Fall in New England and beyond

[anotherone]

first I would like to say you have allotted way to short a time frame for this immense amount of area. Double the time and it would suffice ; otherwise scale it back a bit.
Second ; I know DC is a pain but there are shuttles and trains and underground rails that go right in. The smithsonian is a must and the DC monuments.

[demoon]

Originally Posted by dakota pete

I am retiring in May and one of our dream trips is to New England this Fall. We live in southeastern SD and plan on going north thru Duluth, MN, northern Michigan, into Canada and back to Niagara Falls. Hopefully be in New England states at prime leaf peeping season. We have a 35' Winne with Jeep toad. I've read all the replies but one question I have is: "Is there bus/train trips into the larger cities from smaller areas or campgrounds? We want to go into Boston, for example, to see some sites, but don't want to drive. Does anyone have suggestions, help regarding this?

Highly recommend Boston Minuteman campground In Littleton, MA. http://http://www.minutemancampground.com/
Fantastic owners and a short distance to public transportation into Boston.

[danf7]

Normandy farms in Foxboro, Ma. is a great campground for a home base for seeing eastern Ma and RI. Tons to see in Boston, ( Freedom trail ) in Newport, RI the mansions are a must.. In New Bedford, Ma. The Whaling museum, and in fall River Ma. battleship Cove has five ships from WWII era that you can tour.

Dan

[trode]

In New England I have enjoyed the following, by no means meant to be a complete list, and depends where your interest lie.

Bar Harbor ME is a great town to visit, above about cruise ships aside, Acadia National Park, Boston is a must see, hike the Freedom Trail, Swan boats in the Boston Commons, Fanuel Hall, and have a drink at "Cheers"-Finch and Bull pub, eat in North End (Italian), Paul Revere house, etc..Vermont is lovely for small towns lush scenery,covered bridges, Newport RI is fantastic visit, cliff walk and mansion visits a must, Cape Cod fun too camped around Hyannis, Plymouth Rock and the settlement with re-enactors is interesting if into history, CT has some beautiful coastal spots including Mystic Seaport and surrounding area, Haven't spent much time in NH so not sure there.

Just some ideas from several trips to the area over the years, don't recall the campgrounds we stayed at, I recall the one in Boston area was near Patriots stadium (old) and we drove short way to end of train line and went to town from there, Big Dig has helped but traffic in Boston still a challenge, though maybe not to someone from So Cal

[Groovy]

I'm from New England and love the fall colors there. But last year I had a chance to see the fall colors in Colorado, and they absolutely blew me away!!

You can hit both on your trip if you time it right.

The Telluride/Ridgway Colorado area was at peak color on September 22 last year, and Vermont/New Hampshire usually hit their peak around October 10. It's a tight squeeze, but those two areas are awesome for fall color, and what fun it would be to see both in one year.

We haven't been to New England in our fiver yet (kinda still feeling lilke 38 years living there means I've been there and done that), but if you want a taste of what fall in Telluride looks like, we posted some pics here:

Ridgway, CO - Peak fall colors on the Dallas Divide - WOW!!

[336muffin]

We have plans for next year. Thanks for the info.

[DrThriller]

We are about to leave on a 6 weeks trip from Los Angeles.

and saw this Thread and got some great ideas, and hoping some could come with some more advise, here is our trip this summer.. this week


Our destination is, the North East, our plan is to drive as follows...
Los Angeles - Mt Rushmoor - Niagara Falls, this last stop is where our trip really starts, the plan is to reach Buffalo NY by the 5th day. (I know, its a lot of driving, but 10-12hrs a day) its all about the North East...
From Niagara Falls, we will wind our way and taking our time through the state of NY, then route 81, to Alexandra Bay, route 11 to the 87, the northern route to Vermont and down to Burlington, stopping and camping along the way.
We will then slowly work our way through New Hampshire to Maine, all the way to Bar Habor.
Stopping off in the Arcadia Natl Park, we'll creep our way down to the Boston area, camp inland and do day trips in the toad.. a lot to see everywhere we go, so the toad will come in handy.
After Mass. we will arrive in New York, New York sans RV, staying in times square...
Philly is next, same as before, camp inland and enjoy the city with it's history and surroundings. Kids are gonna love Hershey park.
After history lessons in Philly, they will continue in Washington D.C.
The journey home will go via Richmond VA, Knoxville TN, NASHVILLE TN, Memphis TN, Little Rock AK, Oklahoma OK, Amarillo TX and following the 40 all the way home....

I know a lot of people will say that it's too much and way too short of a time to see all of it, but it's all the time I have before work, so we have to make the most of it.

approx 7800 miles...

Any advise or suggestions regarding routes, camp sites, monuments or POI, would be greatly appreciated

oh and this is our first RV, we just bought an 2004 Itasca Horizon 40' and our first really big trip, kids and parents are all exited.

So reading this blog has helped us with some ideas, love that..

[336muffin]

sounds like a great trip!

[carolanded]

Great suggestions all...thanks! Taking notes, doing lots of planning...expanding trip to 6-8 weeks, and probably still not enough time. But considering that the length of California is more than New England, its doable

[TN Blondie]

If you're going to hit northern NY / VT, hit the Ben & Jerry's factory tour. Good stuff!

Memphis TN has Graceland, BBQ, and the Tom Sawyer RV park - not frilly, but cool to sit and watch barges travel the MS river.

[Gusmom99]

Route 2 between Maine and Vermont... Is this road a good one for a Coachmen diesel small class c with a trailer with two motorcycles. It would save a lot of time rather than going back down 95 and up again just to stay on an interstate. Any first hand experience? Thanks. Have really enjoyed reading others' itineraries

[Gusmom99]

What route would you suggest as an alternate to 95. We were planning to stay on interstates from Florida to Maine and just go way west of the seaboard. Would be on495 around Littleton mass. Avoid 95 due to traffic? Or steep grade? Our plan is to get to maine ASAP and then travel around by motorcycle. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks