What to do this Fall at Merck Forest & Farmland Center

Compiled by MFFC Educational Team

• Pick and eat an apple from one of our heritage breed apple trees, located near the Frank Hatch Sap House.

• Come up to the fields at the farm to wish the Monarch butterflies well before they depart on their journey south.

• Watch for Canada geese or raptors heading south.

• Stroll up to the farm to witness the expansive colorful quilt laid out from Merck Forest to the Southern Adirondacks.

• Listen to the squirrels and chipmunks scurry around as they put up their supply of acorns.

• Visit our sheep, with their thick wool coats, ready for the winter.

• Hike one of our many trails as the leaves fall around you.

• Catch a leaf mid-air and make a wish.

• Try the various herbs in our Children’s Garden one last time before it’s put to bed.

• Sit by a campfire on a brisk autumn evening.

• Capture the fall colors through art – photography, drawing, or painting.

• Look up and watch how the wind makes the leaves in the trees dance.

• As you walk through the woods, follow the beams of light through the tree branches and see what lies in the spotlight.

• Head to Page Pond for an adventure and maybe catch a frog or two.

• Stay in one of our rustic cabins to read, write, reflect and play cards.

• As dusk approaches, listen for the owls hooting at one another.

• Bring your (leashed) dog up through the farmstead and then let them run free on MFFC’s 30 miles of trails.

• Use iNaturalist to document some of Merck Forest’s fall wildlife during your hike.

• Count trail-side mushrooms as you follow Old Town Road or the Discovery Trail up to the farm.

• Have a fall picnic at our farm.

• Enjoy an early sunset.

• Hike to Viewpoint or Mount Antone and view the colorful foliage on nearby hills and mountains.

• Learn to make a whistle from an acorn cap.

• Use colorful crayons to make leaf rubbings.

• Collect a variety of colored leaves and flowers and create a mandala.