Fall In Love With Our Fall

With Cleveland designated as a Tree City USA, vivid bursts of color are all over the city during Fall. Add winding country roads and the neighboring Cherokee National Forest and our region showcases some of the most beautiful fall scenery in the South. The peak color times have been hitting around the last weekend in October and first weekend in November, but peak times vary with elevation as you travel through the valleys and mountains.

Harvest time at Apple Valley Orchard is in full swing, with a market featuring apple varieties, canned goods and pastries – like those famous fried apple pies mentioned in Southern Living magazine. Southern Living online called Apple Valley the best orchard in Tennessee. Tours of the orchard are available with reservations. You can even celebrate the apple at the annual Cleveland Apple Festival, always the middle of October on the Courthouse Square in Historic Downtown Cleveland.

Another popular Fall harvest is the grapes and muscadines at Morris Vineyard & Winery. Visit one of the most beautiful views in Bradley County and enjoy tasting award-winning wines. You can also plan to pick your own fruit, a great family experience!

The pleasant Fall weather brings many unique events to the area. In addition to the Apple Festival, as mentioned, the Fall calendar is filled with celebrations throughout the community. The International Cowpea Festival and Cook-off is the “Harvest Festival with the Funny Name!” Always the second Saturday in September, this unique festival held in Charleston, Tennessee, celebrates the tiny, protein-rich legume called the cowpea. Charleston was once the “Cowpea Capital of the World” growing and exporting large amounts of black-eyed peas, crowder peas, purple-hulls, field peas and other varieties of cowpeas. When the train came through Charleston in the 1850’s, people called it the “pea train” since so many peas were shipped off to markets via the train. This annual event, sponsored by Bush Brothers & Company, draws thousands and features a Cowpea Cook-off, live music, children’s activities and handmade arts and crafts. #LetsCowpeaYall

Check out our calendar of events to see what is happening in Cleveland, Charleston and surrounding areas.