Hayrides, corn mazes and pumpkin picking: The ultimate guide to fall fun in NEPA

In NEPA you can find some of the best fall activities in the state among the towns and villages within or adjacent to the Pocono Mountains, Endless Mountains, and Wyoming Valley.

When the leaves start to turn, Pennsylvania farms begin to welcome droves for annual autumn traditions: taking hayrides, choosing pumpkins to carve, picking juicy apples, and drinking hot cider. 

In Northeastern Pa. (or, NEPA, if we’re being less formal), you can find some of the best fall activities in the state among the towns and villages within or adjacent to Pocono Mountains, Endless Mountains, and Wyoming Valley. Plus, you’ll celebrate the season in this largely rural region against a backdrop of blazing red, yellow, and orange fall foliage.

Here’s some recommendations on things to do in NEPA in order to have the most FALL fall ever.

The Pocono Mountains – Carbon, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne counties

Get Lost in Mazezilla Corn Maze at Klingel’s Farm and Produce Stand – Saylorsburg

In Monroe County each fall, you can try to conquer Mazezilla. It’s not a giant monster attacking Pennsylvania farms—it’s an 11-acre corn maze. Located at Klingel’s Farm & Produce Stand, Mazezilla is a vast corn maze that’s always designed to be a monster of a puzzle. Farm staff will drive you to the start of the maze via a tractor and then you’ll aim to solve it. When you’re finished — whether you find your way out with help or not — you can also try your hand at other fall festival favorites, like a pumpkin launch, or choose a pumpkin from Klingel’s pumpkin patch to take home.

Take a Free Hayride Around Yenser’s Tree Farm – Lehighton

Yenser’s Tree Farm may be first and foremost a Christmas tree farm, but each autumn the Carbon County farm puts on a fall festival for the community to celebrate the season. There’s a corn maze, pumpkin patch, and free hayrides. While the family fun is on whenever the farm is open, Yenser’s also has an “adult’s night out” on Oct. 4 for adults to explore the corn maze under the stars and enjoy beer from a local brewery. Also in Lehighton is County Junction, the “world’s largest general store,” where you can experience the Great Pocono Pumpkin Festival which runs Sept. 28 through Oct. 27. and buy pumpkins for just $3.

Welcome Fall at Honesdale’s Harvest and Heritage Days – Honesdale

The picturesque town of Honesdale is lovely to visit no matter the season, but this Wayne County town in the Pocono Mountains comes alive during fall. Besides fall colors on the trees, you can also enjoy an old-fashioned fall festival Oct. 12 and 13 in downtown Honesdale. The town’s Harvest and Heritage Days offers music, kids’ activities, shopping, great food, and hayrides around the area. There will even be a corn shucking contest.

Outside of this specific fall weekend, you can still find plenty of fall fun around Honesdale. Rickard’s Cider Mill will quench your thirst with autumnal apple cider and nearby Zembrzycki Dairy Farm has a pick-your-own pumpkin patch.

The Endless Mountains – Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties

Go Apple Picking at Russell Farms – Brackney

Just south of the New York-Pennsylvania border in Susquehanna County, Russell Farms is a farm and apple orchard that grows more than a dozen apple varieties for your apple picking pleasure. And it’s with these apples that the farm presses its own apple cider. While most visitors to Russell Farms may be looking to pick apples, the orchard also has plenty of other activities each fall. You can visit the farm to load up on pick-your-own apples, but you can also take hayrides, visit the farm’s corn maze, and indulge in some farm-fresh, homemade treats.   

Pick Your Pumpkin at Brown Hill Farms – Tunkhannock

Wyoming County’s Brown Hill Farms was first established in 1868 as a dairy farm, but today, the farm grows a variety of flowers and produce—in particular, pumpkins. Brown Hill comes alive on weekends in September and October when the pick-your-own pumpkin patch is the main attraction. Unlike pumpkin patches where the pumpkins have already been picked and driven to a new location, at Brown Hill, you choose your own pumpkin off the vine. While you’re there for your gourd, you can also lose yourself in the farm’s corn maze — there’s one for older kids and adults as well as one for smaller children — take a wagon ride, or climb on a tower of hay bales. 

Attempt to Solve Miller’s Corn Maze at Sugar Branch Farms – Columbia Cross Roads

Miller’s Corn Maze, located on Sugar Branch Farms in Bradford County’s Columbia Cross Roads, is a local tradition. This year, the corn maze has been cut in the image of dinosaurs and it opens the last weekend in September. While the more than seven-acre corn maze is designed for older kids and adults, little kids can have fun in the farm’s “little bean maze,” a smaller soybean maze. Many different events, like hayrides, game nights, and vendor nights, will take place all season.

Wyoming Valley and Surrounding Cities  – Columbia, Lackawanna, and Luzerne counties

Drink Your Fill at Ritter’s Cider Mill – Jefferson Township

The first Saturday after Labor Day is an important day in eastern Lackawanna County: it’s when Ritter’s Cider Mill opens for the season and guests can line up for fresh cups of Ritter’s old-fashioned, pressed-on-location apple cider. The flavor of this cider changes slightly throughout the season as different apple varieties become available, but rest assured that it is always delicious. When you stop by for cider, you may also want to pick up some other seasonal treats, like apple cider donuts or made-from-scratch fruit pies. Plus, the farm has fun fall activities like an apple slingshot, a hayride, and a corn maze.

Find Your Way Out of the Interactive Corn Maze at Maylath Farm and Orchard – Sugarloaf

Maylath Farm and Orchard is a local hotspot for fall fun. The Luzerne County farm has several fall activities for you to feel your most autumnal, whether you’re navigating your way through the corn maze, taking a scenic hayride, or guzzling fresh-pressed apple cider. The interactive corn maze in particular is an attraction not to be missed, with words hidden throughout the maze that will help visitors solve a puzzle. In addition to the fall games and attractions, you can also shop and eat at the farm. The fall season at Maylath Farm and Orchard starts at the end of September.

Pick or Paint a Pumpkin at Rohrbach’s Farm – Catawissa

Just about 15 minutes from Bloomsburg, Rohrbach’s Farm is a family-owned farm in Columbia County that offers several fall activities for families to enjoy. The pick-your-own pumpkin patch  is open each Saturday until October, when the pumpkin patch is open every day except for Sunday. If you don’t want to harvest your pumpkin yourself in the field, you can also take the easy route and purchase pumpkins and other gourds at Rohrbach’s Farm Market. Besides pumpkins, the farm also has a corn maze, apple slingshot, and a playground for kids.

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