GETTYSBURG, Pa. — October marks the peak of fall, and officials with Destination Gettysburg attribute a variety of factors as to why the month has become one of the most popular times to visit the historic region.
"October is one of our busiest times of year in Gettysburg," said Mary Grace Kauffman, the media relations manager with Destination Gettysburg. "We have the big fall harvest going on with apples and pumpkins. Downtown, you're going to be seeing a lot of the ghost tours."
The popularity of paranormal investigations draws thousands of visitors every year, according to Destination Gettysburg.
Gettysburg Ghost Tours offers a variety of tours, and staff describe each participant's experience as different.
"If you stay here long enough, almost everyone gets some kind of experience on their own," said Lela Feltz, a guide with Gettysburg Ghost Tours. "Just because of the history of the place with the volume of tragedy here."
The tours are described as family-friendly.
"Not every tour is going to be the one to scare your kids to pieces, although we do have ones like that," said Feltz.
For those not into the spooky side of Gettysburg, there are plenty of other activities to take part in.
Kauffman describes the National Apple Harvest Festival as the center piece of every October in the city.
It takes place about at 15 minute drive outside of Gettysburg, at the South Mountain Fairgrounds on Narrows Road in Biglerville.
"It is a massive apple festival because we have this big agriculture industry here," said Kauffman. "We have about 20,000 acres just of apple orchards. We're the number one apple producing county in the state and in the top five in the entire country."
The festival takes place during the first two weekends of October, so there is still opportunity to see what the festival has to offer on October 12 and 13.
Popular orchards in the area include Boyer Nurseries & Orchards, a fifth-generation owned family farm, as well as Hollabaugh Bros. Inc., also family-owned and operated.
You can find Destination Gettysburg's list of reasons to visit in October here.