What's the best U.S. trip you ever took at end of September?
 

For the first time in at least 13 years we don't already have our vacation planned for next year. We usually travel end of September and usually out west. We like day hikes. We like a hotel or cabin, but don't have to have a ton of luxuries. We've hit most of the national parks, but have never been to Rocky Mtn Natl Park. I've been considering Colorado. Also, maybe doing a Great Lakes drive. We don't mind repeating a trip if there's something that sounds just beautiful. What's your favorite Sept/Oct trip?

Kansas City.

Canyon de Chelly.

A long weekend in New Orleans.

Can I change my answer to Albuquerque?

New Mexico: Fly into Albuquerque and drive to Santa Fe and Taos.

Albuquerque. Stick around long enough to see at least part of the Balloon Festival.
If you have enough time. drive through Monument Valley on the way to Moab.

If you're willing to go a little further, Honolulu is fantastic in the fall months. There's a little bit of a "vacation frenzy" lull between the summer and winter seasons; and it's the season for humpback whale migration. So awesome to see!

Though we haven't done many, Vermont and New Hampshire are beautiful in the fall.

Pacific Northwest - flew into Jackson Hole, drove to Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, then took train to Portland OR and drove up to Seattle WA from where we flew home. Weather was sunny and warm even in Seattle. Had to begin trip early Sept. as to arrive and drive Going To The Sun Road before closing date, duration was about 3 weeks.

But San Diego is always wonderful in Sept/Oct/Nov; we are here now again.

We drove to Bristol Tennessee and picked up the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and right up through the Skyline Drive.
That fall was spectacular. And we saw a lot of wildlife.

Since I live in NM, and agree that it is spectacular here - we love San Francisco at that time of year. Great weather and a terrific city with lots to do.

Vermont, Greece

Thanks, all. Still working on it.

You certainly couldn't go wrong flying into Denver and going up to Rocky Mountain National Park. You could just ramble through the mountains without reservations, as you'll be there in off season.

My favorite trips have been Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver, BC.
We love driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles on U.S. 1--through Carmel, San Simeon and Santa Barbara.
We've also flown 8 times into San Francisco or Oakland and driven up to Lake Tahoe, CA.
We also have driven from Las Vegas to Yosemite to San Francisco and down U.S. 1 to San Simeon.

There are just so many great trips to take in the U.S. and Canada.

Sounds like there's a lot of Canada you haven't seen yet....

"New Mexico: Fly into Albuquerque and drive to Santa Fe and Taos."

Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner. This is it.

"Though we haven't done many, Vermont and New Hampshire are beautiful in the fall."

Yes they are. And you get a lot of time to look while moving a 5 mph in the massive traffic jam that covers the rural areas of Mass and Vt in the fall.

Durango - visiting Mesa Verde as day trips, train excursion to Silverton. Also worked in some time in Santa Fe and Taos, plus driving loop in a day to see color around Telluride.

Canadian Rockies - Banff and Jasper are wonderful this time of year, especially when combined with an extra week or so driving across British Columbia.

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons - obviously. But you've probably already done that one.