Image Credit: Christopher Connell, flickr user cvconnell
Fort Ward Fall Foliage
Fall officially arrives Tuesday in Alexandria at 8:05 p.m. That time comes from the U.S. Naval Observatory, which lists the autumnal equinox at 8:05 p.m. ET on Sept. 22.
Here are 15 ways to ease into the season that won't cost much, if anything.
1. Watch the last sunset of summer. Head to the waterfront, Founders Park or Jones Point Park and watch the sun go down over the Potomac, a little after 7 p.m. The equinox itself arrives about an hour later, so you can toast it on the walk home.
2. Plan a family photo for your holiday card. Fall light is warm and forgiving. Captain's Row's cobblestones, the brick sidewalks of Old Town and the trees along the Potomac all make great backdrops. Take it now and again at peak color, and you'll have a before-and-after.
3. Plan a fall drive. The best local color usually shows up late in the month. The Virginia Department of Forestry puts eastern Virginia's peak at roughly Oct. 20–31, and color arrives sooner if you head west. Our story on when fall foliage will peak in Virginia covers the timing and the best drives. Closer to home, the George Washington Memorial Parkway toward Mount Vernon is free and gorgeous.
4. Go apple picking, or at least go look. It's a tough year for Virginia apples. A spring freeze hit orchards across Northern Virginia and the northern Shenandoah Valley, and at least two longtime pick-your-own farms aren't opening their trees at all in 2026. Our guide to where to go apple picking west of Alexandria this year lists who still has fruit. Even if an orchard isn't picking, buying cider, doughnuts, pumpkins or pre-picked apples helps growers through a bad year.
5. Be on the lookout for pumpkins. Be on the lookout for pumpkins this fall at some of our favorite spots.
Close to home:
- Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill's lawn on Seminary Road turns orange in October, and proceeds support local charities.
- Greenstreet Gardens on W. Braddock Road stocks pumpkins in the fall.
- The Garden Plot on Richmond Highway stocks pumpkins in the fall.
- Nalls Produce in Kingstowne has pumpkins plus its free Pumpkin Hill play area for kids.
For a full outing, Burke Nursery's Pumpkin Playground is a longtime favorite with little ones. Farther out:
- Cox Farms in Centreville is open now through Nov. 8. Tickets are sold online only, and it's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Pumpkin Village at Leesburg Animal Park is also open now through Nov. 8.
- Temple Hall Farm in Leesburg has a corn maze and a pumpkin cannon.
- Great Country Farms in Bluemont makes a full day trip.
Picking out a pumpkin won't set you back much.
6. Bake an apple pie. Whether your apples came off a tree or out of a grocery bag, the first pie of fall is worth making. Double the recipe and bring one to a neighbor.
7. Find your soup of the season. Borrow a cookbook from the Alexandria Library for free and pick one soup to master this fall, like butternut squash, chili or a good chicken noodle. Save the best one for the first cold snap.
8. Watch the Harvest Moon rise. Saturday, Sept. 26, brings the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the equinox. Saturn will appear nearby as a bright, steady point, according to NASA's skywatching guide. Find a spot with a clear view east around sunset.
9. Browse a fall festival. Plenty of Alexandria's fall events are free to walk through. Our roundup of fall events in Alexandria covers art festivals, Oktoberfest, the Del Ray Halloween Parade and more.
10. A fun fall weekend: Take the kids to the Waterford Fair. For a day trip, the 82nd annual Waterford Fair runs Oct. 2–4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, in the historic Loudoun County village of Waterford, about an hour from Alexandria. The fair has been held since 1944. It features craft artisans demonstrating traditional skills, living historians, a juried art show, a historic homes tour, live Americana music and local food, beer and wine. Kids 12 and under get in free with a paid adult ticket. Adult tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the gate and are good for all three days. Parking is free. The village is pedestrian-only during the fair, so wear comfortable shoes. There are no ATMs, so bring cash. Proceeds support the Waterford Foundation's preservation and education work.
11. Walk the Mount Vernon Trail. The trail runs along the river past marshes and woods that change color week by week, and it's free.
12. Stroll a farmers market. Browsing costs nothing, and September and October bring apples, squash, mums and the first pumpkins. Check out our guide here.
13. Start a leaf collection with the kids. Press the best leaves between wax paper or in a heavy book, then use them for place cards at Thanksgiving.
14. Swap your front porch from summer to fall. A pumpkin, a pot of mums or a wreath of branches from your own yard gets you there.
15. Bank the extra hour on Nov. 1. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, when clocks fall back to 1 a.m. That means an extra hour of sleep, and suddenly earlier evenings. On Halloween night, the sun sets in Alexandria around 6:10 p.m. The next evening, it's down shortly after 5 p.m., and within about a week it sets before 5. The earliest sunsets of the year come in early December, at about 4:46 p.m. So squeeze in those after-work walks and porch evenings now, and put the extra Sunday hour toward something good, like a long breakfast, an early walk on the Mount Vernon Trail or that pot of soup.
Why fall starts at 8:05 p.m.
The first day of fall isn't a date anyone chose. It's an astronomical moment. The equinox happens when the sun crosses the celestial equator heading south, marking the start of astronomical fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. It lasts an instant, not a day, and it happens at the same moment everywhere on Earth. That's why it lands on Sept. 22 here and Sept. 23 in Europe and Asia.
The word comes from Latin. "Equinox" combines aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. But day and night aren't quite equal. The atmosphere bends sunlight, so the sun appears above the horizon while it is actually below it, which gives Alexandria a few minutes more than 12 hours of daylight today. The day when light and dark are closest to even, sometimes called the equilux, comes a few days later.
If a friend insists fall began Sept. 1, they're right too. Weather agencies use "meteorological" seasons, dividing the year into even three-month blocks so their records stay comparable. Under that system, fall always starts Sept. 1.
Either way, fall runs until the winter solstice, which arrives Dec. 21 at 3:50 p.m. EST.
