Welcome to Me and the Magic, where we inspire solo travelers to explore the world’s wonders and connect with others through shared experiences. In today’s episode, we’re diving into my favorite season—fall! With plans for a major travel goal of visiting all 50 states plus Washington D.C. by 2025, I’ve been researching the best fall destinations across America. From vibrant foliage to unique festivals, we’ll journey through Indiana, New York City, the Great Smoky Mountains, Texas, and even Hawaii. This episode is packed with tips, must-see events, and hidden gems. So light that fall-scented candle, brew your favorite autumn drink, and join me as we explore the best places to visit this fall in the U.S.!
Best Places to Visit in Fall in the USA
Indiana
I’m going to start with Indiana, the state where I was born and lived for 24 of the first 27 years of my life. Fall is harvest season in many agriculture-rich states, including Indiana. To celebrate harvest season, choose from 620 festivals across the state – yes, 620! Here are some of the more popular ones.
- The state’s largest fall festival is the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. This 10-day festival starts on the 2nd Friday of October each year. The festival showcases the County’s 31 covered bridges, which are quite popular in Indiana. The festival also features authentic arts and crafts, fall foods, and beautiful fall foliage.
- Another large fall festival is the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival in Evansville. It’s a week-long gala with free entertainment, carnival attractions, well over 100 food booths, and a large parade. It usually draws around 200,000 people and is considered to be one of the largest street festivals in the U.S.
- Harvest Homecoming Festival in New Albany, along the Ohio River. This festival has a parade, rides, photography competition, fall food booths, a baking contest, a pumpkin decorating contest, a family nature walk, a bicycle tour, and 3×3 outdoor basketball (of course, it’s Indiana – basketball rules in this state).
- In the Indianapolis metro area, experience Harvest Nights in the gardens of Newfields. Walk the Pumpkin Path of Peril, explore Mischief Manor, and enjoy delicious fall treats.
- There’s also the Headless Horseman Festival at Conner Prairie in Fishers. Conner Prairie is worth a visit in and of itself, it’s Indiana’s first Smithsonian affiliated museum, and it’s a living history museum. I went many times on field trips, going to school in the next town over from Fishers. The grounds are beautiful, especially in autumn. The festival runs through most of October. Take a haunted hayride where you may spot the Headless Horseman. Explore the Trail of Terror through a cornfield if you want to be scared. Plus, there are magic shows, other entertainment, and more.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Are you a fan of the Oktoberfest celebration? Did you know that the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the U.S. and the second largest in the world is held in Cincinnati each year? It’s called Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, and it drew about 700,000 attendees in 2023. This year, it’s September 19-22 at Sawyer Point Park and Yeatman’s Cove along the banks of the Ohio River. The festival features over 30 entertainers, a beer stein hoisting competition, the World Brat Eating Championship, and the Running of the Weiners, where dachshunds and dachshund mixes race in 75-foot heats while wearing hot dog costumes. And of course, there’s a lot of beer!
New Hampshire
I’ve done a road trip through the Northeast in early October, and every bit of it was beautiful. So what makes New Hampshire stand out in this region this time of year? The landscapes with fall foliage are hard to beat, including Franconia Notch State Park and White Mountain National Park with its scenic parkway. Ride the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway to the peak. VisitNH.gov has a great fall foliage map of the state with dates when you can expect peak foliage. Also, enjoy apple picking and apple cider donuts (so good!), corn mazes, hayrides, and haunted adventures.
New York, New York
I absolutely love fall in New York City, and New York State as well. The cooler temperatures feel great after hot summers. Two of my favorite places in the city during the fall are Central Park and Riverside Park. Central Park is gorgeous in the fall, and it’s so alive with fall sports, wildlife, and tours through the park. Central Park has over 18,000 trees, and of course there is an arborist-approved foliage tracker. While Central Park tends to draw the tourists, I always preferred Riverside Park because it was my local park just a block from my apartment on the Upper West Side. The views of the Hudson River and of the Palisades Parkway across the Hudson in New Jersey are particularly gorgeous in the fall.
Fall is also a great time to see new shows on Broadway. Typically, shows on Broadway either open in the fall or in the spring. There’s a fresh energy to the theater scene in the fall. The talent on Broadway this fall in particular is incredible. Here’s just a sampling of shows you can see:
- “The Roommate” with Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow.
- “McNEAL” with Robert Downey Jr. making his Broadway debut.
- “Yellow Face” starring Daniel Dae Kim from one of my favorite TV shows, “Lost”, plus many other TV shows and movies.
- A revival of “Our Town” starring Jim Parsons and Katie Holmes.
- “Left on Tenth” with Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher.
- Transferring from London’s West End is a revival of “Sunset Boulevard”, with Nicole Scherzinger making her Broadway debut as Norma Desmond. She earned rave reviews in London.
- A musical adaptation of “Death Becomes Her” with Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Michelle Williams, and Christopher Seiber.
- A revival of the musical “Gypsy” starring multiple Tony Award winner Audra McDonald.
And then of course, there’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I loved living on the Upper West Side and seeing the bleachers set up in the days leading up to the parade. On the streets around the American Museum of Natural History, the balloons are blown up and staged to start the parade at 77th Street and Central Park West. The night before the parade, that area is open to the public to walk by the balloons tied down, ready for their big day. It was always crowded but so much fun to experience that night and the excitement for the parade the next day! And then on Thanksgiving Day, I’d take an early morning walk, and I’d see high school bands rehearsing, Santa’s sleigh waiting for Santa to come, and more people and floats that were going to be in the parade. I really loved it.
North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee
In September and October 2022, I went on an 8-state road trip. I spent a good amount of time in parts of North Carolina and Tennessee, including my first visit to Dollywood near Pigeon Forge. I also visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville for the first time. I go into a lot of detail about that road trip in Episode 081 and Episode 082, so go back and listen to those if you missed them.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is beautiful any time of year, and especially in the fall. If you’re only driving through the park, be sure to pull over at a lookout and take in the views and the mountainside streams. The Blue Ridge Parkway, known as America’s favorite drive, connects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. 252 miles of the parkway are in North Carolina to enjoy, and there are over 100 hiking trails.
The Biltmore Estate is 8,000 acres of beautiful grounds that includes the historic Biltmore mansion, two hotels, a winery, meeting space, a village area with shops and restaurants, and gardens and paths to explore. It’s so beautiful in the fall, looking out over the Pisgah National Forest. Then about 2 hours northeast of there, you’ll find Dollywood, which in the fall has the Harvest Festival. I have never in my life seen pumpkins that large. The park is in the mountains, so it’s hilly in parts, but you have the benefit of those beautiful trees all around you. The entertainment is incredible, with both theater shows and live music playing on outdoor stages all over the park. There are fall treats available as well. At night, enjoy the Great Pumpkin LumiNights with a 40-foot pumpkin tree, an illuminated Hoot Owl Hollow, and all kinds of fun finds.
Greenville, South Carolina
In October, experience the Fall for Greenville festival. This year, it will be October 11-13. I’ll actually be in Greenville later in October, I’m attending a concert there and will enjoy exploring this city. It looks gorgeous. One area I want to see is Falls Park on the Reedy with riverside gardens, a suspension bridge, and a waterfall. And the photos of fall foliage in this hilly area are stunning, so I am hoping for great weather to take all that in. The Fall for Greenville festival showcases local restaurants with over 250 dishes and over 50 beers on tap, plus wine vendors and over 80 musical acts on 6 stages.
Alabama
In Alabama, college football is considered essential. The two primary college football teams are the University of Alabama (Roll Tide) and Auburn University (the War Eagles). I hear that the tailgating sets the bar for everyone else as well.
Hot Springs, Arkansas
The Discoverer writes: “This small town in the Ouachita Mountain range is the smallest National Park in the country. It’s known for its healing thermal waters, which at the turn of the 20th century were the star at numerous bath houses along Central Avenue. Today, the section known as “Bathhouse Row” features former bath house-turned-boutique hotel, Hotel Hale; Superior Bathhouse Brewery, the only brewery inside a National Park; a bathhouse that’s now the visitors center and museum, Fordyce Bathhouse; and two historic spaces that have been updated to offer modern-day bathhouse spa experiences: The Buckstaff and the Quapaw.”
Oklahoma
Oklahoma actually has 2 state fairs. The Tulsa State Fair is the larger of the two and the 5th biggest in the US. It runs from the end of September into October for 11 days. Besides the usual livestock competitions, there is a fiddling championship and also Disney on Ice performances in the pavilion. The Oklahoma State Fair is the 10th biggest state fair in the U.S., in Oklahoma City, and it runs mid to late September, basically ending just before the Tulsa State Fair begins.
Later in October, visit Tulsa for the Zeeco Oktoberfest Tulsa celebration. From TulsaOktoberfest.org, “Oktoberfest brings together international and local German bands, Bavarian delicacies and bier, arts, crafts, games, competitions and kids’ activities for the entire family. Enjoy bratwurst, over 200 taps of German and local bieren, Bavarian cheesecake and strudel, wiener schnitzel, brats, great music, VIP experiences and thousands of your friends gathered at River West Festival Park in 140,000 square feet of tents, stages and more.” Sounds like a fun party to me!
Texas
Speaking of state fairs, I have to include the largest state fair in the country, and that’s the State Fair of Texas. It runs for nearly a month, September 27th through October 20th this year, and the fairgrounds are just outside of Dallas. In 2023, more than 2.3 million people visited this state fair. What, besides the sheer size of this state fair, makes it special? Within the state fair, there’s the Texas Auto Show, where you can climb into your dream cars and pretend like they’re yours. There’s the usual state fair games, rides, and food, only bigger. There’s a ton of free entertainment, and because everything is bigger in Texas, the free entertainment has included popular artists like Maren Morris and CeeLo Green. This year, JoDee Messina performs opening night.
If state fairs aren’t your thing, there are several state parks throughout Texas to see fall colors, including Garner State Park and Lost Maples State Natural Area in Texas Hill Country.
Zion National Park, Utah
Fall is the perfect weather to enjoy Zion National Park. TheDiscoverer.com recommends that you “book a tent at Under Canvas, a premier glamping outfit, spend a day of relaxation at the Cable Mountain Spa, take a hike to Mystery Falls, or ride horseback through the canyon. Don’t miss the Canyon Overlook and sunset at Lava Point. At the Kentaya Art Village, shop for local creations and have lunch at the Xetava Gardens Cafe.”
Hawaii
When you think of fall, Hawaii probably doesn’t come to mind. And really, any time of year is amazing to visit Hawaii. So why fall? Besides enjoying all the wonderful things about Hawaii like the beaches, volcanos, and beautiful sites, there are some unique festivals in the fall.
In September, the Aloha Festivals are a statewide celebration of Hawaiian culture. From the Aloha Festivals official website, the mission of Aloha Festivals is “to foster the Aloha Spirit through the perpetuation of the Hawaiian culture and the celebration of the diverse customs and traditions of Hawai‘i.”
Then in October, the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival. This year’s festival runs October 18th through November 10th, across 3 of the Hawaiian Islands. From the festival website, “This year’s theme, Empowerment, will celebrate the transformative power of food to break down barriers and foster inclusive communities, showcasing cuisines that reflect strength and diversity.” The festival has so many activities in addition to sampling incredible cuisines and beverages. There’s a golf classic, a pickleball tournament, educational seminars, and more. There’s even a Spice Market evening at Disney’s Aulani Resort on November 10th this year. This is making me think about when I’d like to go to Hawaii in 2025!
Resources
Resources
Check out The Discoverer Blog’s 2022 post, “The Best Season to Visit Each State”.
Read the Thrillist.com article on the “Best Time to Visit Every State in America”.
Timestamped Overview
00:00 Travel goal: Visit all 50 states by 2025.
03:47 Tour of diverse U.S. fall travel destinations.
07:06 Largest US Oktoberfest held annually in Cincinnati.
11:38 Excitement and tradition at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
16:48 Explore Hot Springs, Arkansas for thermal waters.
18:42 Oktoberfest and Texas State Fair: music, food, fun
21:52 Fall festivals in Hawaii: Aloha and Food/Wine.
