Autumn afternoons: eight great ways to savor the season in the Bay Area - Travel

Sunset, Oct, 2003 by Amy Marr

Take in a film festival (or two)

MILL VALLEY AND SAN RAFAEL. The Mill Valley Film Festival draws glitterati, crowds, and top-notch releases. Preorder or be prepared to face the rush for a comfy red velvet scat at the baroquestyle CineArts @ Sequoia or for a spot at the classy Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. In San Rafael, the Italian Film Festival showcases the best of recent Italian cinema. Mill Valley Film Festival: Oct 2-12, $9; various locations. (call for details); www.mvff.com or (925) 866-9559. Italian Film Festival: Saturdays Oct 4-Nov 15, $11; Marin Center, 16 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael; www. italianfilm.com or (415) 499-6800.

Sample apples

PHILO, At the Apple Farm, you can snack on 80 varieties of heirloom apples, including Sierra Beauty and Pink Pearl. The farm also produces a tantalizing array of juice, cider, jam, jelly, and chutney. Apple harvest season runs through November. From U.S. 101 about 90 miles north of San Francisco, take State 128 west through Philo and follow signs to the Apple Farm. 18501 Greenwood Rd.; (707) 895-2333.

Behold the harvest and mountain bike

SANTA CRUZ. Wilder Ranch State Park's Harvest Festival and Draft Horse Day features draft-horse plowing demonstrations, wagon rides, pumpkin-carving contests, and live music. Before or after, head out on one of the park's mountain-bike trails, many of which skirt the bluffs above the ocean. Oct 18; free admission, $5 parking fee. Off State 1, 2 miles north of Santa Cruz; www.santacuzstateparks.org or (831) 426-0505.