Best Washington road trips to celebrate fall

It’s difficult to believe, yet true — autumn is just around the corner. Enjoy Washington’s bounty of festivals, scenery and foods with fall road trip plans for 2025. Get away for the day or plan a weekend trip.

Leaf peeping in Washington state

Head over to Leavenworth on the eastern side of the Cascades. The town is awash in color due to sunny, mild days and cold, crisp nights. A bonus benefit — Leavenworth’s Bavarian-style structures create the perfect photo backdrop for any upcoming holiday-card photoshoots.

To get there, take State Highway 2, a scenic route that takes you through autumnal deciduous foliage adorning valleys and peaks by way of Stevens Pass.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Leavenworth’s Washington State Autumn Leaf Festival in late September. Enjoy the parade’s floats, featuring locals dressed up in Bavarian attire.

As an alternative, review our past guides to leaf peeping in Washington for other options.

Washington apple and pear season

Pears are harvested in September, with apple season starting in late summer, and then plucked all the way through November. In-season, locally harvested apples and pears are Washington delicacies.

Most of Washington’s apples and pears hail from the dry side, with the closest destination in the Yakima area. Use Visit Yakima’s handy guide to find the region’s prolific orchards, farmstands, cafés and markets. Many sell apples and pears by the pound, ciders, pies, jams and jellies and other goodies — don’t miss fresh apple cider donuts, if available.

One of the more unusual festivals is Ellensburg’s KEEN’s WindFall CiderFest, a mash-up of mining and cider. Discover the history of gold panning and mining through hands-on exhibits, try a dozen regional ciders for tasting and sale and enjoy live music and a beer garden.

Closer to home, Swan’s Trail Farms offer four varieties of u-pick apples on five acres, including dwarf trees easier for kids to pick. Near Olympia, Lattin’s Country Mill and Farm offers a Fall Apple Festival with a petting zoo, wagon rides and games, along with delicious apple fritters and cider.

Washington mushroom festivals

Mushrooms start growing within Washington forests every autumn as the rain returns. Two festivals take place in the types of rainy, temperate environments where the fungi really thrive.

Late September’s Stevenson Mushroom Festival features a mushroom gala, scavenger hunt/festival crawl and two guided hikes from the National Forest Service in the Columbia River Gorge.

In October in Port Angeles, at the long-running Olympic Peninsula Fungi Festival, listen to mushroom-themed talks from experts, learn from workshops on topics like foraging, cooking and fabric dyeing and browse mushroom vendors and art.

If you’re not a festival fan, you can also go on a DIY mushroom-spotting hike with WTA advice or get a guided foraging experience with expert-led tours from Whidbey Wild Mushroom Tours or Hood Canal Adventures.

Washington state fairs

Throughout September, state fairs gather Washingtonians to celebrate agriculture and livestock, offering the perfect excuse for a day trip or a two-day weekend getaway.

You’ll see big-name live entertainment, livestock shows, family-friendly attractions and all your favorite fair foods — curly fries, funnel cakes and fry bread. Just watch out for a case of carnival stomach as you board a classic roller coaster or newer spinning paraglider rides.

A few notable September state fairs include the nearby Evergreen State Fair in Monroe and Puyallup’s Washington State Fair, running throughout most of September. On Washington’s “dry side” (where you can almost be guaranteed pleasant weather for your outdoor day), seek out Yakima’s Central Washington State Fair and the Spokane County Interstate Fair through Sept. 14.

Washington October festivals and Oktoberfests

Keep the party going in October. Harvest festivals and Oktoberfests typically begin when state fairs wrap up. Seek out Washington destinations that reward drivers with relaxing, scenic routes to and from the excitement.

Harvest festivals are typically family-focused, and more for the younger set, with wagon rides, corn mazes, pumpkin picking and seasonal treats. South of Seattle, try out the Spooner Farms Harvest Festival pumpkin slingshot, pony rides and corn maze and munch on caramel popcorn and apples.

The Pioneer Farm Founders Day Celebration takes place in Eatonville on Oct. 11-12, and features farm museum tours, candle making and buggy rides.

Oktoberfests offer more for adults with traditional German sausages, music, and beers and ales, although most provide some kid-friendly features too. Listen and dance to polka music, run in a race and take home a traditional stein.

In Puyallup, Washington’s largest Munich-style Oktoberfest celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025 with friendly competition, including stein-holding contests, bier-lympics and wiener dog races. Leavenworth also runs a popular Oktoberfest throughout most weekends. It’s so popular that you may struggle to find last-minute hotel accommodations, so book now.

Western Washington Toyota Dealers Association is a group of 21 independent dealers formed over 35 years ago promoting Toyota vehicles and services in the greater Puget Sound region. Member dealers live and work in their home communities across Western Washington.

Enjoy Washington’s bounty of festivals, scenery and foods with fall road trip plans for 2025. Get away for the day or plan a weekend trip.

According to the likes of Travel & Leisure and National Geographic, “noctourism” is one of travel’s coolest trends in 2025.

South of Olympia, the Thurston Bountiful Byway is an interconnected series of loops roughly 60 miles long, with markets, farmstands and shops along the way.