LAND

At Walden Pond in Massachusetts you can wander around the same trails as Henry David Thoreau, while checking out a replica of his one-room cabin, the original foundation and the site of his bean fields.

For pure adrenaline and rewarding views, climb the Beehive Loop Trail at Acadia National Park on Maine’s Mount Desert Island. Traipse through 3 miles of granite stairs and iron rungs and ladders and emerge with stunning views of Sand Beach and the Maine coast. Just a warning: It’s not for children or folks afraid of heights.

New York City-slickers can take advantage of Central Park’s fall foliage tree map, which guides you through the most colorful of the park’s 20,000-plus trees.

Want more mountain fun? You can’t go wrong with an excursion on the nostalgic Cog Railway, a steam-powered train that winds its way up New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. 

Based in the idyllic Pennsylvania town of Jim Thorpe, the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway offers fall foliage train rides late into the season. Its trains weave through the Pocono Mountains, offering open-air views and live narration of the sights and sounds of autumn. 

The fall foliage train rides at the Adirondack Scenic Railroad wind through the forests of upstate New York in open-air cars. They provide a variety of different types of train rides, including a pumpkin patch train ride, a Halloween train ride and even a wine and beer tasting ride that takes place at sunset.

The Cape Cod Central Railroad in Massachusetts runs along the coastal shoreline past beaches and bays, between dunes and hills, through forests and cranberry bogs. Its Cape Cod Excursion also features on-board narration about the history of the area.

SEA

SeaStreak offers an all-day foliage cruise from Highlands, N.J., or New York City that follows the Hudson River up to quaint Cold Spring, N.Y., for an afternoon of shopping, dining and strolling. The cruise is narrated by a professional guide and includes a full-service bar.

For more active city views, rent a kayak from Paddle Boston and ply down the Charles River. Or take a paddle through Waterplace Park and see the Providence, R.I., skyline from a whole new vantage point with the Providence Kayak Company.

For a nostalgic view of the Connecticut River Valley, combine a steam train ride with a riverboat excursion on the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat.

Head up north for a historic journey through the Portsmouth, N.H., harbor and inner river area with a Portsmouth Harbor Cruises tour.

AIR

Maybe the sky is more your style? Hop on a hot air balloon at Above the Clouds in Middletown, N.Y., where you can soar above the lower Hudson Valley to view the foliage from up high.

Or get right into the thick of things at the TreEscape Aerial Adventure Park in Vernon Township, N.J. Maneuver through aerial obstacles, rope walks, ziplines and more, all suspended amid the forest canopy.

It’s finally apple picking season!

Now’s the time to put on your best flannel, take a ride to a local orchard and pick more apples than a human can possibly eat. It’s tradition, after all. 

If you’re looking for a way to make use of your plentiful apple picking bounty, this easy and delicious apple spice cake comes together in about an hour and makes for a perfect anytime treat.

Ingredients

Cake:
3 Honeycrisp apples 
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1/2 cup sunflower or avocado oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice 
Pinch of sea salt
3 2/3 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 jar or bottle of salted caramel sauce, for drizzling 

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. 
   
2. Core and chop the apples into large chunks (no peeling necessary). Use a food processor to blend until grated or to a pulp-like consistency. Set aside.
   
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Add the blended apples and gently mix until fully distributed throughout the batter. Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and sea salt and combine. Slowly incorporate the flour, one cup at a time, then add the buttermilk and whisk together only until the flour disappears (overmixing will make a batter that’s a bit stodgy). 
   
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and level with a rubber spatula. Place it into the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Once fully baked, let cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. 
   
5. While the cake is baking, make the cream cheese frosting. Using a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter until incorporated. Slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time. Then, add the vanilla extract and mix until the consistency is smooth and fluffy. You can refrigerate the frosting, but take it out to soften at least 10 minutes before using.
   
6. Once the cake is completely cool, use a rubber spatula to scoop the frosting onto the cake’s center and spread toward the edges. Drizzle the salted caramel sauce over the top.

^{Adapted from @the_bananadiaries.}

These ghoulish ghost tours and infamous haunted places are perfect for fall fun – but beware! There might be creepy creatures out there!  

Salem Ghosts

With a mix of scares and history, Salem Ghosts winds around all of Salem’s most haunted locations. Don’t worry about whether you should bring the little ghosthunters along – it’s family-friendly. Plus, AAA members get a discount.

The Historic Lizzie Borden House

Talk about a creepy place. You may not feel the infamous whacks that Lizzie Borden allegedly gave her parents here. (She was tried and acquitted, and the murders remain unsolved.) But book a room at this museum/bed-and-breakfast in Fall River, Mass., and you’ll certainly feel spooked. A tour detailing the 1892 ax rampage is given to every overnight guest. Too timid to turn in? You can take a daytime tour.

Boroughs of the Dead

New York City can get pretty spooky sometimes. With the many Boroughs of the Dead tours, you can pick your poison and explore all the forgotten, ghostly corners of the city. Tours include Madness and Medicine on Roosevelt Island, Witches of Old New York, Edgar Allen Poe in Greenwich Village, Haunted Brooklyn Heights and more. 

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Do you hear the sound of hoof-beats coming? Could it be the headless horseman himself? Lantern-lit night tours happen every weekend September through November at the cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., made famous by the eponymous Washington Irving story. 

Darkness Falls Tour

Created by Vermont native and paranormal author Thea Lewis, the Darkness Falls Tour of downtown Burlington, Vt., is one creepy history lesson about the city’s most notorious ghostly residents. If you prefer graveyards, opt for her after-dark Lakeview Cemetery Tour (in September and October only).

Ghosts of Newport

The history of Newport, R.I., isn’t just about sailing, folk festivals and Gilded Age-opulence. Ghosts of Newport tours explore more than 350 years of tragedy and superstition in the city’s oldest neighborhoods.