As summer shifts into fall, you might be itching to trade city streets for winding country roads and grocery store produce sections for apple orchards. Less than two hours from Philadelphia, you can find small towns celebrating the season with fall festivals, sweeping views of changing leaves, and wooded trails perfect for crisp weather hikes.
Put on a comfy sweater, grab a warm drink, and hit the road for one of these fall day trips to these nearby destinations.
New Hope (Bucks County)
Travel time: ~50 minutes from Philadelphia
The charming town of New Hope is a solid day trip any time of year, but the fall season brings cooler temps and autumn colors to the riverfront town.
Known as an artists’ enclave, New Hope has several galleries and independent shops to explore, as well as the famed Bucks County Playhouse. To drink in fall scenery, walk or bike the historic Delaware Canal Towpath Trail along the riverside or ride the New Hope Railroad, which offers a special “Fall Foliage Excursion” that takes leaf-peeping passengers through Bucks County from a train station in the center of town. Nearby, the Cuttalossa Valley Historic District is a particularly scenic detour, especially in the fall.
Before you head back to the city, spend time dining along the river at a top local restaurant like Stella at the Ghost Light Inn.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Monroe, Pike, and Northampton counties)
Travel time: ~1 hour and 45 minutes from Philadelphia to the southern entrance of the park
The fall season brings red, orange, and gold foliage to the dramatic scenery of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, where the Delaware River cuts through the Kittatinny Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains.
Head to Delaware Water Gap for autumnal views of the area’s landscape, including its many waterfalls, like the 150-foot Raymondskill Falls, the tallest waterfall in Pennsylvania. The Water Gap is also home to excellent hiking and kayaking opportunities and historic sites like Millbrook Village, a recreation of a 19th-century mill town.
Lancaster County
Travel time: ~1 hour and 30 minutes from Philadelphia to Lancaster City
Make your way to Lancaster County for the rolling hills of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, where you’ll find Pennsylvania German heritage sites, authentic Amish cooking, and scenic farmland.
The city of Lancaster itself is home to Lancaster Central Market, the country’s oldest farmers market, which still boasts a lively public market with fresh produce and home-cooked eats. Venture outside the city itself for a scenic drive—watch for buggies!—to small towns like Bird-in-Hand and Ronks, where you can grab Amish baked goods at gems like Bird-in-Hand Bake Shop and feast at Pennsylvania Dutch eateries like Dienner’s Country Restaurant.
The Brandywine Valley (Chester County)
Travel time: ~45 minutes from Philadelphia
The beautiful Brandywine Valley in Chester County is home to Longwood Gardens, worth a day trip in its own right, but also scenic drives and a can’t-miss art museum. Longwood, a public garden in Kennett Square made up of more than 1,000 acres of indoor and outdoor gardens and exhibits, features changing colors as well as autumnal attractions like the Chrysanthemum Festival, which opens Oct. 16.
After a few (or several) hours spent at Longwood, you might take a scenic drive along the Brandywine Valley National Scenic Byway, stopping at the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford for a fascinating collection of American art in a restored grist mill.
Southeastern Pennsylvania apple orchards
Travel time: ~30 minutes to an hour from Philadelphia, depending on the orchard
The cooler temperatures of fall mean it’s prime apple season in Pennsylvania, and Philadelphians can find many local orchards within a short drive. Agritourism destinations like Linvilla Orchards (just 30 minutes from the city in Media) offer apple picking as well as several additional opportunities for fall fun, like hayrides, a corn maze, a farm market, and more. Other orchards worth visiting for apple picking include Solebury Orchards in New Hope, Highland Orchards in West Chester, and Indian Orchards near Media.
French Creek State Park (Chester and Berks counties)
Travel time: ~1 hour from Philadelphia
The more than 7,000 acres of stunning Schuylkill Highlands wilderness that make up French Creek State Park are merely an hour’s drive from Philadelphia. Here, visitors can hike more than 35 miles of trails in the largest block of forest between Washington, D.C. and New York and paddle and fish two lakes—the warm-water Hopewell Lake and the cold-water Scotts Run Lake.
For history lovers, the park also surrounds Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site and its restored iron blast furnace.
Jim Thorpe (Carbon County)
Travel time: ~1 hour and 30 minutes from Philadelphia
Jim Thorpe, also known as “the Switzerland of America,” is a scenic little town nestled within the southern Pocono Mountains. Jim Thorpe hosts its Fall Foliage Festival during the first three weekends of October, when live music, arts-and-crafts sellers, and food and drink vendors take over downtown.
You can also hike nearby trails, grab a scenic fall foliage ride through the Lehigh Gorge on the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, and wander the local shops while admiring the historic architecture of downtown Jim Thorpe.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Kempton (Berks County)
Travel time: ~1 hour and 30 minutes from Philadelphia
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is a favorite spot for birding enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys watching hundreds of majestic raptors (birds of prey like eagles, falcons, and hawks) soar through the sky. Fall is the absolute best time to visit the sanctuary because that’s when thousands of migrating birds pass through Hawk Mountain. Take the Lookout Trail to get to the top of Hawk Mountain, where you’ll be afforded stunning views of the surrounding landscape as well as a front-row seat to this part of the Atlantic Flyway.
Hawk Mountain updates its hawk count daily, so you can see what types of raptors are being spotted at the mountain. Between mid-September and mid-October, thousands of birds will make their way past the mountain!
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Related: 10 apple orchards in Pennsylvania perfect for apple picking & fall fun
