Any suggestions? We don’t have much in the way of leaf color changes around here and seeing leaves in varying hues would be fun. Suggestions are welcome! Thanks! Lodging suggestions also welcomed.
Well…it’s a trek from Hawaii, but really northern New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine have gorgeous leaves.
Unless you have friends in the area, getting lodging for two weeks from now is going to be a challenge! That’s about when they are expecting the leaves to be at their peak.
How much do you want to pay?
For lux I’d suggest the Mountain View Grand, or the Mount Washington Hotel. Both in NH. Both nice.
Depends on when you go and where you want to go. Peak season ends sooner than you think
https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/
Aspen foliage here in Colorado is worth a trip, especially Maroon Bells, the most photographed place in North America. But the height of its fall glory is already past by about a week. Perhaps next year.
I agree with the suggestions to stay at the Mount Washington Hotel (my favorite and in a gorgeous setting!) or the Mountain View Grand. Even if you miss peak season, you will still see some beautiful colors. For Vermont, the Woodstock Inn is very nice, but probably too late to book for this year.
Would it be reasonable to stay at one of these hotels and drive around to nearby states? I have no sense for distances and driving times when looking for fall foliage. Thanks. There are a few nights still available at some of these resorts/Inns.
I’d say peak in the mountains is going to be this week. We’re going up to our cabin Friday and I’m hoping we hit it!
Usually peak in Portland is mid-October.
OK, for perhaps Maine might be another good place to view fall foliage?
The Mountain View Grand is between Whitefield and Lancaster NH. It’s all of a 20 minutes drive through Lancaster to Vermont…but it’s just trees Vermont. Nothing else that far north…unless you go towards Burlington.
You can drive about 40 minutes to the main border via Gotham NH.
The Mount Washington Hotel is in Bretton Woods…not all that far from North Conway. Frankly…if you stay there, you really don’t need to drive from state to state. It’s close enough to drive to places like Franconia, North Conway. If you wanted to, you could take a day trip to Fryeburg Maine. I’m not sure when the Fryeburg Fair is, but it is one of the last in the NE.
The scenic drives from both of these hotels is beautiful. From North Conway, you could drive south through Conway, and drive the Kankamangus…which is a windy but beautiful road.
There is a nice loop drive from Lancaster through Bretton Woods through Glen, then come back via Gotham NH and through Randolph. Just gorgeous views of the mountains. If you hit it right…it looks like the mountains are covered with Trix.
Locals will tell you, there are plenty of roads north and south, but if you want to go east or west…you can’t get there from here.
My H and I are flying from SoCal and picking up a car and heading to CT to stay with family for a night before starting a 5 day scenic drive through parts of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. H has the drives mapped out and hotels booked. He likes to take pictures so we hope that mid October won’t be too late and that leaves will still look nice.
@showmom858 I live in CT…northern…and the leaves are just now almost beginning to change. We have had a hot fall…and it takes some freezing nights to get things going. I think you should be fine…at least around here. Typically Columbus Day weekend is peak in the northern parts of New England…but even my maine relatives say it’s not colorful much there…yet.
Check out the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT.
@thumper1 - thanks! We are just excited to experience fall. H and I love to drive and I think many of the scenic drives he has picked also go through some cute towns we can visit. Coming from San Diego I’m happy to put on a jacket and be a bit cold!
I’m going up to NH this weekend to visit my daughter at school.
I’ve got to tell you- -it was ROUGH getting a hotel reservation for this weekend!!
Like I say, we drove up to the Maine mountains this past weekend and there was a lot of color already. The mountains in NH and Vermont are typically a little ahead of those in Maine (BC, Before Children, my mom would come up every fall and we’d go on a foliage tour, so I saw a lot of areas).
Hard to beat the Berkshires for fall foliage tbh.
Mid-October in the White Mountains is bound to be past peak. I’d focus on southern coastal NH/ southern to midcoast Maine.
Are we likely to avoid ice and snow on the road? We are NOT experienced at handling such conditions. Thanks!
Mid-October would be a great time for the Finger Lakes region of NY (fly into Syracuse or Rochester), Berkshires as marvin100 points out, or the Poconos in PA (Newark, Scranton, or Philly).
We also combined a trip to Philly with a weekend in Lambertville, NJ on the Delaware River during fall foliage time. It does not quite have the colors of the Vt sugar maples but was surprisingly pretty.
“Are we likely to avoid ice and snow on the road? We are NOT experienced at handling such conditions. Thanks!”
Likely, yes but don’t rule out a freak snow squall or ice storm. We’ve had them in October before in Northern New England but they aren’t common. If you go to the top of Mount Washington (will be past peak), there is a higher chance.