25 Fall Bucket List Activities

As summer is coming to an end, it’s time to think about your fall bucket list activities.  Fall is my favorite time of you with cooler days and crisp sweatshirt nights, the fall season offers something for everyone to enjoy before the long cold days of winter. So get outside and make the most of the beautiful colors that Mother Nature gives us this time of year.

1. Pumpkin Picking

I’ve been going pumpkin picking since I was little and have beautiful memories of going out east on Long Island with my cousins trying to find that perfect pumpkin. What are your memories of pumpkin picking?

2. Take a Scenic Drive

A scenic drive in the mountains is one of my favorite fall bucket list activities. See all of mother nature’s colors, the reds, yellows, oranges, browns. Nothing beats looking at the mountains in the fall.

3. Apple Picking

The northeast has so many places to go apple picking. It’s a fun activity for all ages. At most places we go to, you need to take a hayride to get to the apple trees adding to the experience.

4. Go to an Octoberfest

I grew up in a German neighborhood in New York City and every year our local park would have a month-long Octoberfest.  It was so much fun. There are Octoberfest’s all over the states so find one and experience the German food, dancing and singing the German drinking songs.

5. Find a Fall Festival

There are fall festivals all over this country, it’s nice to walk around in the crisp air drinking apple cider and finding that perfect fall craft to buy.

6. Go through a Corn Maze

Try your skill and try to get through that corn maze. Its a great fall activity for the entire family.

7. Take a Hayride

You can take a horse-drawn hayride (known as a traditional hayride) or the more modern version pulled by a tractor. Either way its a fun activity during the fall season. In some places, when you go apple or pumpkin picking, this is how you get to the fields.

8. Make an Apple Pie from scratch

Now that you picked the apples yourself, it’s time to make an apple pie! The smell of the pie cooking says that it’s fall. Here’s a quick apple pie recipe that’s always a crowd-pleaser. And yes, I cheat and use a store brought crust, it’s so much easier!

• 8 cups apples, cut in slices
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (I use fresh and ground myself)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• (2) piecrusts

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use (1) piecrust for the bottom of a 9″ pie pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, add all other ingredients. Top with second piecrust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

Serve warm with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. I’m sure everyone will love it!

9. Go canoeing or kayaking.

 There is nothing more peaceful then canoeing and kayaking in the fall. Most of the crowds are gone and you are surrounded by all the fall colors; make this the perfect time of year to enjoy your last river or lake trip for the season.

10. Take a train ride

It’s a great time of year to take a scenic train ride to see the fall foliage.

11. Go to a Haunted House

There are lots of haunted houses to tour all over. Some of them are way too scary for me, but if you enjoy them it’s a great way to get into the Halloween spirit!

12. Go on a Ghost Tour

Ghost tours are available all over the United States. Most are walking tours of old houses and cemeteries mostly where large amounts of people died like on the battlefields in Gettysburg PA. You can also take a horse and carriage ghost tour like the one in Charleston SC, Old South Carriage Company takes you on a 40-minute ride on cobblestone alleyways telling you all the ghost history of Charleston.

13. Go take a hike

This is my favorite time of year to hike. The weather is cooler and most of the bugs are gone, so enjoy spending a few days in the woods hiking before hunting season arrives.

14. Go to a Winery

Although you can go to a winery any time of year, where I live on Long Island, the east end is known for there fall activities and music at the wineries. With the end of the growing season, the wineries celebrate with festivals, music and all kinds of family activities.

15. Go to a football game, college or pro

I remember a trip to Tennesee in September and I was amazed at whole towns coming together for college football. No matter where we went, there were banners all around town and on people’s cars, cakes in the local supermarket with the school colors and supporting the local team. We don’t see that much in the northeast where I’m from and it was fun to experience the proud that the community showed for its local football team. So go to a football game and enjoy your community spirit!

16. Make Your Halloween Custome

It’s easy to go to the store and buy a Halloween costume but sometimes is just way more fun to make it. The crazies costume I ever made was a table in an Italian restaurant. Yes, I made it with cardboard and red and white checkered tablecloth. It even had a bowl with Italian bread on top of it! What kind of costumes have you made?

17. Take in a drive-in movie

Well, you may have to look around and take a long drive depending on where you live but a drive-in movie in the fall is a great experience. As I grew up going to drive-in movies all the time,(ok I’m showing my age) it’s sad that 90% of these theatres are now closed. At its peak in the 1960s, New York had over 150 drive-ins. Now only 28 remain, and New York is the state with the most theatres left followed by Pennsylvania with 27. So if you have an opportunity, take it, it’s a great family adventure!

18. Read a good book

Another great fall bucket list activities include relaxing on the couch wrapped in a blanket with a good book and some hot chocolate.

19. Take part in a breast cancer walk

October is breast cancer awareness month. It’s the time of year to celebrate all the survivors and honor the ones who lost their battle. For more information click here breast cancer awareness.

20. Eat Apple Cider Donuts

When at an apple farm there is nothing better than the smell of apple cider donuts in the air. My favorite place for these donuts is at Kaufmann’s in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. Where is your favorite place?

21. Have a Bonfire

There nothing better on a crisp fall night then having a huge bonfire to keep you warm.

22. Make a fall-themed cocktail

It’s that time of year to put that frozen Margarita machine away and make your favorite fall cocktail. Apple Cider makes a great fall drink, so my favorite cocktail starts with 1 oz. Rumchata, 1 oz. Caramel Vodka and ½ cup Apple Cider. I serve it in a rimmed glass of caramel with cinnamon sugar.

23. Carve Pumpkins

This is a great family activity which we did with our kids every year. You don’t only need to carve faces, there are so many other ideas that your kids will have, so leave it to their imagination and see what they create. (Above is an idea my daughter had one year!)

24. Shop at a Farm Stand

It’s coming to the end of the growing season in most places, so stop at a farm stand or farmer’s market to get fresh produce and fruit. There are so many fall vegetables like winter squashes that are best this time of year.

25. Watch a Halloween Movie

I’m not a big fan of scary movies but I known most people enjoy them. My idea of a good Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus and Halloween Town. What’s yours?

I named a few fall bucket list activities that my family enjoys. It’s fall, get out and enjoy the season! What’s on your fall bucket list?

xoxo Kathy

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