Fall Guide · Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
Fall in the Pocono Mountains
Discover Autumn Adventure from a dome at Ferncrest Promised Land
There is a stretch of about three weeks in October when the Poconos stop being a place you drive through and start being the reason you drove. The sugar maples on our ten acres turn first, then the ridgelines, then everything down to the lake. Here is how we would spend a fall weekend here — trails and orchards and small-town festivals by day, a fire pit and a wood-fired hot tub by the time it gets dark at five.
FallFun
Everything worth doing nearby between the first cool night and the last leaf.
Leaf Peeping
Chase the color through Promised Land State Park
The park we are named for starts two miles up the road and runs for 3,000 acres. Over 50 miles of trails, two lakes that hold the reflection of the whole ridge, and easy walking trails everyone can enjoy.
If you would rather let someone else do the driving, the Stourbridge Line runs its Pocono Foliage Express from Honesdale to Hawley through peak color. It's a foliage train through the river valley that highlights the best views in the region.
- Promised Land State Park · 2 miles
- Stourbridge Line Fall Excursions · 42 min drive
Hiking
Waterfalls, and the Water Gap
Bushkill Falls gets called the Niagara of Pennsylvania — it's a series of eight falls connected by boardwalk and bridge, framed in crimson maple by the middle of October. This hike is family friendly!
Give it a full day and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area opens up: forty miles of river, ridgeline hikes with a view of three states, and far fewer people than you would expect for something this close to two major cities.
- Bushkill Falls · 30 min drive
- Delaware Water Gap · 37 min drive
Fall Festivals
A weekend in Jim Thorpe
The Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival takes over the first three October weekends — scenic train rides out of a restored 1888 station, live music in the streets, ghost tours after dark. The town is built into a gorge, so the color is above you and below you at the same time.
Closer to home, Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm runs its Harvest Festival in early October, and Country Junction puts on the Great Pocono Pumpkin Festival about an hour out.
- Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival · 1 hr drive | first three October weekends
- Quiet Valley Harvest Festival · 45 min drive
- Great Pocono Pumpkin Festival · 1 hr drive | Sept 26 – Oct 25
Apple Picking
Orchards, cider, and the drive back with the windows down
Heller Orchards is open daily nine to five and hosts an Apple Festival on October 17 and 18. Lakeland Orchard & Cidery is the other direction and worth the forty-five minutes — pick-your-own, an Apple Harvest Festival, and a Halloween light show after dark.
- Heller Orchards · 1 hr drive | Apple Festival Oct 17–18
- Lakeland Orchard & Cidery · 45 min drive | Harvest Festival Sept 3 - Nov 1, Halloween Lights Sept - Nov
Corn Mazes
Get lost on purpose
Mazezilla is fifty minutes away from Ferncrest, cut fresh every year, and may have you thinking you'll be there forever. They also have kid-friendly activities that aren't about getting lost. Across the New Jersey line, the Sussex County Sunflower Maze runs acres of sunflowers at head height into early fall. Enjoy the art of getting lost and finding your way home.
- Mazezilla · 50 min drive
- Sussex County Sunflower Maze · 39 min drive, across the NJ border
Adventure
Adventure at altitude
Blue Mountain Resort runs its fall festival with scenic lift rides and ropes courses every Saturday and Sunday in October! Also nearby, Camelback Resort has ziplines, a treetop course, and a Mountain Coaster that puts you level with the canopy right as it turns. For something slower, Pennsylvania Rail Bike runs pedal-assist railbikes down a decommissioned line — all of the scenery at your pace.
- Blue Mountain Resort · 1 hr 10 min drive
- Camelback Mountain Adventures · 41 min drive
- Pennsylvania Rail Bike · 26 min drive
Spooky Stuff
The spooky activities nearby
Hotel of Horrors and Altered Nightmares run forty-five minutes out and are an unforgettable experience. The Ghost Walks in Old Mauch Chunk are the gentler option — an hour away, more history than jump scare, and a good excuse to stay in Jim Thorpe until the streetlights come on.
- Hotel of Horrors & Altered Nightmares · 45 min drive
- Ghost Walks in Old Mauch Chunk · 1 hr drive
Back at Camp
Come back from the trail to a fire already going
There is no gear to dry out and no tent to pack up. Your dome is climate-controlled, the bed is a real bed, and the shower is hot.
Several of our domes have private wood-fired hot tubs. The property has a community pavilion with charcoal grills, a nature playground, and a communal sauna + cold plunge circuit that's even more perfect with a fall backdrop.
