11 min read
Best Fall Activities in Lancaster for Families [2023]
By: Amanda Witherow | August 23, 2023
Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and apple cider, oh my! Fall is on its way to Lancaster County. Accompanying the cooler weather and changing leaves, fall brings an abundance of fun family activities to experience around Lancaster.
Whether you love taking in Lancaster’s colorful foliage, participating in fall-themed events, or channeling your spooky side, there is never a shortage of activities for you and your littles to enjoy this harvest season in Lancaster County.
Visitors, new residents, and natives alike are sure to find something in this list to keep busy!
Lancaster Staples for Fall Fun
Cherry Crest Adventure Farm
Open Thursdays to Saturdays September 15 to November 4, 2023
Full of fun, education, and adventure, Cherry Crest Adventure Farm offers 60 attractions on 25 acres of land. You and your family can laugh and learn your way through the themed corn maze, farm wagon tour, bee barn exhibit, hay chute, animal grove, and so many more attractions.
Special Fall Events:
- Saturday, September 16: Hometown Heroes Festival
- Fridays and Saturdays starting Sept 15: Flashlight Maze
- Friday, October 27: Trick or Treat
- Saturday, November 4: Pumpkin Madness Festival
PA Renaissance Faire
Saturdays and Sundays from August 19 through October 29, 2023
Travel back in time at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire! Meet kings and queens, watch an exciting joust, and enjoy a turkey leg as big as your head. Each week has a different theme and will showcase a different experience. With immersive experiences around every corner you will witness history right before your eyes.
Cherry Hill Orchards
You know what is better than fresh produce? Fresh produce that you picked yourself. Take the family to Cherry Hill Orchards to pick your own peaches, apples, and pumpkins! Visit their website to see what produce is in season before you head out for a fun-filled afternoon in the orchard.
While you are there, be sure to visit their farmer’s market just down the road to shop for fresh produce, baked goods, flowers, and more!
Strasburg Railroad
All Aboard! The Strasburg Railroad is a local favorite for a family-friendly experience. Hop on to take a ride through Lancaster’s beautiful farmland and fall foliage. Stop at one of the picnic groves or playgrounds and catch another train on the way back. Learn all about locomotives with one of the many tours.
It’s a big day when celebrities like Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends roll into town! This 45-minutes train ride is pulled by the fully operational Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and Friends will be at the Strasburg Railroad from September 14 to September 18.
Corn Cob Acres
Open weekends, Labor Day Weekend through the end of October.
Celebrate the fall season by creating lifelong memories at Corn Cob Acres. A fall family favorite with over 50 activities for kids of all ages, Corn Cob Acres will have you and your family adventuring all day long. Take a hayride, paint pumpkins, feed goats, see the pigs race, climb a pyramid of straw bales, walk through the cornfield trail, and many other fun-filled farm activities. End the season with their Halloween Party on Sunday, October 29.
Country Barn
Open Now to October 29
When you think of fall, you think of pumpkin picking. You will definitely want to stop by The Country Barn for picking your own pumpkin. Jump on one of their wagons and ride out to their pumpkin patch. Finding your perfect pumpkin won’t be too hard with over 10 acres of pumpkins to pick from. Looking for pre-picked pumpkins, head to their Farm Market!
After you’ve found your pumpkins and celebrated the season with them, be sure to come back on November 4 for Pumpkin Demolition Day!
Old Windmill Farm
Explore a working farm and learn about the Amish life at Old Windmill Farm. Take a hayride farm tour and meet the animals, milk cows, and gather eggs. Hop on one of the barrel train rides. Join a garden tour to plant seeds and harvest vegetables.
Join them between September 6 and November 30 for their seasonal Farmhouse Experience. Try your hand at making fresh cider, baking bread, and churning butter. Afterwards, sit down with your family to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Dutch Wonderland
Open Saturdays and Sundays in October
Ready for some Spooktacular family fun? Happy Hauntings at Dutch Wonderland is a fun, fall event featuring themed rides, special entertainment, yummy treats, and the Trick-or-Treat Trail.
Oregon Dairy
Open Every Weekend from September 22 to November 5, 2023
Head over to Oregon Dairy and partake in the “Discover Lancaster” Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch! Fall! Enjoy activities like barrel trains, pedal tractors, a jump pad, and corn launcher! Hop on the new ride, The Barnyard Express Train Ride! Also pick pumpkins in their pumpkin patch!
Hersheypark in the Dark
Open select days from September 15 to October 29
Hersheypark In The Dark is filled with rides and rollercoasters, chocolatey trick-or-treat adventures, wild zoo visits, and festive Hershey Character experiences. Grab some of their pumpkin-flavored goodies and hop on a lights-out ride experience!
Trick-or-treat at the sweetest place on earth! The Trick-or-Treat trail takes you from Hershey’s Chocolate World to The Boardwalk at Hershey park, enjoying 13 sweet stops along the way.
Dark Nights Are Coming To Hersheypark Halloween. Starting September 15, this fully immersive haunted experience is sure to have you frightfully spooked with three scare zones and four spine-tingling haunted houses.
Lancaster Special Fall Events
Tailgating Festival – Kitchen Kettle Village
Intercourse, PA
September 15 and 16
Every year Kitchen Kettle Village pays tribute to tailgating season with a two-day food festival. See the Village come alive with scarecrows, pumpkins and corn shocks. Enjoy delicious fall food and seasonal themed events!
Lancaster Balloon Festival and County Fair
Bird-in-Hand, PA
September 14 - 17
This family-friendly one-of-a-kind event features big hot air balloons, food, and music! You can fly in one or take in the beautiful sights on the ground.
Lititz Craft Beer Fest
Lititz, PA
September 14 - 17
This charity-fundraising event features live music, great local food trucks, and more than 80 craft breweries with 150+ offerings to sample. Also enjoy the homebrew competition!
The Legacy of Sleepy Hollow – Strasburg Railroad
Strasburg, PA
Thursdays to Sundays October 6 to November 5
You know the story of Sleepy Hollow but do you know the story of the great-great-granddaughter of the legendary Ichabod Crane? Join Isabel Crane as she takes you on a frightful journey filled with sword fights, ghosts, and a centuries-old curse surrounding her family.
The Spooky Scoot – Strasburg Scooter Tours
Strasburg, PA
Select Dates October 6 - October 28
Hop aboard your scooter for the only motorized ghost tour in Lancaster County. Visit some of Lancaster County's best haunts as you travel along eerie back roads, make stops to hear local folklore and see the lesser-known haunted side of Lancaster County.
Harvest Days – Landis Valley Museum
Lancaster, PA
October 7 and 8
Harvest Days is Landis Valley’s oldest and largest family event. Come see demonstrations, visit exhibits, listen to live music, and enjoy children’s activities. Taste heirloom varieties of apples and watch them turn into apple butter and apple cider! Witness wool turn from sheep to shawl. Pick a pumpkin of your very own and then decorate it.
This year’s event offers food demonstrations such as making apple butter and sauerkraut, processing pork, bake oven and hearth cooking; craft demonstrations such as coopering, blacksmith, leather, brooms, pottery, millinery, weaving, woodwork, and more; craft sales where you can buy jams & jellies, pottery, soap, candles, and more; and kid’s activities such as a pumpkin patch and crafts!
Manheim Community Farm Show
Manheim, PA
October 9 - 13
Every October the Manheim community gets together to celebrate their town and agriculture. Enjoy all things farm! From livestock to tractors, baked goods to crafts you won’t want to miss this community fun!
Lancaster County Restaurant Week
Participating restaurants and bakeries in Lancaster County
October 9 - 15
One thing that makes Lancaster special is the wide variety of cuisine that it offers. Now is your chance to enjoy all those by supporting local restaurants. Continue to visit their website to see the list of incredible eateries, bakeries, restaurants, pubs, bars, and cafes so you can plan your week!
Pumpkin Patch Train Rides – Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad
Middletown, PA
October 14 & 15, October 21 & 22
This ride stops at a special pumpkin patch along the line where each passenger may go and select their very own pumpkin.
Yummie's Halloween Boo Bash – Kitchen Kettle Village
Intercourse, PA
Saturday October 28
Visits Kitchen Kettle Village for the perfect recipe for Halloween fun! Enjoy a meal, some colorful characters, including Yummie, a costume contest, whoopie pie making experience, special treats and more.
Fall Fairs
September 19-22
September 26 - 30
September 27-29
October 4 -7
Picking the Perfect Pumpkin
Lancaster Hiking
Local fall activities in Lancaster can definitely keep the family busy all season long, but if you're looking for a more low-key experience, try getting out into nature. Breathe the crisp cool air and take in the colors of fall on one of the many local hiking trails.
Here are a few of our favorite hiking spots:
- Turkey Hill Trail
- Chickies Rock
- Steinman Run Nature Preserve
- Grubb Lake
- Tucquan Glen Nature Preserve
- Reed Run Nature Preserve
- Conestoga Trail
- Middle Creek Millstone Trail
- Trout Run Nature Preserve
- Fishing Creek Nature Preserve
- Ferncliff Wildflower and Wildlife Preserve
- Homewood Nature Preserve
- Rannels Kettle Run
Ready, Set, Celebrate Fall in Lancaster!
We hope this list helps your family jumpstart your fall fun in beautiful Lancaster County this year! And if you have more ideas that we should include in next year's list, please leave them in the comments!
*Please confirm days and times on event websites in case of changes that may have occurred after this post's publication.
