Are Ticks Active in the Fall? A Fall Tick Prevention Guide

Summer may be over, but adult blacklegged ticks are just getting started. Here is when they are most active where you live, and how to keep your family protected this fall. 

Despite some unseasonably warm days, summer is officially over. If you made it through the summer without a tick bite, you might be thinking, Phew! No more tick checking!

Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

While the warmer days are great for extended time outdoors, they also mean continued tick bite risk. Blacklegged ticks can transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, as well as other pathogens that cause tick-borne diseases.

Nymphal blacklegged ticks are particularly important for Lyme disease transmission because they are small and can be difficult to spot. Although nymphs are most active in late spring and early summer in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, adult blacklegged ticks have another period of activity in the fall.

So even if you’ve made it through summer without a tick bite, it’s not time to let your guard down just yet!

When Are Blacklegged Ticks Most Active?

Two species of blacklegged ticks are important to tick-borne disease risk in the United States: the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), found primarily in the eastern and central United States, and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus), found along the Pacific Coast.

Blacklegged ticks have three life stages that feed on humans and other animals: larva, nymph, and adult. While nymphs are responsible for most Lyme disease infections, in part because they’re tiny and easy to miss, adult blacklegged ticks can also transmit Lyme disease.

In the Northeast and Upper Midwest, nymphs are most active in late spring and early summer, while adult blacklegged ticks have activity peaks in both fall and spring. In the Southeast and California, adult ticks are also active across fall, winter, and spring, with elevated activity often extending into the winter months.

The months shown in the table below reflect periods of peak tick activity. Ticks are often active for a longer season, including in the months leading up to and following these peak periods. The bottom line is that no matter where you live, if the ground isn’t freezing, you need to “Be Tick AWARE”.

Source: Adapted from Eisen (2025). Data are based on ticks collected while questing (searching for a host) or from wild animals. Months shown reflect periods when tick activity exceeded 50% of the monthly maximum in at least one study. Activity may occur in other months, and seasonal patterns vary by location.

Tick Bites Don’t End With Summer:

Emergency department data also reflect these seasonal patterns, with visits for tick bites typically peaking in spring and summer, but also showing a noticeable bump in October and November every year since 2017, according to the data from the CDC’s Tick Bite Data Tracker.

Source: Adapted from the CDC Tick Bite Data Tracker, data refreshed 11/1/2026. Lines are smoothed between monthly values; 2026 is omitted as incomplete.

Blacklegged Ticks Are Not the Only Problem:

Blacklegged ticks are not the only ticks that are active during the fall. Lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) are found primarily in the South, Northeast, and Midwest of the United States. Adult and nymphal lone star ticks are generally most active in the spring and early summer, but their larvae typically seek hosts in late summer and early fall.

Lone star ticks can transmit pathogens that cause ehrlichiosis and tularemia, and their bites have also been associated with alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to certain mammalian products, including red meat.

For a chart of types of ticks, where they live, when they feed, and which pathogens they can carry, see “Where Ticks Live” from the CDC. The University of Rhode Island also offers an interactive Tick Finder tool to learn about tick identification and seasonal activity of different ticks in the United States.

It’s important to remember that various ticks can carry various disease-causing pathogens, so even if it’s not a blacklegged tick, or even if you get a blacklegged tick bite but don’t get Lyme disease, you can still get another tick-borne illness.

How to Prevent Tick Bites During Fall:

Autumn brings opportunity for fun outdoor activities like hiking and jumping in leaves. Kids are outside on playgrounds or sports fields. Adults are raking up the yard to get ready for winter. Unfortunately, all of these activities pose risk for a tick bite, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid them; it just means you should take proper preventative measures. As in any season, the best way to is Be Tick AWARE:

In fall specifically, this might mean:

• Wearing light-colored clothing to make ticks easier to spot and tucking your pant hem into your socks when hiking.
• Making sure your kids are dressed appropriately, with their skin covered and repellent applied, before allowing them to jump in leaf piles.
• Applying repellent to your kids before practices, games, and field trips.
• Treating sports and hiking or camping gear, backpacks, shoes, and clothing with permethrin.
• Taking steps to keep your yard safe. If you treated your yard in early spring, it may be time to re-treat in the fall.

As always, the most important thing to do is a thorough tick check on yourself, your kids, and your pets as soon as you or they get inside. If you do find a tick, remove it properly, place it in a zippered plastic bag, and bring it to your local health department or send it to a lab for testing. If you have a known or suspected tick bite, or if you develop symptoms of Lyme or other tick-borne illnesses and have spent time outdoors, contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible.

This guide is sponsored by Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.

References:

Eisen, L. (2025). Seasonal activity patterns of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus in the United States. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 16(1), 102433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2024.102433

Telford, S. R., 3rd, Buchthal, J., & Elias, P. (2019). Early Questing by Lone Star Tick Larvae, New York and Massachusetts, USA, 2018. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 25(8), 1592–1593. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2508.181293

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