down, and the 1692 Salem Witchcraft Walk tour is the perfect way to learn the stories of the accused while visiting actual sights, such as the Old Burial Ground Cemetery. A separate candlelit walking tour of the streets still lined with vintage buildings is the perfect way to cap off your day.
For many travelers, no New England fall bucket list is complete without a trip to the Salem Witch Museum. Housed in a Gothic style church, this unusual collection of exhibits illuminates the history behind the famed witch trials through authentic documents and historic objects.
Fall Fun on the New England Coast
As the weather turns cooler, New England beaches empty out, making room for the heartier visitor to get a glimpse of one of the region’s most notable attractions—the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a great time to stroll the sand with your furry friends as dogs are prohibited on most beaches during the warmer weather.
If your feet are tired from traipsing all those trails in search of leaf popping glory, then leave the walking to a four-legged friend of another kind and explore the beach on horseback. C and L Stables in Warwick, Rhode Island takes equestrians with some experience to hidden beach sites. For a less strenuous adventure, Rustic Rides on Block Island welcomes riders of all abilities to join in the beachcombing fun.
Leaving the shore and braving the waves by boat gives you the chance to commune with one of the denizens of the deep. October is one of the best times for whale watching off the coast of Cape Cod, and thinning summer crowds mean you won’t have to fight for a spot at the rail to see the magnificent sites. Humpbacks have been known to make regular appearances through November, so check with one of the local whale watching outfitters for the best time to tour.
Glorying in Harvest Fun
Early settlers to the New England territories relied on the harvest to sustain them as the winter winds howled and snow piled up by the foot. These days, New Englanders still welcome the end of summer by celebrating a good crop, but it’s mostly symbolic as pumpkins, mums and corn stalks become the harbinger of the season’s change.
For pick your own fun, take a jaunt out to Castle Hill Farm in Newtown, Connecticut where you should have no trouble finding the most spectacular orb from over 4 acres of vines. Hayrides open in October, and for a festive way to spend all Hallows eve, why not pack up your flashlight and head out to Castle Hill’s nighttime corn maze. What we love about Castle Hill is that they welcome your canine buddies as long as they are friendly and you’re willing to clean up after them.
If you’re out and about enjoying the fall colors to the north, try Hathaway Farm and Corn Maze in Rutland, Vermont, voted the number 2 corn maze in the nation and Yankee Magazine’s number one choice in 2012. Each year, the folks at Hathaway dream up something special for fall travelers and then deliver it across a 13-acre maze. Clues will guide you across 3 bridges and out over wondrous views of the Vermont countryside.
If you aren’t interested in picking but want some pumpkin related fun, then Damariscotta, Maine has a New England Fall Activity for you. The Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta sees pumpkins carved, painted, dropped and weighed for cash prizes. Pumpkins are then carved by master artists into sailing vessels for the pinnacle event at the festival: the Pumpkin Regatta. Pumpkin boats are sailed down the Damariscotta River or powered by “wicked nice motors.” This is one pumpkin laden festival with more events than you’ll probably be able to fit into a single day, so check out the schedule and choose wisely.
New England Fall Activities – Festivals and Fairs Abound
Given the area’s farming heritage, it’s no wonder that New England’s slate of fall activities includes a range of fairs across the four states. Of course, the granddaddy of them all is the Eastern States Exposition, more commonly known as the Big E. Each year, beginning in mid-September, the fairgrounds in Agawam, Massachusetts open their doors, saying goodbye to summer with a full slate of fall fun.
You’ll find livestock on display as well as arts, crafts and the ever-present new mop of the year. You can enjoy native edibles from each of the state pavilions as well as state-inspired art and other cultural displays. We usually make our way directly to the Maine pavilion, grab a lobster roll and then begin our stroll through the buildings. Then it’s off to watch the chicks hatch and to grab an éclair.
While the Big E offers the largest in fair delights throughout New England, individual counties and towns have also been known to put on a good show. Here are some of the largest and most well-recognized throughout the New England States:
Connecticut
September
Highlights: first class animal competitions and exhibits, carnival rides and games on the midway
Maine
October
Highlights: livestock shows, harness racing, horse pulling culinary contests and a skillet toss
Massachusetts
October
Highlights: Canine competitions (see how much you look like your dog), livestock shows, pumpkin and scarecrow contests, animal exhibits
New Hampshire
September
Highlights: Livestock pulls and live entertainment
New England Fall, It’s the Best Time of Year for Food
Fall in New England serves up some of the region’s most iconic fare, through festivals and culinary contests. One of the most celebrated takes place in October as travelers join locals to learn about shellfish of the Massachusetts coast. Oysterfest in Wellfleet offers live entertainment, culinary delights featuring the famed oyster as well as the chance to win the region’s only oyster shucking contest. If you don’t know how to compete, take an oyster shucking lesson, offered at the fair.
If you’ve never heard of a Fluffernutter, you probably aren’t alone. The regional sandwich, comprised of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, might not be world renowned, but it is a New England staple, and one of the few iconic foods to get its very own festival.
What the Fluff takes place in late September, sharing and commemorating just about anything related to marshmallow fluff, but particularly the peanut butter and fluff creation. You’ll find fluff just about everywhere you go in Somerville during the festival and also have the opportunity to test your fluff trivia knowledge. That’s a New England fall bucket list item you probably never considered.
When you live in York, Maine, harvest takes on a different meaning than it does in other parts of the country. Instead of bringing in the sheaves, locals celebrate the bounties of the sea. Harvestfest takes place on the beach each October where the York Elks Lodge serves up lobster, crab and tuna rolls. For more mouth-watering seafood served on the beach, the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival takes place in New Hampshire in September.
Fall Hiking in New England
If you’re looking for fun things to do in New England, hiking is a good bet any time of year, but takes on new meaning as the leaves begin to turn and simple hillsides become glorious patchworks of color. Strike out in any direction, and you’re certain to find sights and sounds to please the senses. However, if you’re looking for grand vistas and the most stunning displays of color, you can’t beat the hikes below.
The Heublein Tower hike takes off from Simsbury, Connecticut, traverse a steep climb a traprock ridge where sturdy adventure-goers can see color into the neighboring towns. But ridge view vistas are not the only thing this hike has to offer. Continue along the trail to reach the tower itself, where a quick climb to the top reveals that fall color and beauty is alive and well in the neighboring states of New York and Massachusetts.
Immerse yourself in the beauty of fall while walking old carriage trails at this historic driving park. While the stone roadways are gone, rock walls and wide paths remain, as well as the waterfall dam built during the turn of the 20th century. In addition to historic sites amid changing leaves, you’ll also be treated to views of Hartford, nestled in the changing leaves at Case Mountain Preserve in Manchester, CT.
In the summer, the Ice Glen trail in the Berkshires of Massachusetts is like a fairy world, complete with hidden underground lairs and natural stone pathways, but in the fall, the trail offers autumn splendor as the greenery turns rich shades of amber, red and gold.
For a quick jaunt to scenic views, visit Haystack Mountain in the northwest corner of Connecticut. A quick hike leads to a ridgetop tower. You won’t see much from the ground, but climb the stairs inside and a new world of color emerges as you look out over the hills of Connecticut and the Taconic Mountains of New York.
New England Fall Activities for Travelers
The blanket of changing leaves brings nearly 4 million visitors to the New England states each fall, and it’s little wonder. Small historic town charm set against a back drop of stunning autumn color is worth a flight or two. Combine it with the opportunity to stay in a quintessential bed and breakfast or inn and the multiple of fall activities on tap, and you just might have the makings of the vacation of a lifetime.
More New England Travel Adventures and Insights
