Our 2026 WashCo Mega Fall Bucket List

Another iconic Washington County farm, Simmons Farms’ Fall Festival is a whole day of fun for kids and adults alike. Unlike Trax Farms’ and The SpringHouse’s festivals, Simmons is putting on the festival fun 5 days a week, and, boy, do they have a lot of activities. Take a hayride out to the festival area and enjoy everything from a huge corn maze, peddle car drag racing, an 100-ft slide, duck races and an apple labyrinth all the way to traditional activities like apple picking, pumpkin picking, flower picking and a trip to the farm’s petting zoo.

Be sure not to skip the farm’s market before you head out for all sorts of seasonal goodies grown directly on the farm, apple cider and baked goods. It’s worth mentioning that Simmons also has a second location on Rt. 19 in McMurray that operates as more of a farm stand, so if you can’t get out to the farm itself, be sure to stop by the farm market.

Simmons Farms’ Fall Festival is 5 days a week from Sept. 12 through Nov. 1, Mon-Thurs 9am – 6pm and Fri-Sun 9am – 6pm.

You’re going to want to come hungry for this one. The SpringHouse’s Fall Fun on the Farm Festival is a celebration of everything that makes the fall season so special. Bring the kids out to Eighty Four for activities like the giant corn box, potato pelter, farm-style ping pong, giant cornhole, pumpkin ring toss, and more, plus a festive hayride. But, it’s the SpringHouse we’re talking about here, so let’s talk about the food.

During the festival, the farm will be serving up eats like BBQ pulled pork, spiced ribs, chicken and gravy over biscuits, rigatoni, old fashioned cabbage rolls, smoked brisket, and so much more. Absolutely do not skip the desserts here – there will be a rotating menu of specialty cakes, from-scratch pies and other fall goodies like the famous apple cider donuts.

The SpringHouse’s Fall Fun on the Farm Festival is Saturdays and Sundays from 11am – 5pm from Sept. 26 through October 31. Click here to get your hayride tickets.

Photo credit: The SpringHouse

Trax Farms is nothing short of iconic. With 150 years of history under its belt, what started out as a tiny family farm in Finleyville has since exploded into a huge operation that draws thousands of visitors to Washington County from all over the region every year, particularly during the farm’s signature fall festival. Visitors can take a hayride up to the top of a hill overlooking the entire farm and pick pumpkins, enjoy live music and food trucks, and participate in a hot of fun seasonal activities like challenging themselves to the fastest time in the corn maze.

That’s not all, though – the farm market itself is half the fun. You’ll often see your social media feed flooded with photos of kids and families posed on top of huge mountains of pumpkins just outside the greenhouse, or just inside the greenhouse at the Apple Café (we highly recommend the apple cider slushie, by the way.) Don’t skip the rest of the market where you can shop for indoor plants, fall décor, and all sorts of goodies at the bakery or deli. There’s even an antique loft inside the market, so there’s no shortage of things to do during this fall festival.

Trax Farms’ Fall Festival is every Saturday and Sunday between 10am – 5pm from Sept. 20 until October 26. Click here to buy your hayride tickets.

Photo credit: Trax Farms

Don’t worry about eating garlic bread before heading to Little Lake Theatre Company this October, but you are going to want to bring all your friends out for this show. Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is a 90-minute, fast-paced, campy take on the traditional Dracula story. Just five actors play more than a dozen roles in this laugh-out-loud comedy filled with clever wordplay and plenty of physical humor, so if it’s been a while since you’ve been to a theatre performance, this show might be for you. We’d be remiss if we also didn’t mention that Little Lake Theatre Company is one of the most unique theatre venues in the region - its intimate, theatre-in-the-round style ensures you’ll be fully immersed in the show in the best way possible.

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is showing Oct. 8-11, 15-18, and 22-25. Click here to buy tickets. Get them quick – shows at Little Lake tend to sell out fast.

Photo credit: Little Lake Theatre Company

What better way to kick off Spooky Season than with a good ol’ murder mystery? Head out to Old Schoolhouse Players for some “Broadway in the Country” in Hickory for its showing of The Mousetrap. An Agatha Christie classic, this whodunnit murder mystery is full of twists and turns that will have you examining the evidence and putting the pieces together right alongside the on-stage characters inside this community theatre. Fun fact: This play is the longest running in the world, having first opened in London in 1952.

The Mousetrap is showing Oct. 9-11 and 16-18. Click here to buy tickets.

Photo credit: Old Schoolhouse Players

The Monongahela Aquatorium isn’t witchin’ around during its annual Witchfest. This spell-binding annual celebration of all things magical and macabre draws witches from all over the area for a full day of shopping for oddities and witchy wares, spooky live music, and festive food and drink from local vendors and food trucks. Witches can participate in all sorts of contests throughout the day such as best cackle and best hat before dancing the night away, so make sure your broom is in working order to get you to the Monongahela Aquatorium for this spook-tastic event. 

Witchfest is October 17 and is free to attend. Heads up, parents: The Aquatorium advises that this event may not be for littles due to mature items at vendor booths and the spooky nature of the event, so you might want to consider leaving your tiny spellcasters and apprentices at home. 

Photo credit: Monongahela Aquatorium

Any local will tell you that Bedner’s Farm & Greenhouse in McDonald is the place to go if you’re looking to deck out your front porch for the season. The expansive greenhouse is usually filled to the brim this time of year with pumpkins and mums in every color and size imaginable that have earned all sorts of praise online for their quality and freshness.

 In addition to picking up all their fall plants, people have also been flocking to Bedner’s for its events. While this farm does not have a fall festival, Bedner’s has become a hotspot for all sorts of creative workshops, pick-your-own bouquet events, storytimes and more, so make sure you visit the farm’s website to register for an event before the end of the season. Did we mention this greenhouse also has an attached winery? Make sure not to miss a visit to Passiflora Springs Winery – the wine garden is open all the way through the end of October.

If you’ve never popped into Chicco Baccello before, you’re seriously missing out. With two locations in Washington and Canonsburg, this beloved neighborhood café is serving up all sorts of fall goodness this season. Get your fill of pumpkin spice with something from the locally-roasted coffee menu, build-your-own breakfast sandwich, or try one of its sandwiches stacked high with fresh ingredients, all in either of the café’s comforting spaces. Don’t forget to pick up one of the bakery items, which are baked in house and span from cookies to biscotti, muffins, cakes and more, all on a rotating and seasonal flavor list. Be sure to get there early, as we suspect anything pumpkin is quick to sell out during this time of year.

Photo credit: Chicco Baccello

One of the region’s many “rail-trails,” the Panhandle Trail holds a special place in the hearts of walkers, bikers, birdwatchers, runners and more, especially during the fall season. Once a railroad line connecting Pittsburgh to St. Louis, this abandoned Conrail line was converted into a trail shortly after it closed in the mid-1990s as part of the federally-funded “Rails to Trails” project. Much of the Washington County portion is paved, while the rest of the trail’s extension into West Virginia is made up of crushed limestone.

During the fall, the Panhandle Trail is an ideal leaf peeping and photo spot, as it passes through many historic areas of Washington County. A frequent stop for most during the season is around the 8-mile marker where the trail intersects with the Montour Trail at a 1913 railroad trestle. During the fall season, the red, orange and yellow trees lining the intersection highlight the architecture of the trestle and emphasize the long history of these two iconic Washington County rail-trails.

Photo credit: @torytalkstrails

Did you know that Washington County has the second-most covered bridges in Pennsylvania? Fall is the perfect time to pack a picnic and spend a day exploring Washington County’s rolling countryside as you journey to discover each and every one of our county’s unique and historic covered bridges. There are 23 in total spread out across the county, with most located in highly scenic parks and wooded areas, making their red paint stand out against fall landscapes.

While each bridge may look similar, they actually all differ from each other in several ways; their historical timelines, styles, lengths, window shapes and origin points are all completely unique. Some of the bridges are over 150 years old, and many have been the subject of painstaking restoration processes over the years. Some of them have even been relocated in their time. The bridges’ histories are varied, but some details about them have been lost to time, making Washington County’s covered bridges the subject of much interest from historians and curious visitors. The bridges are the highlight of the EQT Washington & Greene Counties’ Covered Bridge Festival that happens the third week of September each year, but even if you miss the festival, fall is still absolutely the time to appreciate the bridges in their full autumnal glory.

You can find the full Covered Bridges Driving Tour Guide here. Tip: If you are embarking on the journey this fall, you may want to consider printing it out, as some bridge sites have limited cell service.

Located just off Rt. 19 in Washington, Cyprowski Candy Company may very well be candy apple capital of Washington County. While this family-owned confectionary does specialize in all things chocolate-covered goodness, the shop’s gourmet apples are where it really shines, being the most popular product. Fresh Granny Smith apples are dipped in silky caramel before being coated in layers of chocolate, nuts, and/or basically any topping you can think of. The last layer is chocolate mixed with puffed rice cereal, giving all the apples a satisfying crunch before all the sweetness. Their massive size means that you can either share with friends and family…. Or, you could always just keep it to yourself. We certainly wouldn’t blame you.

Photo credit: Cyprowski Candy Company

Leading the revival of Pennsylvania Rye whiskey is Liberty Pole Spirits in the Meadowlands. What started out as a retirement project for Jim and Ellen Hough back in 2016 has ballooned into a massive operation at Liberty Pole Spirits’ distillery campus, which includes an 18^th century Meetinghouse, 5-story barrelhouse (the only one in the state!), and huge production area after the distillery outgrew its former facility in downtown Washington.

With their sons Rob and Kevin now involved in the operation, Liberty Pole Spirits is one of the finest producers of true, post-distilled Monongahela Rye whiskey, peated bourbon, corn whiskey, cream liqueurs, and so much more in the country. We highly recommend a visit to the distillery’s cozy Meetinghouse, but this place isn’t just a distillery – it even features a pretty legit menu of creative and highly-rated tavern food that keeps locals and visitors alike coming back again and again.

Photo credit: Liberty Pole Spirits

Rustic Rock Maple Farm is one of the best hidden gems in Washington County. Tucked away on a wooded property in Claysville is, yes, a real working maple farm. You may have seen Rustic Rock Maple Farm’s vendor stand at a few fall festivals here and there, but the real treat is the ability to head to the farm and get a tour of its maple syrup production. The farm has over 3,000 tapped Sugar Maples, Black Maples and Red Maples that help the farm produce its signature (and delicious) USDA-Certified Organic, single-source maple syrup.

Tours are by appointment only, but once on the farm, you can learn all there is to know about the process of producing maple syrup, including checking out the 66,000 feet of tapping that carries sap across the property and taking a look inside the sugar house where the sap is collected and boiled before it’s bottled and other products like maple sugar are made. Even though this blog is about fall activities, if you visit the farm in late winter, you may even get to watch maple trees get tapped.

Photo credit: Rustic Rock Maple Farm

Cross Creek County Park in Avella is Washington County’s largest county park, with over 250 acres of largely untouched woodland surrounding the large and picturesque lake. It’s a popular spot year-round for fishing, kayaking, birdwatching, walking and photography. The lake is surrounded by a variety of native Pennsylvania trees like sugar maples, red maples, white oak, black cherry, American beech, and various native hickories that explode with color as the weather cools and fall settles over southwestern Pennsylvania. If you visit at just the right time of day in the right light, the trees reflect on the water, lighting the lake up and making it the perfect spot to spend the last warm(ish) days of the year outdoors.

Tip for plant lovers and photographers especially: More than 30 acres of the lake were recently restored with native wildflowers and clover, so be on the lookout for huge crops of goldenrod, aster, black-eyed Susans and more in full bloom.

Less than 2 minutes from Cross Creek County Park is another Avella attraction you really can’t skip when in Washington County: The Crafty Alpaca Farm Store. This small farm started out as a dream for teacher-turned-alpaca-farmer Mary Burns and her husband. Having always wanted a farm, Burns and her husband happened upon the animal that would kickstart it all by chance at a festival and now prize the alpaca for being friendly, relatively quiet and gentle with her then-young children. Its fiber is a bonus, too, being softer and more durable than traditional wool, which Burns uses to make one-of-a-kind hats, headbands, fingerless gloves, scarves, and more, but socks are undoubtedly her bestseller at markets and festivals across the county.

The farm is open year-round for appointment-only tours, and education is at the heart of everything Burns does at the farm. Visitors can meet her friendly and fluffy flock of alpacas, feed them, and stop by the education center to learn all about alpaca wool and the care and keeping of the animals. Burns even does a spinning demonstration to show how she spins and dyes the fiber so visitors can know how it’s all made before they hit the farm store for some alpaca-wool goodies just in time for colder weather.

We’re pretty sure some locals in Washington may be closely guarding the knowledge of the hidden gem that is Shilling Hill Farm, but this place is so delicious we can’t help but spill the beans on this one. But don’t worry, with over 150 rave reviews on Google a few recent visits from some of your favorite Pittsburgh foodies, we think the secret of this roadside farm stand was bound to come out anyway. Shilling Hill is famous for a few things mentioned over and over again in reviews: a stuffed-to-the-brim pepperoni roll, its stacked sandwiches, gourmet cookies, and, since it’s fall, its homemade pies, of which the Dutch apple is a fan-favorite. It’s also mentioned frequently that every item is as fresh as it can get and flavors rotate based on what’s seasonal locally, so if you’re in need of some fall flavor, we highly recommend a stop to Shilling Hill Farm this season.

Photo credit: Shilling Hill Farm

Even though it just opened in 2025, Harry E. Hopskins Brewery in Canonsburg is making a big splash in the county’s brewery scene. This micro-brewery, kitchen and taproom has already cemented itself as a quality community gathering place for watching the game, catching up with friends over a cocktail, or sampling the kitchen’s menu full of creative takes on casual bar classics like potato skins, pork nachos, pretzels with cheese dip, juicy burgers, hoagies and more.

But if you’re a brew lover, you’re probably itching to hear about the pumpkin beer. Harry E. Hopskins’ fall in-house menu includes a toasted marshmallow milkshake IPA, a rum barrel aged pumpkin ale, an Oktoberfest Festbier lager, and a pumpkin patch ale, among others. If you’re not into beer, don’t fret: We hear the cocktail menu is very highly rated as well. Be sure to follow Harry E. Hopskins on Facebook to check out fall limited-time food and drink specials, too.

Photo credit: Harry E. Hopskins Brewery

We talk about Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village quite a lot, but how can you not talk about the fact that evidence of human inhabitation going back 19,000 years is right here in Washington County, and fall is one of the best times to see it?

Located in Avella, Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village may just be at its most beautiful in the autumn season. Visitors can view the iconic Rockshelter, tour an 18^th century frontier trading post, a 16^th century Indian village, a 19^th century historic village and view iconic artifacts (including the famous Miller Point, which is roughly 14,000 years old) in the museum’s all-new Robert Barensfeld Visitor Center. Meadowcroft is also home to the Pine Bank Bridge, one of Washington County’s 23 covered bridges, so there’s lots to see at this outdoor museum.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village wraps up its season on Nov. 22 with its annual Fall Finale and Taffy Pull, so if you’re planning a trip out to Avella, make sure it’s before then.

Photo credit: Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Historic Village / Heinz History Center

Dead Head Winery in Monongahela just has to be on your spooky season bucket list - it's literally a winery inside a former funeral home. Newly renovated since its funeral home days, Dead Head Winery has gained serious traction over the last few years for its carefully-sourced wine selection it's confident you'll simply die to try. In addition to a huge selection of local, regional and nationally-acclaimed wines, where the winery really shines is its massive back patio where it hosts a pretty awesome series of live music events. It looks like the live music schedule ends sometime in October, though, so we recommend getting down to this little hotspot as soon as you possibly can to enjoy the patio in its full glory. 

Photo credit: Dead Head Winery

A relatively new addition to the county, it’s worth mentioning that Tower Hill Trail Center in Claysville is open year-round, but it’s in our fall bucket list because we’re pretty sure that anyone that wants to try their hand for the first time at mountain-biking on this gravity trail center should probably visit before the snow and ice arrive in Washington County. First opened in 2023, the trail center has quickly gained popularity for its shuttle service, weekend passes and challenging trails built with skill progression at the forefront and lots of trail features.

If you’re the racing type, you might want to keep an eye on the center’s website for race opportunities. With different stages to each race, the day provides that extra level of challenge certain bikers or anyone looking to test their skills against the clock might be in the market for.