21 BEST Fall Things to Do in Ohio

The number of fall things to do in Ohio is endless. From cornfield mazes and pumpkin patches to apple picking and scenic drives, Ohio is one of the best states to enjoy autumn.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the top fall things to do in Ohio, whether you want to hike through the woods or prefer to indulge in apple butter and Amish cheeses—Ohio has something for everyone!

Fall Festivals in Ohio

Ohio Renaissance Festival

10542 OH-73, Waynesville, OH 45068

Fall is the perfect time of year to darn medieval attire and step back into the 16th century! Wander the annual, 30-acre, reimagined English village while you watch live performances (like juggling, jousting, and more), buy goods at the shoppes, have a toast with beer or mead, and indulge in turkey legs. You’ll see plenty of other knights, royalty, peasants, and performers wandering around this Ohio fall festival.

The faire is held Saturdays, Sundays, and Labor Day, from September 3 through October 30. They also host themed weekends, such as Highland Weekend, Viking Weekend, Romance Weekend, and Tricks or Treats (on Halloween weekend).

Ohio Sauerkraut Festival

Historic Main Street, Waynesville, OH 45068

Waynesville is not only home to the beloved Ohio Renaissance Festival but also the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival! Every year throughout the second weekend of October, Historic Main Street in Downtown Waynesville is taken over by all-things-sauerkraut, with 7 tons of the idolized fermented dish served during the event.

The festival has more than 450 craft vendors, 30 plus food booths, and around 60 different sauerkraut dishes for its 350,000 annual visitors to try. Sauerkraut pizza may sound odd, but trust us—you won’t want to miss this delicious combo. While you’re there, make sure to stop at Bailey’s Concessions, a food vendor who has been at the festival each year since it began.

While you’re in Waynesville—the small town itself is rumored to be haunted, too. It’s said that the town’s acquired some ghostly residents since its founding in the 1700s. Take one of their Ghost Tours during the fall!

The Circleville Pumpkin Show

159 East Franklin Street, Circleville, OH 43113

Have you ever seen a 1,964-pound pumpkin? Well, if you haven’t, that just might change if you attend this annual Ohio fall festival—this was the weight of their 2014 winning pumpkin, the heaviest on record.

Head down to Circleville the third Wednesday in October each year to check out the new contenders for the biggest pumpkin, along with over 100,000 pounds of other pumpkins, gourds, and squash!

Aside from the myriad of pumpkins the show has displayed annually since 1903, the show also features lots of other family-friendly fun—all with free admission. The Pumpkin Show is known for its oh-so-cute Baby Parade and Pet Parade, Miss Pumpkin and Little Miss Pumpkin pageants, pie eating contest, concerts, a flower show, art show, and more.

Ohio Heritage Days

4050 Bromfield Road, Lucas, OH 44843

Enjoy the fresh, autumn air in Malabar Farm State Park’s nearly 1,000 acres during Ohio Heritage Days. This free festival celebrates Ohio history with live performances such as educational demonstrations, primitive crafting, and exciting historical reenactments, including Civil War and camp reenactments. They also exhibit archaeological artifacts.

Aside from learning about the past, this Ohio fall festival also has lots of good eats, live music, horses, wagon rides, antiques, spinning and weaving, classic tractors, and handmade crafts and wares from local artisans.

The Ohio Swiss Festival

Sugarcreek, OH

Sugarcreek transforms into a village reminiscent of Switzerland each year during the last weekend in September. This popular Ohio fall festival has been celebrating Swiss culture annually since 1953!

Have a glass of wine or a pint of ale, but make sure you pair it with one of the many decadent cheeses and other delicious foods available at the festival (including Swiss cheese, of course).

Watch the sport of steinstossen (stone throwing), and make sure to check out other family-friendly entertainment like themed parades, races, contests, and live music while you’re there.

Visit the world’s largest cuckoo clock in Sugarcreek. It’s 23 feet tall by 24 feet wide!

Bob Evans Farm Festival

10854 State Route 588 Rio Grande, OH 45674

For more than 50 years, farming and agriculture have been celebrated annually at Bob Evans’ actual farm in Rio Grande.

You’ll find plenty of comfort food at this fall festival in Ohio including apple dumplings, local cheeses, bean soup, varieties of kettle corn, and cider slushies. Head to the stage to enjoy live music from popular country, bluegrass, and gospel artists. There are also family-friendly live shows, including clogging, horseshoe pitching, and lumberjack stunts (like chainsaw carving, axe throwing, wood chopping, log rolling, and more).

Aside from live entertainment, the farm festival also has artisan toys, crafts, and other handmade goods for sale!

Camp out for the whole festival for free on their primitive campgrounds; no reservations are required, as there’s lots of space.

Black Walnut Festival

Camden, OH

Camden has hosted the Black Walnut Festival each year for more than 30 years!

The much-loved Ohio fall festival features lots of food—satisfy your sweet tooth with a cone or bowl of freshly churned, hand-cranked ice cream! You can also browse their seasonal, fresh produce selections and pick out some fall flowers, pumpkins, or gourds to take home with you. If you’re up for a challenge, compete in their baking contest!

Other event highlights include lots of other family entertainment, such as a petting zoo, tractor pull, train ride, parade, face painting, a large collection of antiques, and more.

Perfect for fall—Take a Haunted Camden Wagon Tour or Historic Camden Walking Tour!

Fall Festival of Leaves

Bainbridge, OH

Bainbridge touts itself as “Leaf Country, U.S.A.” for a reason—it’s one of the top places in Ohio to experience beautiful fall scenery.

On the third weekend in October each year, visitors travel to Downtown Bainbridge to welcome fall and enjoy the idyllic town’s autumn festival.

Here are a few festival activities you can look forward to:

• Release your inner lumberjack in the log sawing contest.
• Race in the 5K run/walk.
• Enjoy a parade.
• Check out the classic car and antique tractor shows.
• Compete in a pageant.
• Shop the market for arts, crafts, and other goods from local businesses.

Before you leave, immerse yourself in the colors of fall while driving along Bainbridge’s four “Skyline Drive” scenic routes.

Apple Festivals in Ohio

Jackson Apple Festival

Jackson, OH

Thousands of festival-goers have flocked to Jackson for their famous Apple Festival for over 80 years! Each year, Downtown Jackson becomes the hub for all things apple—from apple-themed contests to delicious street fare and more. Make sure you take home a jar of apple butter!

Fun, apple-themed contests include:

• Apple peeling
• Apple bobbing
• Apple pie eating
• Apple butter and apple pie judging

You can also catch great live bluegrass music at this fall festival in Ohio. One of the festival’s most popular highlights is the Saturday Night Parade; it’s one of the largest lighted parades in Ohio and features more than 20 marching bands.

Apple Butter Stirrin’

600 N. Whitewoman Street, Coshocton, OH 43812

Historic Roscoe Village has hosted the annual Apple Butter Stirrin’ for more than 50 years! It’s one of the biggest apple butter festivals in Ohio—around 10,000 visitors visit annually to help cook/stir apple butter and celebrate fall.

You can expect to find an abundance of fresh, homemade apple butter, of course, but also other delicious eats, live music, kid’s crafting, a marketplace for local vendors, and more.

Roscoe Village itself is worth visiting, even if you don’t attend this Ohio apple butter festival. The town is a restoration of a once prominent port along the Ohio and Erie Canal and even has actual 1800s buildings.

If you’re interested in the town’s history, you can take a tour!

Apple Butter Fest

11900 Jeffers Road, Grand Rapids, OH 43522

Since 1977, this event has yielded thousands of freshly made half-pints of apple butter—each year. Today, this Ohio fall festival draws in about 40,000 visitors annually!

Head to “the Big Stir” around two weeks prior to the festival. It’s a three-day event where volunteers help cook a huge amount of apple butter in preparation for the festival.

Aside from apple butter, visitors can enjoy other delicious food, browse hundreds of handmade wares, listen to live music, watch historical reenactments, and check out a classic car show. There is also a Farm Area where kids can see antique tractors; shell, grind, and sift corn; see cows, sheep, and hogs; participate in milking and butter making; and talk to a beekeeper.

Cornfield Mazes in Ohio

Shaw Farms Market Corn Maze

1737 Ohio 131, Milford, OH 45150

What makes Shaw Farms’ 15-acre corn maze unique is their interactive, GPS-friendly, mobile phone game. Play using your smartphone to find six destination spots hidden throughout the maze. If you find them all, you’ll win a pumpkin that’s Halloween-themed!

Aside from the cornfield maze, visitors can pick pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, meet farm animals, take a horse-drawn hayride, visit their market to purchase Amish cheeses and fresh, local produce, and take family pictures in their interactive playground.

The interactive playground features fun, themed photo areas. Some of the themes for 2022 include the Wizard of Oz, the Old West, and The Flintstones.

Admission to the farm area and interactive playground is free; attraction prices vary.

Tom’s Maze

4881 Germantown Liberty Road, Germantown, OH 45327

After navigating your way through this 8-acre cornfield maze in Germantown, try your luck next in their labyrinth and then the “No Left Turn Maze,” which is a straw bale maze.

Tom’s Maze also has plenty of other family activities:

• Introduce the little ones to some farm animals.
• Have fun playing Human Foosball—it’s a life-sized version of the table game, with people as the pieces.
• Take a ride on Tom’s Pumpkin Train, which is pulled by a tractor.
• Watch as the air-powered Punkin’ Chunkin’ Cannon shoots out pumpkins from its 25-foot-long barrel up to more than a half-mile away!

If you plan on visiting at night, make sure to bring a flashlight.

Brasee’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch

122 W. Herrick Avenue, Wellington, OH 44090

Brassee’s Corn Maze is perfect for the Halloween season—if you collect all the stamps inside the cornfield maze, you’ll win some candy!

They also have a few other mazes for you to traverse, including a corn maze and straw maze for kids, and a spooky, “pitch black” straw maze.

Aside from trying not to get lost in their fun mazes, you can also pick some pumpkins, enjoy food and drinks, take a hayride in the forest (at The Boneyard), race down a straw slide, visit farm animals at the petting zoo, and for thrill seekers, take a ride on their zip line!

Brasee’s is also known for their mechanical pumpkin, which is like a mechanical bull. See how long you can hold on!

Lynd Fruit Farm’s Corn Maze

9851 Morse Road SW, Pataskala, OH 43062

Lynd Fruit Farm has uniquely themed corn mazes each year. Its 8-acre corn maze for 2022 is ancient Greece-themed and contains hidden treasures and challenges.

You’ll also find plenty of other things to do at the farm, including the Gnomesville Mini Maze (a mystical maze for kids with gnome and fairy scenes), games, a barrel train ride, a wagon ride, bounce houses, and more.

Lynd Fruit Farm is also one of the few cornfield mazes in Ohio that allows guests to bring their well-behaved dog along to navigate the corn maze and explore the maze courtyard and campfire area.

Don’t forget to bring home fresh, local produce and goods from the Farm Market!

Suter’s Corn Maze

4678 Road R, Pandora, OH 45877

If you’re looking for an elaborately crafted cornfield maze in Ohio, Suter’s Produce is a top-tier option. They’ve been well known for their intricate designs for over 20 years!

Their corn maze theme for 2022 is safari; find your way through a zebra, elephant, lion, giraffe, and more. In the past, the corn maze has had design themes that include pirates, dinosaurs, medieval times, sports, and space exploration.

If you visit on the weekend, you can also pick pumpkins, race down big tube slides, roll around in a Human Hamster Wheel, or let the little ones play in giant corn boxes. Suter’s also has great food options available, including fresh donuts, kettle corn, and apple cider slushies.

Fall in Ohio Outdoors

Hocking Hills

19852 State Route 664, Logan, OH 43138

The Hocking Hills region is one of the most beautiful natural areas in Ohio, especially during the fall. It’s known as a fantastic spot to view the vibrant gold, amber, and red hued-leaves of autumn. Aside from the trees, you can expect to discover beautiful waterfalls, caves and caverns, cliffs, blankets of hemlock, grottos, and more on your fall outdoor adventures.

Hike, camp, fish, rock climb, canoe or kayak, horseback ride, zip line, and so much more in the area. There are also many other family-friendly things to do.

Some of the top trails in the area include:

• Ash Cave — the largest recess cave in Ohio
• Old Man’s Cave — features a gorge and waterfalls
• Cantwell Cliffs — a quieter area featuring reddish-brown sandstone cliffs
• Cedar Falls — a remote area with waterfalls and grottos
• Conkles Hollow State Nature Preserve — has a rocky gorge with depths of up to 200 feet

You can even experience much of Hocking Hills’ beautiful scenery without leaving your car! Drive along the about 26-mile Hocking Hills Scenic Byway, starting in Logan.

Travel the Johnny Appleseed Historic Byway

Start in Loudonville

Take a Ohio road trip along this 30+ mile scenic route in northeast Ohio that celebrates John Chapman—otherwise known as the legendary Johnny Appleseed. He is most known for planting apple orchards and using the fruit to craft hard cider.

The byway travels through historic sites such as Chapman’s nurseries and landholdings, pioneer settlements, and Native American cultural sites.

Here are a few not-to-miss stops along this Ohio scenic byway:

• Appleseed Landholding c. 1815 (near the Black Fork Mohican River)
• Perrysville Pioneer Cemetery
• Greentown Delaware Indian Village
• Malabar Farm
• Johnny Appleseed Forest

Discover Amish Country

Ohio’s Amish Country is one of the most popular destinations in Ohio. It’s an especially beautiful area for day trips during the fall—the idyllic countryside and picturesque farms are perfect for a relaxing or romantic getaway.

One of the best ways to explore the region is by traveling the Amish Country Byway. The gigantic, 160-mile route encompasses much of Amish Country and features fantastic views of farmland, rolling hills, and small towns.

Delight in fresh, local Amish cheese and other homemade goods found at various stops along the route, including the Boyd and Wurthmann Restaurant and Bakery and Hershberger’s Farm and Bakery. At the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, you can discover the history of the Amish and immerse yourself in their culture.

Visit an Apple Orchard

Fall is the perfect time for apple picking! A couple of our favorite Ohio apple orchards not only have fantastic selections for apple picking, but also other fun, fall family activities to participate in.

Arrowhead Orchard

11724 Lisbon Street SE, Paris, OH 44669

Arrowhead Orchard has a great selection of seasonal apples that you can pick. Check the available types here! In their Applehouse Market, choose from a large variety of autumn apples including granny smith, golden delicious, cameo, empire, pixie crunch, and more.

They also have a pumpkin patch, a fun corn maze and grass maze to navigate, train cart rides, hayrides, pedal cars, slides, a zip line, a corn pit, a tire climb and obstacle course, and the lovely, seasonal Sunflower Walk (perfect for photo opportunities).

Hillcrest Orchards

50336 Telegraph Road, Amherst, OH 44001

Hillcrest Orchards has fall apples, pumpkins, and sunflowers! Click here for their seasonal schedule.

They also have an awesome cornfield maze each year with fun designs, interactive games, decodable maps, and colorized segments.

Families can also have fun exploring the farm market, racing on the pedal kart track, taking a hayride, and riding the barrel train. Kids can explore the hay tunnel and play on the playground, in an oversize corn box, on huge “spider web” play nets, and/or in a sandbox that has backhoe diggers.

FAQ Fall Things to Do in Ohio

Where can I find other outdoor spots to enjoy fall in Ohio?

There are so many beautiful Ohio destinations for outdoor recreation, and here we’ve only listed just a few! Our comprehensive guide, the Best Things To Do in Ohio in 2022, has a section dedicated to detailing exciting outdoor things to do in Ohio, all of which are great to visit in autumn.

One example is Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Take a scenic train ride around the park. Enjoy fishing at Kendall Lake. Hike one of their many trails. And from summer until early fall, the park hosts the free-to-attend Countryside Farmer’s Market in Howe Meadow on Saturday mornings!

What are the best fall things to do in Ohio for families?

There are so many fun fall things to do in Ohio for the entire family, it’s hard to narrow it down!

One of our favorite Ohio fall things to do include visiting a corn maze, like Tom’s Maze or Brasee’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. The Circleville Pumpkin Show in central Ohio is another great option, as not only is admission free, but you’ll have the chance to see pumpkins that weigh over 1,000 pounds each! The Ohio Renaissance Festival is also one of the top fall festivals in Ohio, and it’s even more fun if everyone dresses in medieval garb.

Enjoying Fall Things to Do in Ohio

This list includes some of the most amazing fall things to do in Ohio, but there is so much more to explore.

For even more Ohio travel guides, Rooted in Ohio has you covered—for every season and every region. Discover the best scenic views in Ohio, the top Ohio destinations for fall colors, and more.

Start planning your Ohio fall adventure today!