The Ultimate Fall Bucket List for Florida

Fall in Florida looks more like hotumn than cozy sweater weather. The only difference between summer and fall is a drop in humidity. Eventually, though, the temps follow. Kinda. Despite the lack of cool weather and changing leaves, there are plenty of activities to put on your fall bucket list. And some of those you’ll only find in Florida.

For me, by mid-September the temps and humidity are tolerable enough for an increase in hiking. Add to that the many fall festivals, corn mazes, and carnivals, and my Florida fall bucket list is full. Ready to add some of my favorites to yours? Let’s go!

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Fun Fall Activities in Florida

There are so many fun fall activities to enjoy in Florida. Sure, we don’t have apple picking nor cider mills nor orange and yellow leaves floating gently to the ground to blanket it in a soft beautiful coat to use as a photo backdrop. I bet after seeing this list, you’ll realize there are still lots of fun things to do in Florida in the fall.

• Carnivals – Many churches hold days-long carnivals as fundraisers, complete with rides, carnival food, and midway games.
• Corn mazes – Corn actually grows quite well in Florida and makes some amazing corn mazes.
• Cow train – This one’s more for the kids and is super cute for great photographs. A cow train is basically a bunch of half barrels painted like cows and strung together like a train. Kids love them!
• Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival – Here’s one of those fall activities you won’t find outside of Florida. For three months, more than 30 global marketplaces across six continents offer an array of dishes to indulge in.
• Fall festivals – Gardens, nurseries, farms, and other businesses host fall festivals from September through November. Some run for multiple weekends and some for just a day. Check my list of Florida’s best fall festivals to start planning your weekend.
• Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween – Another Florida exclusive, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween is the perfect not-so-spooky fall activity for little ones.
• Oktoberfest – Floridians take their alcohol consumption seriously so it’s probably no surprise that we love to celebrate Oktoberfest. German-American Societies – and many breweries – across the state serve up the best beer, sausage, and dancing throughout October.
• Pumpkin patches – Like many places across the US, Florida has it’s fair share of pumpkin patches, great spots for photos and to find the perfect pumpkin for the front porch.

Spooky Fall Activities in Florida

Here again, Florida offers up activities which are popular across the United States as well as some which can only be found in the Sunshine State. Though many of these rank pretty high on the scare-o-meter, others are suitable for all members of the family.

• Carve or paint pumpkins – Who doesn’t love carving a pumpkin into a Jack O’Lantern? Honestly, I stopped doing that a few years ago, and now have just a fake lighted one. It was a great family activity, though, when my son was younger.
• Ghost tours – Florida has so many haunted places, but the best ghost tours can be found in Florida’s oldest cities. Try the Original Haunted History Tour in St. Augustine, the Key West’s “Trolly of the Doomed”, or Tampa’s Boos and Booze haunted pub crawl.
• Halloween Horror Nights – One of the most popular theme park horror events, Universal Studios Florida‘s Halloween Horror Nights draws visitors from all over the world to experience terrifying haunted houses, sinister scare zones, and exhilarating rides.
• Haunted hay ride – For some of us who don’t love the super scary events, haunted hay rides are the perfect speed. Many of the fun farms and corn mazes around Florida also offer haunted hay rides, the perfect family-friendly scare adventure.
• Haunted trails – Slightly scarier than haunted hay rides and not as intense as the theme park horror events, haunted trails offer the perfect mix of frightful chills and fun.
• Howl-O-Scream – Busch Gardens‘ Howl-O-Scream celebrates 25 years of scary visitors in 2024. Named one of the top 10 Halloween theme park events by USA Today, Howl-O-Scream delivers haunted houses, scare zones, and thrilling rides, all in the dark.
• Scary movie marathon – I’m not a horror movie fan. I’ll have nightmares for days after. But if a scary movie marathon sounds like the perfect evening entertainment to you, be sure to add classics like the Conjuring movies, the Halloween movies, or the Friday the 13th movies.
• Scream-a-Geddon – Scream-A-Geddon in Dade City (north of Tampa) calls itself Florida’s scariest haunted house. Visitors say it’s terrifying, and it’s been featured on all the local news outlets and Horror Junkies as one the Tampa Bay area’s scariest attractions.

Other Outdoor Fall Activities

Fall isn’t all about scary rides and attractions, though it Florida those things do help us get in the fall mood, especially since the weather is still so frightfully hot! Despite the heat, humidity usually starts to dip and mornings tend to me a little cooler, making October and November great months to get back to outdoor activities.

• Bike ride – Florida has turned many of its old railroad tracks into trails. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of interconnected trails and roadways on which to take a bike ride. Some of the most popular are the Pinellas Trail (St. Pete/Clearwater, 39 miles), the Withlacoochee State Trail (46 miles), and the Van Fleet State Trail (29 miles).
• Camping – Campgrounds in Florida fill up fast, especially the beachfront campgrounds, so if you plan on camping this fall or winter, get your reservations done. While the state park campgrounds are among the most popular, smaller county and city campgrounds are often just as nice and are less well-known so easier for securing a reservation.
• Hiking – With summer’s humidity lessened, fall hiking brings out all the trail enthusiasts. Strap on your waterproof shoes, grab a few friends, and enjoy the real Florida along any of its many hiking trails.
• Nature walk – You don’t have to be an avid hiker to take advantage of nature trails. So many are shorter distances to accommodate folks with mobility challenges, and many are paved for the same reason.
• Plant a garden – Fall is prime gardening season in Florida. This is when we start our gardens so that we have tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, peppers, and all the other delicious produce into the winter. Summer in Florida is just too hot for most crops so we garden from September through the spring.
• Stargazing – Despite all the development and people moving to Florida, there are still many places to stargaze and see a beautiful night sky. Try Kissimmee Prairie State Park, one of the national forests, or any of these places to stargaze in Florida.

Fun Indoor Activities for Fall

These are not, obviously, exclusive to Florida. They are, however, things that people love to do more as the weather cools down.

• Bake – Cookies, pies, cakes, desserts, bread. I’m a fan of baking sourdough and trying to make it into things it normally isn’t, like bagels and naan. Doesn’t always work out. The cooler temps, though, mean I’m not melting in the kitchen alongside the butter.
• Decorate – Halloween. Besides Christmas, it’s my favorite holiday to decorate for. What’s yours?
• Go on a road trip – I’m not convinced this is an indoor activity except you’re inside your car. Road trips are great for seeing flower blooms in Florida.

The Most Important Fall Activities

There are two things which are more important than any of the other fall bucket list activities on this list. One is to give thanks. For everything and everyone you have. The other is to tell your loved ones how much you love them. Living in love and gratitude is a great way to enter the holiday season.

Wrapping it up: Florida Fall Bucket List

There you have it – a fall bucket list for Florida. Sure, some activities on this list can be found on fall bucket lists around the country. But others are exclusively Florida, or take on a different meaning in Florida. Whatever’s on your Florida bucket list for fall, go out and enjoy every moment of it.

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