15 Free & Low Cost Family Fall Activities To Enjoy!

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Find 15 free & Low Cost Family Fall Activities Near me for families to enjoy!

15 Free & Low Cost Fall Activities for Kids & Families in the NW!

The fall season is one of the most enjoyable times to spend with your family. The air is crisp with a light winter nip and families are constantly looking for fun things to do. The good news is that fall often offers lots of things to do for free, to help you save yet still enjoy family time.  If you are willing to be a bit creative and step outside the box, you can certainly find plenty to do without spending a ton of cash. We have a round up of 15 of our families favorite fun fall activities (say that fast 3 times!) that we hope you will enjoy too.

In the Pacific Northwest, we are blessed with so many really great things to do for free, and fall is a particularly great season to get out of the house and take advantage of these things. Here are some great ideas for family fall activities to add to your list to check out this year!

Here are some awesome family activities that cost little to nothing at all:

Take a Hayride or Get Lost In a Corn Maze!

Kids and adults alike all love to go on a hayride. If you get to know your local farmers, finding a free hayride is super easy to do and tons of autumn fun. We do have a master list of fall festivals and pumpkin patches in the Northwest, so you can call around to find out which ones might be offering free hay rides this year (be sure to call ahead this year, to confirm if they will be taking place as a result of Covid).

My kids have loved the corn mazes as they have gotten older (they really enjoyed this at just about any age). Some locations will have two sets of corn mazes, one for older kids and one for younger kids. I have found that if I let the kids do the corn maze at some pumpkin patch locations, it saves me – as then I am paying for one activity vs more than one, and these take the longest to do – so more time for the kids to have fun.

Enjoy a Fall Hike 

If you want to have some fun that brings you close to nature and teaches at the same time, spend some time on a hiking trail. Few things will nourish your soul better than the forest.

If you are in the King County area, they offer a service called Trailhead Direct, that will provide low cost transportation to many of the great local hiking areas, through the Fall.

Find the 7 Best Mount Rainier Hikes for Families, 6 Tacoma & Seattle Hikes for Families, or our favorite waterfall hikes to inspire your location picks.

Besides all of the gorgeous outdoor hikes we have in the Northwest, the new wooden trolls are also a fun way to explore the outdoors this year. You can follow the upcoming events here. Find more info on the trolls on their website. You can also find clues on the trollmap here – https://trollmap.com/

Visit a Pumpkin Patch

Walking around a pumpkin patch brings you right into the season. Some of the pumpkin patches will offer free admission (but you will have to pay for things to do there, like corn mazes etc). The trick here is to set expectations with your kids before you go (are you just going to enjoy the atmosphere, or do you have a budget to spend on certain activities or foods, etc). Pumpkin patches will look different this year, but many are still opening up and available for the public to enjoy.

Be sure to grab a pumpkin, and make your own pumpkin puree. Your pumpkin desserts will taste better than ever, if you use homemade pumpkin puree, and it is so easy!

Check out our big list of Pacific Northwest Pumpkin Patch reviews for some ideas of what spots might be a good fit for your family (call to confirm if they are happening).

Find a FREE Oktoberfest to enjoy!

If you look in our Fall Festival list we share above, there are some days and times that you can get into different Oktoberfest celebrations for free. The Leavenworth and Wenatchee area is a family favorite area to head to in the fall, with many free festivals to enjoy.

There are also many local options. Some require a fee, but it is usually minimal. Often times they are family-friendly in the day, but some may have age restrictions after a certain hour. Check your local city or fairgrounds event lists for October, to locate many of these.

Tours – Take a Farm Tour / Explore Glass Pumpkins / History Tours & More

Whether it is a local farm or history tour, taking everyone around and viewing the important places of your community or your past is a ton of fun.

You could even do a family history tour, by taking the kids to visit your old homes, or their old homes, schools, and heritage – and telling stories along the way. Seattle also offers a number of free (pay what you feel) tours as well. You can find a list of those here. Another fun one this time of the year is the A fun one this time of the year, is to explore the Glass Pumpkin Patches, put on by the Tacoma Glass Blowing Company. Find more info on that here.

We enjoyed a farm tour of a potato farm in Central Washington last fall, and it was a highlight of the season for me. The kids and I learned so many interesting things about potatoes that I did not know. We brought some home with us and made these delicious Potato Corn Chowders afterward too!

Just search farm tours near me, to get an idea of what options are available in your area.

View Fall Foliage 

Grab a pumpkin spice latte or cup of hot cider, and take a leisurely drive to view the changing leaves for fall. Find great spots to view Fall leaves in the Northwest to inspire your day out.

Chuckanut Drive is a beautiful drive, where you will find great foliage as well as wonderful restaurants along the way.

The Leavenworth & Wenatchee areas are beautiful places to see the changing leaves in Washington for example (and we share more about visiting this area in the fall). But find a town that you can drive to in a day, where you can view beautiful fall leaves either as you drive or when you arrive. Some of my most memorable fall days are doing this! Other fun day trip ideas might be:

• Walla Walla Vineyards
• Union Gap
• Methow Valley and the Cascade Loop
• Victoria BCs Bushart Gardens & Many more things to do in Victoria with kids!
• Silver Falls State Park in Oregon
• Skagit Valley
• Snohomish

Go Sailing on a Wooden Boat on Lake Washington

This spot offers free sailings on Sundays, throughout the year. Sprit boats, steamboats, electric boats, schooners, ketches, yawls, and yachts: come every Sunday to sail them all, year-round, rain or shine for free.

Take in a FREE or low-cost event!

There are a number of spots where you can find free Fall events, or attractions (or low-cost ones), to enjoy with your family. They include:

• The Washington State Fairgrounds
• Check out the Drive-In Movie options – some of those are just a few dollars per car load, and we list NW permanent locations in this article.
• Public library free passes – check with your local library to find out what kinds of free event tickets you can get with your library card. Many offer free museum tickets and more!
• $5 Teen Tix Program

Watch the Fish Spawn

Fall is the time when you can find many amazing spots to watch fish spawn. I have taken my kids to various local hatcheries, the Wenatchee River, and other locations for this amazing event. Just google fish hatcheries or places to watch fish spawn near me, to find a location that will work for you. Pack a picnic and make an afternoon of it.

Find the best places to watch salmon spawn in the Seattle area, and plan a day out around one of these spots.

Explore a free garden! A few of our favorites include:

I love the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, for one. It is free and will have lots of great Fall colors this time of the year (and a great suspension bridge). More ideas include the Kubota Gardens in Seattle,

The Washington Arboretum Botanical Gardens is a great one to see Fall colors, and they offer free loaner backpacks for the kids, to help them really have fun exploring (they include things like scavenger hunts, magnifying glasses, and other things they need to explore)!

Point Defiance is a good stop in the Tacoma area, as they offer much to explore, and lots of walking trails.
Let us know your favorite free garden to explore this time of the year!

Beyond free gardens, the Northwests has many other gardens to enjoy, many of them beautiful in the fall time too.

Make a Scarecrow  or Have a Fall Crafting Day with the Kids

This is a fun and frugal way to make the yard festive, and you can get the kids involved in decorating. If you do not have all the supplies at home already, hit up your local thrift store to get what you need for a bargain.

We also have many more Fall Craft ideas kids will love, including lots that can be made from Dollar Store items to keep your cost down.

You can also find out how to have fun with exploding pumpkins or puking pumpkins this time of the year, or find lots more really cool Halloween-themed STEAM projects for kids here too! Making Pumpkin Pie Playdough is always a hit, and you may already have everything you need for it in your pantry. 

Go through Winter Clothes for Charity & Enjoy Fall Consignment Sales

With the cold weather coming, families will be in need. This is an excellent way to get your kids involved and learn about charitable living. Go through the old and get rid of what you don’t need. The same goes with your pantry – go through your pantry & give your extra to local food banks.

Then find a local fall consignment sale to go enjoy finding some new picks from!

Skateboard or Bike Ride along local City Waterfront Areas, or Trails

I love to continue to get the kids outdoors whenever the weather permits on fall days. Taking them to skateboard or bike ride someplace, always makes for a great day. Pack a picnic, and then stop for hot chocolate or cider afterward.

In the Northwest, we have so many beautiful waterfront, mountain, and other trail areas where you can get some exercise or take a leisurely stroll, all the way taking in the beauty of fall. The waterfront area above is the Wenatchee riverfront, but some other local ideas include:

• Ruston Way Waterfront in Tacoma (you can rent multi-person bikes here or bring your own skateboards).
• Greenlake
• Alki
• Snohomish County Centennial Trail
• The Mount Vernon Trail

Go Apple Picking

There are plenty of areas around where you can go apple picking. You will have to pay for the apples, but if you consider that part of your weekly grocery bill, the event itself is free. You can find a list of places to enjoy this in the NW here.

Go to a Fall Festival 

Festivals certainly include plenty of temptations, but a family that wants to simply walk around and see the sights can go for free. Many fall festivals have petting zoos and various other attractions that cost nothing. Go have some fun just enjoying the ambiance.

Check out our list of Pacific Northwest Fall Festivals going on this autumn season.

Still looking for more ideas, check out 8 Fun Fall Things for Families to Do in Whatcom County too!

Fall fun does not have to be expensive. Go out and get busy with the family and feel good about it!

What are your favorite free & low-cost fun fall activities for families?