TL;DR: Camp at apple orchards and pumpkin patches for a festive fall RV trip filled with foliage, cider, farm activities, local flavors, and unique overnight stays.
Your Adventure Awaits!
Harvest Hosts is a unique RV camping membership that offers self-contained RVers unlimited overnight stays at 9,700+ unique locations across North America with no camping fees. Stay at farms, wineries, breweries, museums, golf courses, attractions, and other one-of-a-kind destinations while enjoying memorable travel experiences and the peace of mind that comes with knowing a safe place to stay is always nearby.
There's something about fall that makes an RV road trip feel even better.
Cool mornings invite you to linger over coffee outside the RV. Scenic highways turn shades of red, orange, and gold. Farm stands fill with apples, cider, pumpkins, and freshly baked treats. And across the country, farms and orchards welcome visitors for one of the most anticipated seasons of the year.
For RVers, there's an even better way to experience it: RV camping at apple orchards and pumpkin patches.
With Harvest Hosts, your fall destination doesn't have to end when the farm closes for the evening. Harvest Hosts gives RVers access to unique places to stay overnight throughout the US and Canada, and in the fall that includes farms, orchards, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, giving you a chance to experience fall festivities in a new way and support the people who make them possible.
Instead of simply stopping at an orchard for an hour, you can make it part of your RV adventure.
Summer may get most of the attention when it comes to camping, but fall has plenty of advantages for RV travelers.
Temperatures begin to cool, making hiking, sightseeing, and spending time outside more comfortable. In many destinations, the summer crowds start to disappear. Scenic drives become attractions in their own right as forests transform with fall color.
Then there are the seasonal experiences. Depending on where you're traveling, fall can bring:
Traveling by RV makes it easy to combine several of these experiences into one trip. And when you stay overnight at a participating Harvest Hosts farm or orchard, you can get even closer to the action.
Every Harvest Hosts location is different, which is part of the fun. Staying at an orchard may look like pulling in after a scenic drive through the countryside and parking with rows of apple trees nearby, getting setlled, and then exploring the orchard.
Depending on the property and time of year, that could mean picking apples, browsing a farm market, sampling cider, buying homemade treats, or simply enjoying the rural surroundings.
Instead of spending the night at a conventional campground, your overnight stop is also the activity. In the morning, you can wake up, make coffee in your RV, and continue down the road toward your next destination. It's a simple way to make a travel day much more memorable.
Pumpkin patches aren't just for picking out a jack-o'-lantern.
Many farms turn pumpkin season into a full fall experience, offering everything from farm stores and seasonal food to corn mazes and family activities.
For RV travelers, these destinations can be especially fun because they're often located in rural areas away from busy highways and cities.
A pumpkin patch stop might give you an opportunity to:
Families traveling with children may especially appreciate having an activity built directly into the day's route. But you definitely don't need kids to enjoy the experience. A crisp afternoon at a farm with cider, fresh produce, and a pumpkin or two can put just about anyone in the fall spirit.
Agritourism is travel centered around agricultural experiences, and it's one of the most natural fits for RV travel. Instead of only driving past the farms that produce local food, travelers get an opportunity to stop, learn, shop, and experience them firsthand. Harvest Hosts makes those connections easier, offering agritourism opportunities year round, with a large variety of farm, ranch, and orchard Hosts throughout the country.
Participating farms are part of a larger network of unique Host locations that can also include wineries, breweries, museums, attractions, and other independently owned businesses.
For RVers, that means an overnight stop can become much more than a place to park. You might meet the people growing the apples you're taking home, learn how cider is made, discover a local product you've never tried, or hear the story behind a family farm.
These experiences create a different kind of RV trip, one built around the communities you're traveling through rather than simply the destinations at either end of the drive.
Apple season happens across much of North America, giving RVers plenty of opportunities to incorporate orchards into their travels. Some particularly well-known apple-growing regions include:
Fall and New England are practically synonymous. States including Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts combine apple orchards with some of the country's most famous fall foliage.
A New England RV trip can easily include scenic drives, fall foliage, small towns, farm markets, orchards, and local food.
New York is another excellent destination for apple-focused RV travel. In upstate New York, you'll find rural landscapes, farms, orchards, wineries, and spectacular fall scenery.
The Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes, and other agricultural regions can be especially appealing for an autumn road trip.
Pennsylvania's countryside provides another great backdrop for fall RV camping.
Orchards and farms can be combined with scenic drives, historic destinations, hiking, and visits to amish country.
Michigan has a strong apple-growing tradition and plenty of fall scenery.
An RV trip through the state can combine orchards and cider with Great Lakes destinations and colorful autumn drives.
Washington and Oregon provide another opportunity to experience agricultural destinations during harvest season.
Depending on your route, you can combine farms and orchards with wineries, mountains, forests, and other Harvest Hosts experiences.
Wherever you're traveling, use the Harvest Hosts map to see which unique overnight stays are available along your route.
Apple season varies depending on location, weather, and variety.
In many parts of the country, harvest begins in late summer and continues throughout the fall, with September and October often being prime months for apple-picking trips.
Different apple varieties ripen at different times, so the experience can change even if you return to the same orchard several weeks later.
If picking your own apples is important to your trip, check with the orchard before arriving.
Availability can change quickly depending on weather, crop conditions, and visitor demand.
Pumpkin season generally reaches its peak as Halloween approaches, making late September through October the window that pumpkin patches are open. Weekends can be particularly busy.
If your RV travel schedule is flexible, consider visiting during the week. You may encounter smaller crowds and have more time to enjoy the farm.
Remember that individual farms set their own operating schedules. Check hours and activity availability, and make sure your stay request is confirmed before building your itinerary around a particular destination.
If you go apple picking, there's a good chance you'll return to your RV with more fruit than you can eat on the drive to your next stop.
Fortunately, apples are one of the easiest ingredients to use in an RV kitchen. Try making:
Core apples and fill them with a mixture of cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. Wrap them securely in foil and cook until tender.
Slice apples into a small baking dish, sprinkle them with cinnamon, and add a simple oat topping. Bake until the apples are soft and the topping is golden.
Add diced apples and cinnamon to your morning oatmeal for an easy fall breakfast.
Add thin apple slices to a grilled cheese sandwich for a sweet-and-savory lunch.
Sometimes simple is best. Slice an apple and pair it with peanut butter, cheese, or another favorite snack before your next drive.
Staying at farms through Harvest Hosts isn't the same as a traditional campground, so arrive with the right expectations.
Read the entire Host profile before deciding to request stay. Pay attention to information about:
Every Host is different. Farms may need to be more strict about quiet hours and pet rules, especially if there are animals on the property. Once you've read their policies, and decide you're interested in staying, submit a stay request! Check your email and make sure you don't turn up without an approved stay request.
Farms can be busy places, particularly during harvest season. Following your Host's arrival instructions makes it easier for them to show you where to park without disrupting their daily operations.
Harvest Hosts Members should generally arrive prepared to be self-sufficient. However, many Hosts have started to offer electric or water hookups. Details will be included in the Hosts profile, including the fees your Host may charge to use the hookups. If you'd like hookups, make sure to include that in your stay request. If your Host offers them, it doesn't mean you have to use them.
If you'll be dry camping, fill your freshwater tank, charge your batteries, and take care of your holding tanks before arriving.
Those picturesque fields and orchards are also someone's workplace. Stay within designated guest areas and follow instructions regarding where you can walk, park, and explore.
Never enter fields, barns, orchards, or other parts of the property without permission.
One of the best parts of visiting an orchard or pumpkin patch is that supporting your Host is both easy and delicious.
Shop the farm store, buy some apples, grab a pumpkin, order cider, or purchase another locally produced item. As a Harvest Hosts Member, you're encouraged to purchase something from your Host as a way to show your appreciation.
One of the most exciting ways to build an extended fall RV trip is to follow autumn as it moves across the country. Fall color typically arrives earlier in northern areas and at higher elevations before progressing southward.
That means flexible RV travelers can potentially extend their leaf-peeping season by moving with the changing colors.
You might begin with an orchard stay farther north, gradually travel south through agricultural communities, and finish the trip with pumpkin patches and late-season foliage.
Check foliage reports as you travel rather than relying entirely on predicted peak dates. Weather conditions can cause timing to vary from year to year.
RV camping at apple orchards and pumpkin patches lets experience the season in a new way. You can spend your days picking apples, exploring farm markets, choosing pumpkins, driving through fall foliage, and discovering small businesses, and then wake up the next morning ready to experience another piece of autumn.
With Harvest Hosts, even your overnight accommodations can become part of the adventure. So grab your favorite sweater, stock the RV with cinnamon, and start looking for farms, orchards, wineries, and other unique stops along your route.
