As the cool breezes of autumn arrive to replace the balmy end-of-summer days, Virginians are preparing for a fall season packed with fun and endless color. Our boundless natural beauty rich with densely forested valleys, mountains, and hills means we have some of the country's most magnificent fall foliage.

Add to that the seasonal joys of visiting charming pumpkin patches and joining neighbors at family-friendly festivals, and autumn may be the best time to be in the Commonwealth. (Don't worry, no one's forcing you to choose). To help you make the most of the season, we've put together the best things to do in the fall around the entire state, from admiring leaves to picking pumpkins to the best festivals.

Virginia Fall Foliage: Where To Go In Virginia For Fall Foliage

As fall sweeps through Virginia, the state's lush landscapes create incredible scenes as the leaves change colors from bold greens to the spectrum's every shade of red, orange, and gold. The show starts in mid-to-late September and runs into early November and plays out in beautiful vistas of rolling hills and at trails lined with towering trees.

While the first signs of fall foliage start to appear in the mountains in the last couple of weeks of September, the most dramatic changes happen in the first two weeks of October around the mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. By mid-October, the entire state is alive with color down to the southeastern region. With that timeframe in mind, we have picked a few of the best places to see fall foliage to guide your adventure.

1. Blue Ridge Parkway – Virginia

• Location: Rockfish Gap, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains in all their fall splendor
• Need To Know: Visit in late September to mid-October for the best colors, and be prepared for busy parkway traffic.

Beginning at Rockfish Gap in Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway is nothing short of awe-inspiring every autumn as the leaves transform the landscape. Roll down the windows to allow in the crisp mountain air, earthy smells, and sounds of chirping birds as you wind through this part of the Appalachian range. You'll want to take advantage of the many overlooks and trails to stop and pause awhile, taking in all of this glorious color.

2. Skyline Drive – Virginia

• Location: Front Royal to Waynesboro, Virginia
• Wow Factor: A sensational drive through Shenandoah National Park and all of its amenities amid landscape awash in autumn color
• Need To Know: Big Meadows Lodge, located one mile from the Big Meadow stop at mile 51, is a popular spot for astronomy programs and night skies stargazing.

Skyline Drive spans 105 miles between Front Royal and Waynesboro, Virginia, along the Blue Ridge Mountains and takes about three hours to travel in good weather conditions. The only public road through Shenandoah National Park, it's a treasure to travel on its own and provides access to the park's many amenities. The park has many trails for all levels of experience, from leisurely walks in the woods to challenging hikes, plus various ranger-led programs, including guided hikes and educational workshops.

3. Virginia Creeper Trail – Abingdon, Virginia

• Location: Abingdon, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Most of this trail can be enjoyed at a leisurely downhill pace if you simply take a shuttle up to Whitetop Station and take the trail back down to Damascus and Abingdon.
• Need To Know: Best known as a biking trail, it's a multi-use that's also enjoyed by walkers, joggers, cross-country skiers, and horseback riders.

Bring or rent a bike and enjoy a beautiful ride through rolling hills filled with fall color along the Virginia Creeper Trail, which spans 34 miles from Whitetop Station to Abingdon in Southwest Virginia. You'll feel the cool autumn hair on your face as you roll along this nationally renowned rail trail, surrounded by trees treating you to their seasonal show. Elevated trestles offer panoramic perspectives while sunlight dances through the canopy to create dappled patterns along the path. Pack snacks for a picnic along the way or stop at local businesses in the small communities along the trail.

4. Breaks Interstate Park – Breaks, Virginia

• Location: Breaks, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Breaks Canyon, a five-mile-long gorge known as the "Grand Canyon of the South," ablaze in fall hues
• Need To Know: A $3 day-use fee per car or $10 per bus of 15 passengers or more

You can hike, bike, fish, and boat to your heart's content in this beautiful mountain park. Open year-round except in inclement weather conditions, Breaks Interstate Park comes alive in the fall when lush fall foliage creates a dramatic backdrop for its many activities. The park straddles the border of Virginia and Kentucky, where the Russell Fork River carved its magnificent gorge. The park has RV and tent camping, as well as a lodge, cabins, cottages, and a yurt.

5. Grayson Highlands State Park – Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

• Location: Mouth of Wilson, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Alpine views with rocky peaks, stunning color – and a wild pony herd
• Need To Know: The park's high elevation can lead to rapidly changing weather conditions, so check forecasts in advance and prepare accordingly (pack layers, snacks, and safety gear).

For another distinctly different fall experience in southwestern Virginia, head to Grayson Highlands State Park. The park is a paradise for nature lovers and adventurers with its rolling meadows, alpine-like peaks, and iconic wild ponies. Enjoy hiking, camping, and wildlife viewing as the season's colors cast their warm glow all around you. The park's popular Hickory Ridge Campground will close for major renovations beginning in November 2024 for the entirety of 2025. If you're planning to book a stay there, do it this fall or you'll have to sit it out a season. Day-use access and the visitor center will remain open during this time.

Best Pumpkin Patches In Virginia

For all fall fanatics, Virginia's pumpkin patches are where it's at for great gourds and fun adventures with your friends and family. From rural areas and rolling hills to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., you can wander amid piles of pumpkins, bounce along on hayrides, and indulge in treats like fresh-pressed apple cider, caramel apples, and more. The atmospheres at these spots will really put you in the mood for selecting just the right carving candidates for your jack-o'-lanterns.

6. Liberty Mills Farm – Somerset, Virginia

• Location: Somerset, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Home to the largest corn maze in the country with four different trails to explore
• Need To Know: The farm's pumpkin patch opens Sept. 21, with a playground and hay wagon rides available on weekends.

You may come for the pumpkins but you'll stay for the country's largest corn maze, which includes over 34 acres of twists and turns to take your sense of direction to task. Liberty Mills Farm is a family-owned and operated business located just a half-hour drive northeast of Charlottesville and a favorite for folks looking for the perfect pumpkins every year – this IS Orange County, after all. You can cut your own pumpkins straight from the vine in the field and roll them back with provided wheelbarrows for weighing and paying.

7. Cox Farms – Centreville, Virginia

• Location: Centreville, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Dozens of treats and attractions, including Foamhenge, a styrofoam replica of Stonehenge
• Need To Know: While tickets to Fall Festival are required for all visitors age 2 and older, you can visit the Festival Market to buy pumpkins and other goodies without a ticket.

For a day full of activities as well-rounded as the pumpkin of your dreams, look to Cox Farms' annual Fall Festival, which runs from Sept. 14 through Nov. 5. There, you can go for a hayride, zoom down giant slides, set out on the Cornundrum Cornfield Adventure or Imaginature Trail, and scurry through straw tunnels. Munch on local apples and sip fresh cider as you visit with farm animals and listen to live music. Admission fees include a patch pumpkin to take home.

8. Hickory Ridge Farm – Chesapeake, Virginia

• Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Everything you could possibly want for fall decorating at the farm stand
• Need To Know: It's free to simply visit and shop at the farm stand, park, and enter the pumpkin field. You can buy wristbands for kids ages 3 and older to do all of the activities or purchase tickets for different activities individually.

Pumpkin season starts on Sept. 14 and runs through the end of October at Hickory Ridge Farm, featuring Fall Festival weekends and a you-pick pumpkin patch that opens on Oct. 1 and is open every day through the season. Snack on kettle corn and cider donuts while kids enjoy activities like a barrel train, bounce houses, a hay maze, a corn pit, duck races, pony rides, and face painting. People of all ages love the hayrides and shopping at the farm stand for mums, pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks, and more.

Best Fall Festivals In Virginia

Virginia knows how to throw a good party and is truly the hostess with the mostest in the fall thanks to the gorgeous fall foliage setting the scene. (Do you even need to decorate your home with all this outside?) The lineup of our best fall festivals is as vibrant as the leaves, with the best events focused on themes including food, wine, and agriculture. Of course, there's almost always music, art, and other entertainment in the mix for every gathering, no matter the theme. You're sure to experience the best of our communities and warm Southern hospitality as residents welcome guests to these signature events.

9. Urbanna Oyster Festival – Urbanna, Virginia

• Location: Urbanna, Virginia
• Wow Factor: More than 50,000 people attend over this two-day event.
• Need To Know: The 2024 festival marks its 67th year.

Celebrate Urbanna's maritime heritage with the time-honored tradition of the Urbanna Oyster Festival. Watch spirited parades, enjoy live music across three stages, and admire the practiced skill of competitors in the oyster shucking contests over two days of the first weekend in November. Shop with local vendors offering seafood, crafts, and other goodies, and witness the crowning of the Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat.

10. Graves's Mountain Apple Harvest Festival – Syria, Virginia

• Location: Syria, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Admission is $5 per adult (age 16 and older) and free for ages 15 and younger, with additional fees for UTV tours and horseback rides.
• Need To Know: This festival marks its 55th year in 2024 and has maintained its prices since 2021.

This cherished rural Virginia tradition occurs over the first three weekends of October and has brought together families and friends for over a century to celebrate the bounty of the harvest season. People of all ages will find activities to enjoy at the Graves's Mountain Apple Harvest Festival, including apple picking in the orchard; delicious food from vendors and at the main lodge; taking in the beautiful landscape on horseback; and toe-tapping to the sounds of bluegrass music throughout the month. A hay mountain and petting zoo are big draws for the kiddos, while adults love perusing the wares of more than 70 local crafters and other vendors.

11. Powhatan's Festival of the Grape – Powhatan, Virginia

• Location: Powhatan, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Virginia's best wines, spirits, ciders, and beers all in one refreshing location
• Need To Know: This festival is always held the first weekend of October in Powhatan's Historic Courthouse Village.

Virginia's finest flavors come together every year at Powhatan's Festival of the Grape, a remarkable blend of beverages, local cuisine, and live music that makes for a tasty day of sipping, savoring, and socializing. Discover and shop creations of local artisans and crafters while you listen to live music and raise a glass to the harvest season. While the festival focuses on showcasing the state's best wines, distilleries, cideries, and breweries always get in on the fun, too – along with over 8,000 attendees.

12. State Fair of Virginia – Doswell, Virginia

• Location: Doswell, Virginia
• Wow Factor: About a quarter million people attend this annual event each year.
• Need To Know: Purchase tickets online in advance to save on admission and skip the lines.

Set for Sept. 27 through Oct. 6, the 2024 Virginia State Fair is sure to dazzle with its classic sights, sounds, and flavors. The familiar smells of fair foods and the electric energy of the thrilling Midway and Kidway rides mingle with the sounds of live music, setting a backdrop for lifelong family memories. Besides getting your fill of funnel cake and carnival prizes, don't forget to experience the exhibit halls, livestock shows, demonstrations, and competitions that showcase the state's rich agricultural heritage and the best of what its farms offer today.

Free & Cheap Virginia Fall Activities

Virginia is for lovers, and you'll ADORE your options for free and affordable fall fun. They offer opportunities to learn more about the state's rich history, landscapes, art, and culture without putting a dent in your wallet. What's not to love about that?

13. Carter Mountain Orchard – Charlottesville, Virginia

• Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Incredible city and mountain views for your eyes and fresh, hot apple cider donuts for your mouth.
• Need To Know: Starting Sept. 14, tickets are required for most weekend days through Nov. 10. The orchard recommends buying tickets online in advance or visiting on a weekday.

While this activity requires a $9 admission fee for ages 12 and older, it's hard to find a more idyllic fall experience for that price. We think you'll agree once you experience the beauty of the season at Carter Mountain Orchard, surrounded by a picture-perfect landscape and sweet smells of apples ripe on the trees. And if you love your wine flight or cider slushie with a side of history, know that the same family has tended to this orchard and others for over 100 years, with the first generation starting with a small roadside stand.

14. Virginia Beach Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend – Virginia Beach, Virginia

• Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Events covering three days and 30 city blocks surrounding Virginia Beach's famous boardwalk, including Neptune's International Sandsculpting Competition on the beach.
• Need To Know: Parking is limited near the event site, so be sure to use the city's shuttle service or book accommodations with the district to enjoy this fest to its fullest.

Be on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront Sept. 27-29, 2024 for a sweet slice of the state's liveliest coastal living during the 50th Annual Virginia Beach Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend. You'll hear live music on two festival stages from more than 20 local and national bands performing throughout the event. As you enjoy that soundtrack, shop with more than 200 artisans showing their work at Neptune's Art & Craft Show. Then add another 200 vendors selling tasty festival food and other goods. Numerous athletic competitions round out the weekend, from an 8k race to a volleyball tournament.

15. Alexandria Old Town Art Festival – Alexandria, Virginia

• Location: Alexandria, Virginia
• Wow Factor: Carefully curated, high-quality art
• Need To Know: This show was named a top 100 art show by Sunshine Artist Magazine.

On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14-15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., this free art festival presents over 100 award-winning artists from around the country, showcasing their art. Completely free to attend, the festival is in its 22nd year and is held in John Carlyle Square, about 1.5 miles west of the Old Town Alexandria Waterfront and historic district. Alexandria is renowned for its vibrant arts scene already, underscoring why this festival is one collectors should catch.

Do you agree these are the best things do to in Virginia in the fall? By all means, share with us any spots you'd include or any personal tips you may have about these destinations and events. We've got a few months of exploring to do! As you plan your autumn adventures, be sure to check out our road trip essentials packing list to be sure you're 100% ready for the road.