It’s that time of year when the leaves start to change color, the weather gets chillier and the scarves and sweaters get pulled out. From crisp apples to corn mazes, from family-owned pumpkin patches to festivals centered on the community, fall is fabulous in Franklin County!
On October 17, check out Chambersburg AppleFest in the downtown area. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., enjoy art, food, crafts, music, kid’s activities and rides! With a focus on apples, an important and delicious product of Franklin County, visitors can find unique items and delicious treats.
Stoner’s Dairy Farm in Mercersburg will run through November 1 from noon to 10pm on Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The farm features a 5 acre corn maze, petting zoo, play area, hayride and delicious treats for sale. Need a pumpkin for Halloween? No problem. Stoner’s has mums, pumpkins and other fall decorative items available for purchase.
For the adventurous one, try the corn cannon and shoot corn cobs to hit targets to get your name on the Wall of Fame! From cars to scarecrows, try your luck at hitting your targets in a nearby field on the property.
The Tayamentasachta Apple Festival is scheduled this year for October 10 at the Tayamentasachta Environmental Center in Greencastle. Famous at the festival are the apple dumplings, which are made each year by volunteers with the Environmental Education Advisory Committee, who sponsors the festival. The sale of the dumplings supports environmental education programming at the center. The event also includes other apple items for sale including homemade apple butter. The event also includes pumpkin decorating, scarecrow stuffing, face painting and live music.
Country Creek Produce Farm in Chambersburg has opened their 10 acre corn maze with hayrides. The corn maze and pumpkin patch is open 10am to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and open 10 a.m. to dusk on Fridays and Saturdays. The farm is open three Sundays this year, on October 11, 18, and 25. Pumpkins are available to be picked straight from the patch! Also to do at the farm on the weekends includes slides, duck races, games, barrel trains and a pumpkin cannon.
Reynolds Pumpkin Farm in Waynesboro runs Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30p.m. and is open 10am to 6 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, the farm is open from noon to 6 p.m. The farm, which sells pumpkins, mums, decorations, honey and jams, is open for school tours and includes live animals. The farm caters as well to children, with many activities for them including corn and grass mazes, areas to feed animals, slides and more. A new feature for this year’s season is gem mining. Season passes are available to purchase for admission for hayrides, the corn maze and the rest of the farm for $18, with last year season pass holders get a $1 off a pass for this year.
The farm originally started off as a working dairy farm in 1982 but they also grew vegetables such as sweet corn, peppers and tomatoes. In 1997, the owners sold the cows and started growing pumpkins, gourds and fall decorations.
The 15th annual Whitetail Resort Great Outdoor Festival will be held on Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 from 10am to 5 p.m. The event, which features a car and truck show on Saturday and the Whitetail Fall Downhill 5k Trail Run on Sunday, also includes live entertainment, kid’s activities, hay mazes, snowmaking tours, catch and release fishing and more! Admission to the event is free for guests that are renewing purchasing or picking up their season passes for the 2015-2016 season. Admission is $9 for adults, $5 for seniors and free for kids under the age of 6.
The event includes demonstrations by the PSU Mont Alto Woodsmen team, blacksmith demonstrations, and the snowmaking team. During the event, the retail sale is also going on which includes sales on skis, snowboards, boots, helmets, luggage, poles, adult and children’s clothing, gloves and hats. The famous ski and board swap is also held during the day.
The Franklin County Visitors Bureau invites all to explore Franklin County PA and enjoy the history, arts, recreation, natural beauty, fresh foods and warm hospitality of communities like Chambersburg, Greencastle, Mercersburg, Shippensburg, and Waynesboro. Franklin County PA is located just north of the Mason Dixon Line and an easy drive to Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Discover more….plan your visit at ExploreFranklinCountyPA.com , by contacting 866.646.8060 or 717.552.2977.