My wife and I would like to make a trip to the Northeast by car in October-November time frame to see the fall colors. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us. We will make stops in Cleveland, TN, and Williamsburg, VA along the way from Florida but we don't know enough about best dates and times to view the colors as we proceed north. I would like to avoid I95 as much as possible. Any suggestions would be welcome.

I'd suggest working in a trip to the National D Day Memorial in Bedford, VA combined with a visit to Smith Mountain Lake and Peaks of Otter. Natural Bridge is also worth a stop along the way. The Blue Ridge Parkway offers you gorgeous views along the whole way. The downside will be speed. It will take you twice as long as using major highways, but that's kind of the point.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is in my opinion is one of the most beautiful stretches of highway on the planet. It runs from NC almost all the way through Virginia. One could make a vacation just driving that one road alone.

The route runs on the western side of VA, so it would be quite a deviation from Williamsburg. I've been to Williamsburg before, I can't think of any reason to see it again, but I could drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive over and over and over again.

ETA - A friend of mine seconds ago just posted some pictures from a trip to D-Day Memorial.

Mom and dad get a lot of leaf lookers in Franklin NC, during the fall. It’s right near the blue ridge parkway which is beautiful but dangerous during fall because no one is driving and everyone is looking.

Times change yearly so you have to be flexible.

Peak color time depends on the weather for the summer, so it's difficult to pick the best week ahead of time.
The best fall foliage views will be in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The color is good there and the terrain is more mountainous, giving you better viewing sites.

I will second the Blue Ridge Parkway, but be aware that it is stop-&-go on good weather weekends in the Fall peak season, and once you get on it, decent exit options are rare, you can indeed make a vacation out of it as Jesse noted. I think Oct.-Nov. might be a little late for color in the upper NE, that is peak season here in NoVA. I'd be looking more at NC, WVA, or PA at that time of year, maybe as north as western NY. A lot depends on the weather, both for when and how colorful the display.

PA has some great fall foliage along with some great parks and attractions. The PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources maintains a website that identifies the state of the foliage by week. 2021 could be used as a reference but the actual colors are weather dependant.

https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Conser...s/Pages/default.aspx

Welcome to West Virginia.
We have great scenery in the fall, most years.
We even have a dedicated train ride through the really beautiful parts, including the newest US park, New River Gorge.
https://www.autumncolorexpresswv.com/

What a wonderful trip.

With a return to normal so to speak I imagine that leaf peepers will be out in force. Early planning is a must.


Consider Canada. You can go early to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or Quebec, cross the border and do Northern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont as you work your way south through the Adirondacks in NY, western PA, into Virginia. That's a good 4 - 6 weeks.

On Canada, border is open, be vaccinated (two shots, not one is considered vaccinated). Exchange rate is favorable.

Group tours on buses are common in New England and book out hotels and national chains. Look for smaller motels for availability.

National Forests and National Parks get hit hard on weekends from urban areas out for the day. Blue Ridge Parkway is spectacular for the color, but a parking lot on weekends. Kancamagus Highway in NH is beautiful, but an easy drive from Boston, so best avoided on the weekend at peak color. https://kancamagushighway.com Don't pass up the often forgotten https://www.nps.gov/shen/plany...ng-skyline-drive.htm

Stop by Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, NH. https://pollyspancakeparlor.com

Head over to Franconia Notch State Park and catch a ride on the Tram to the top. https://www.nhstateparks.org/v...nia-notch-state-park

Nothing beats a ride on the Cog railway up to the top of Mt. Washington, second highest elevation east of the Mississippi. On a clear day you can see 100 miles. https://www.thecog.com

Stop by Bretton Woods, or stay a night. https://www.omnihotels.com/hot...ods-mount-washington


AAA Trip kits are a great resource.

Weather changes dramatically, bring layers, winter clothing for higher elevations.

Timing. I give myself a window from last week of September to end of October and just watch the foliage reports. Have to be more flexible about where I stay, but don't get locked into a fixed travel plan.

These websites can give very rough indications, but change from year to year.

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs..._foliage/index.shtml


https://www.visitnh.gov/season...fall/foliage-tracker

May be in the wrong direction, you could go up towards ‘YooperSigs’ location, Marquette, MI the last week of September. The area near Alberta, MI is heavy with Sugar Maples.

One would want to line up sights along the way. A biggie is where you’ve already been & where you want to go.

I would recommend Lake Placid in NY in October, not sure when we went early or late October but it was beautiful, the ski jump is amazing, wouldn't do it for anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Peak color time depends on the weather for the summer, so it's difficult to pick the best week ahead of time.
The best fall foliage views will be in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The color is good there and the terrain is more mountainous, giving you better viewing sites.

Couldn't agree with this more. The Kancamagus Highway in NH is a nice route.

NH also has a few "foliage train" options that are a five way to spend an afternoon (or even a full day).

Rte 26 in Maine is also a nice drive with good foliage views, not comparable to the Kangamus though.

If you can, arrange your viewing on week days to lessen crowds and traffic.

A few years back, we drove through Maine in the Fall. We drove there and back from Illinois on the weekend, spending the week days meandering the back roads of rural Maine. It was an unforgettable experience.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
May be in the wrong direction, you could go up towards ‘YooperSigs’ location, Marquette, MI the last week of September. The area near Alberta, MI is heavy with Sugar Maples.

One would want to line up sights along the way. A biggie is where you’ve already been & where you want to go.

I second this. I know it would be a completely different trip than what you’re considering, but northern Wisc and the UP have some pretty nice Fall foliage of their own - with the benefit of less crowds and traffic. Something for you to consider.

When I was a child, my family would take an excursion train out of Richmond called the Autumn Leaf Special. Steam locomotive, observation cars, antique rail cars, the works. They still exist in various forms throughout the south, and are great way to go.

As previously said, it's hard to predict the exact timeframe this far out.

The White Mountains area of NH is very good, as is Stowe, VT.

Agree on the White Mountains area. I'm in the Lakes region just south of the mountains and the whole region is pretty nice to drive around and lots of fall events. We moved up here (from Southern NH) about a year ago and I make it a point to enjoy the fall. Its' kind of hard to plan the timing as the foliage can start at different times but either way, there is enough color to last awhile. I was up there Oct 6/7th and it was nice color. Franconia Notch is very nice. There are "trackers" online for foliage.

This photo was taken from the Kancamagus- just a few feet in off a pull off. Still nice on a cloudy day.

quote:

Timing. I give myself a window from last week of September to end of October and just watch the foliage reports. Have to be more flexible about where I stay, but don't get locked into a fixed travel plan.

That's the #1 thing.
#2 is weather.
#3: colors are definitely brighter farther north--Vermont, NH, Maine, but also NY state.
#4: color peak works its way from north to south.

Peak leaf season in the North is going to come before peak season in the south, so you need to decide where you want to see the leaves at their peak and setup the rest of your trip around that. I used to take a leaf looking trip through East Tennessee every year, and I found that the first week of November was usually pretty good. The last week of October seemed to be a little too early, with some touches of color starting to show but still very green at most elevations.