Look at where residents of the Parkland School District actually spend an early-October Saturday, and something clicks: almost none of it requires leaving the northwest corner of Lehigh County. The orchard, the preserve, the zoo, the township festival — they string together along a stretch of farmland barely twenty minutes end to end. The classic Lehigh Valley fall itinerary tells you to drive to Bucks County or the Poconos. The better one starts in Breinigsville, ends in Schnecksville, and never gets on a highway.
This is a post for people who already live here. If you moved into Orefield or Upper Macungie in the last few years and still default to the same two apple orchards you Googled your first September, you have been missing the point of your own address.
Start the morning at Grim's
Grim's Orchard & Family Farms sits at 9875 Schantz Rd in Breinigsville, which puts it inside the Parkland attendance zone for Veterans Memorial Elementary and within a ten-minute drive of most Upper Macungie neighborhoods. The farm ran its Fall Festival on Saturdays and Sundays from September 6 through November 2, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with last admissions at 5:30 p.m. in 2025, and the calendar tends to hold from year to year.
The scale surprises people who haven't gone in a while. The corn maze covers eight acres of six-to-eight-foot irrigated corn with hints cut into groomed paths for anyone trying to find the exit. Pick-your-own runs across more than 23 varieties of apples along with other farm favorites, which is the kind of number that actually matters if you have been alternating between two Honeycrisp trees at a smaller orchard for a decade.
The under-appreciated piece is lunch. Grim's brings back Casa Taco during the festival, serving tacos and specials using produce, herbs, and spices grown on the farm, open every Saturday and Sunday, Fridays in October, and Columbus Day Monday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. That takes a pick-your-own stop and turns it into a meal, which is the difference between an hour on-site and a genuine morning out.
A note for the planning-averse: everyone ages 3 and older needs to purchase a picking bag for access to the farm. Budget for it before you get there.
Drive north, not east
Here is the geography most residents underuse. From Grim's on Schantz Road, a fifteen-minute drive north brings you to Trexler Nature Preserve at 5150 Game Preserve Rd in Schnecksville, an 1,108-acre public park that serves as a focal point for land conservation in Lehigh County and helps protect endangered bison and elk.
The trail network is the reason to build an afternoon around it. The preserve offers more than 18 miles of trails for hiking, walking, jogging, mountain biking, snow shoeing, and cross country skiing, including the 8.5-mile Trexler Border Trail popular for horseback riding, and the well-stocked Jordan Creek is a popular spot for fishermen. Most first-time visitors do a single short loop from the Environmental Center parking lot and leave thinking they've seen it. They haven't. The Border Trail alone would take a full day.
An 8.5-mile perimeter trail sitting inside the Parkland School District attendance boundary is the kind of thing that would headline a listing description in a different market. Here, it is the walk residents forget they can take on a Sunday.
The preserve also functions as the access path to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, so families with younger kids can pivot mid-visit without a second car trip. Fall foliage on the ridge above the zoo tends to peak in mid-to-late October depending on the year.
The one Saturday you should not miss
If you have to pick a single date, pick this one. South Whitehall Township runs its Community Day on Saturday, September 19th from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at Covered Bridge Park, at the Basketball Court entrance at 4050 River Road, with live music, kids entertainment and activities, a vendor trail, crafts, food trucks and more, including all the activities and entertainment of Family Safety Day.
Two events used to run separately. The township combined the Sunset to Summer Festival, with its vendor fair trail, kids entertainment, crafts, food trucks, and live music, with the Annual Family Safety Day event run by Emergency Services Management, merging them into a single Community Day. That consolidation matters because it means one Saturday now carries what used to be two half-attended afternoons. Fire trucks, EMS demos, live bands, and food trucks in the same park.
For anyone with young kids in the Parkland or East Penn systems, this is the local calendar entry that will actually run into people you know from pickup line.
A weekend at a glance
| Stop | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Grim's Fall Festival | 9875 Schantz Rd, Breinigsville | Weekends, mid-September through early November |
| Casa Taco at Grim's | Same site | Sat/Sun, Fridays in October, Columbus Day, 11 a.m.–6:30 p.m. |
| Trexler Nature Preserve | 5150 Game Preserve Rd, Schnecksville | Daily |
| Lehigh Valley Zoo | Inside the preserve | Daily |
| South Whitehall Community Day | Covered Bridge Park, 4050 River Rd | Saturday, September 19, 4–8 p.m. |
| Parkland Education Foundation Golf Tournament | The Club at Twin Lakes | Friday, September 25 |
The tournament most parents don't know is theirs
Buried in the Parkland school calendars is a September entry worth flagging. The district's calendar lists the Parkland Education Foundation Golf Tournament at Twin Lakes on Friday, September 25. This is not a district athletic event. It is the foundation's annual fundraiser, and it feeds programs at the schools your kids attend.
The venue matters, too. The Club at Twin Lakes sits in Allentown and functions as a regional event space beyond the golf calendar, which is why you will see it appear in bridal show and community listings across the fall. If you have never played it, the tournament is the low-pressure way in.
Why the loop works
Look at the map. Grim's on Schantz Road, Covered Bridge Park on River Road, Trexler Preserve on Game Preserve Road, Twin Lakes off Route 309. These are four addresses that appear scattered on a Google search result. On the ground, they sit inside a rectangle you could drive around in under thirty minutes without touching I-78.
That is the local knowledge worth having if you already live in this district. The Parkland footprint runs across North Whitehall Township, South Whitehall Township, Upper Macungie Township, and part of western Allentown, and includes the South Whitehall communities of Orefield, Scherersville, Walbert, and others. Most of the fall calendar that gets promoted to Lehigh Valley visitors is happening inside that same boundary. Residents just tend to drive past it on the way to something further out.
A better fall Saturday than the one you probably planned: apples and tacos at Grim's before noon, a Border Trail segment or a zoo loop through the afternoon, dinner at DiFiore's or somewhere on Tilghman Street, and September 19 blocked out on the calendar for Community Day. No highways. No hour-long drives to a farm that is objectively smaller than the one ten minutes from your house.
When you're ready to talk about the address, not the weekend
The Mick Seislove Team has been working the Parkland, East Penn, and Upper Macungie markets long enough that this loop is second nature. If a home in Orefield, Schnecksville, or Upper Macungie is on your mind, or if you're thinking about selling and want a read on what your block is doing this fall, we're here when you want to talk. Contact Us.
