manishbit

Hi All,

I'd like some help in planning a 2 day Fall Foliage trip from Central Jersey to Upstate NY to Vermont to NH and then back.I am a photographer so basically want to cover the BEST possible Scenic routes, click lots of photos in these 2 days. (unfortunately I only have 2 days)

This is what I have in mind, would appreciate if I can get your feedback

Edison, NJ --> Lake George, NY --> cut thru Vermont --> Kancamagus Hwy, NH --> Mt Washington, NH --> Berkshire Mtn region, MA --> Edison, NJ

Thanks,
Manish

nytraveler

When are you planning on going? There is already a lot of color in the north - check the foliage web sites.

And that looks like 2 solid days of driving to me.

simpsonc510

Great choice in driving the Kancamagus Hwy!!

J62

Looks like way too much driving to me. I recommend you pick one area and slow down to smell the roses.

There's a lot of color (here) in the north, but a lot of the early brilliant reds and oranges were blown off with the wind & rain of the last few days. Still a lot of green from the later varieties like oak, but you may have already missed the brighter colors.

Two days in the Berkshires would probably be ok still if you go soon. New Hampshire may already be past prime, and that's a long drive from NJ.

Lake George area got hit with the storms, but still good color up there - sugar maples are mostly gone, but still lots of green.

zootsi

I agree this is a LOT of driving for two days. Driving west to east in Northern New England is very slow due to winding mountain roads. Driving from Mt Washington to the Berkshires would take all day. Since it is already late in the season, you may want to concentrate on Lake George to Southern Vermont. Route 9 across Vermont is quite picturesque. This will take you to Brattleboro, a fun little city with lots of dining and lodging options. From here, you could drive down to the Berkshires, or across into Southwestern New Hampshire, which is also scenic - towns like Dublin, Hancock, Peterborough are very picturesque.

dfrostnh

I think zootsi's recommendations are great if you are going this year. Rather than following the popular routes, I suggest you concentrate on a small area. The color looks different depending on time of day and direction/the way the sun hits them. As often as I've referred to "swamp maples" I recently realized the timing and colors are different on different trees. DH has been studying maples and said, yes, there are different kinds of swamp maples. The old ones in a wet area of our yard turn reddish early and are now leafless. The one across the driveway from our house is in great color right now but golden. Personally, I love the wet areas with trees all the same shade of red that color early but those have probably gone by in our area. (near Concord NH)

NeoPatrick

We just got back from the Berkshires this past weekend. The colors were spectacular, but it rained most of Saturday and Sunday with more coming on Monday. We could see a big difference already with MANY of the leaves down from the rain. I'm afraid you may have already missed the height of the color -- several locals suggested this past weekend was indeed the height. So I'm guessing it will be even more past further north. But back here in Lambertville (where are you?) it seems it's only beginning.

By the way, our drive down the Taconic Parkway on Monday was truly beautiful, despite the tiny bit of rain we were getting.

Vttraveler

I am in north central VT and the foliage is already past peak here especially since there were wind and rain storms sunday and Monday. i would check foliage web sites to try to see where the best color is now and plan based on that.