Sleep Amid the Trees
Serenity in the Blue Ridge Mountains
The adults-only “treehouses” at Primland Resort (2000 Busted Rock Rd., Meadows of Dan, Va.) accommodate two with a king-size bed and a private deck for stargazing and taking in views from 2,700 feet up. Ample windows allow plenty of natural light, but the spaces are also outfitted with electricity–including a coffeemaker.
A Childhood Throwback Near Harpers Ferry
For a decidedly more rustic experience, the family-friendly treehouses at Maple Tree Campground (20716 Townsend Rd., Rohrersville, Md.) offer a basic shelter for camping without heat, electricity, or beds. The primitive, three-season houses (they’re closed in winter) are seven feet off the ground with a small deck on a wooded site.
A One-Bedroom Mountaintop Retreat
Doah House, a Scandinavian-style cabin in Front Royal perched atop the Blue Mountain, is just a 20-minute drive to hiking along the Appalachian Trail and a 30-minute drive to Shenandoah National Park. The four-acre property includes a wood-fired hot tub surrounded by trees, plus all the creature comforts you could need: heated floors, food delivery from nearby restaurants, and internet.
An A-Frame in Berkeley Springs
Just over two hours from DC in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, the cozy home “Dreamtime” is surrounded by trees and has two bedrooms, a wood stove, and a hot tub, plus an expansive deck and oversize glass doors for maximum mountainside views.
Take a Leaf-Peeping Drive
The multicolor changing of the foliage is fall’s answer to spring’s cherry blossoms, and Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park offers plenty of opportunities to gaze. Take a drive along the Blue Ridge Mountains for up to 105 miles, pulling off at various overlooks for snapshots of the season’s beauty. Last year, the area hit peak color at the end of October, turning vibrant orange and yellow with patches of crimson. Don’t want to do the driving? Catch the Blue Ridge Flyer, part of the Virginia Scenic Railroad, for a trip through the valley that departs from the Amtrak station in Staunton (12 Middlebrook Ave.). Leaf-peeping rides last three hours.
Explore Haunted Attractions
Autumn marks the start of spooky season, and the call is coming from inside the house—or rather, 30 haunted houses, including a bloody slaughterhouse, and a dark forest full of creatures. All of these experiences and more can be found at Field of Screams Maryland (4501 Olney Laytonsville Rd., Olney), a massive indoor/outdoor fright factory. Elaborate makeup and costumes, jump scares, and ax-wielding characters are genuinely chilling, so it’s best to leave youngsters at home. The season runs September 27 through November 2, and tickets must be purchased online in advance. Open every Friday and Saturday as well as many Thursdays and Sundays.
Destroy a Pumpkin
The arc of fall is captured by the humble pumpkin, from sprouting in patches to being carved into jack-o’-lanterns to the sad decay that marks a shift to winter. But that final farewell can be an epic blaze of destructive glory at Great Country Farms (34345 Snickersville Tpk., Bluemont, Va.), where the annual Pumpkin Chunkin’ takes place November 2 and 3. The festival offers a few ways to wreak havoc: Drop your pumpkin off a silo, send it down a zipline, or add it to a lineup of gourds released from 40 feet. (Discarded pumpkins are fed to the farm’s pigs and cows and used in compost.) Once the pandemonium is over, prep for cozy season with marshmallows by the fire.
Pick Your Own Apples, Pumpkins, and Sunflowers
Apples, pumpkins, and sunflowers are ripe for plucking this time of year, and Baugher’s (1015 Baugher Rd., Westminster, Md.), an orchard and farm in Carroll County, has them all. Here’s how it works: After parking, you head to one of the market stands to buy tickets and a bag for apples. (Pumpkins are priced by the pound, sunflowers by the stem.) The ticket covers your ride to the fields—hay-filled wagons and open-air trams run every few minutes. Also onsite: a market of pre-picked produce plus pies and other treats; food vendors; and a petting zoo (bring quarters for the food dispensers). Peak times can draw crowds, but there’s plenty of space to spread out—and snap a couple of Instagram pics—in the fields, which are open weekends. Before you go, call the pick-your-own hotline to check on the field status and confirm operating times.
Get Lost in a Corn Maze
For a quintessential fall activity, spend some time wandering stalks of corn. In Blue Ridge Mountain Maze at Blue Toad Hard Cider (462 Winery Ln., Roseland), you answer trivia questions to maneuver the maze of maize: A correct response will send you in the right direction, while an incorrect answer will lead you even more off track. Each year, the maze gets a different shape. This year is horse-themed, and previous seasons featured a shark, a witch, and “Pirates of the Cornibbean.” Beyond the main attraction, kids can visit the farm animals and mini hay-bale maze. For a spooky twist, on select Saturdays once the sun goes down, the maze becomes a dark labyrinth navigated with flashlights (bring your own). The season runs September 21 through November 3, Friday through Sunday.
Eat a Fall Treat
Pumpkin spice, apple cider, and maple bourbon: ’Tis the season for cozy autumnal flavors. Don’t let it pass by without indulging in one of these delicacies.
Apple-Cider Doughnuts
Though there are many of these to choose from this time of year, perhaps the most convenient to get are the ones at District Doughnut (Barracks Row, the Wharf, and Union Market), where you can also find other fall flavors–last year’s included pumpkin glaze and maple butter pecan. Donut Run (6904 Fourth St., NW) in Takoma offers a much-loved vegan version. For the one that Washingtonian executive food editor Ann Limpert most looks forward to, you’ll have to go to Gaver Farm in Mount Airy (5501 Detrick Rd.), where cider slushies, along with a host of fall festivities, make the drive worthwhile. In Linden, Virginia, the 61-year-old Apple House restaurant and gift shop (4675 John Marshall Hwy.) is famous for its apple-butter cinnamon doughnuts, which you can also get shipped starting October 15.
Something Pumpkin
Baked & Wired (1052 Thomas Jefferson St., NW) makes assorted fall-inspired cupcakes, including a pumpkin rendition topped with pumpkin cream cheese. For a spin on pumpkin-spice latte, you’ve got a few options: the pumpkin-cookie-butter latte at Commonwealth Joe in Arlington (520 12th St. S.); the brown-butter caramel pumpkin-spice latte at Little Food Studio in Petworth (828 Upshur St., NW); and, at Cafein in Chantilly and Centreville (13924 Metrotech Dr.; 14106 Lee Hwy.), a cold-brew topped with a hand-whipped pumpkin-pie cream in the fall.
Caramel Apples
A fall-festival classic, caramel apples are as nostalgic as they are sweet. Homestead Farm in Poolesville (15604 Sugarland Rd.) has a good version, as does Butler’s Orchard in Germantown (22222 Davis Mill Rd.).
Go on a Foliage Hike
A fall outing at Maryland’s Sugarloaf Mountain (7901 Comus Rd., Dickerson) offers autumnal views from every angle—the culmination is a sweeping farmland scene from its 1,282-foot summit, and you trek under a canopy of red and white oaks to get there. The privately managed mountain features four main trail loops that range from 1.5 to 7 miles and intertwine for seemingly endless options. After the hike, treat yourself to a drink or a bite at the newly reopened Comus Inn (23900 Old Hundred Rd., Dickerson), a restaurant and beer garden with outdoor music and games just a short drive away.
This article appears in the September 2024 issue of Washingtonian.
Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.
Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.
