New England Fodorites - where to go?
 

Hello! My husband and I are planning our "third annual" Fall Foliage excursion, from New York. We'll be coming up this weekend, October 3rd and 4th, and staying in Nashua (we've found it to be a good starting point, as it's about 4 hours from NYC).

I know we'll be a bit early for southern/central NH and VT, but how are things looking? Are there any particularly beautiful areas or off-the-beaten path drives we shouldn't miss? Saturday is our big day for meandering, and we're open to anything.

Just looking for experiences from our New England Fodorites! :)

Based on this year's current foliage reports, you're timing is excellent. For details, do a web search for "Vermont foliage report", etc.

Or, phone 1-800-258-3608 for New Hampshire (updated Mondays & Thursdays); 1-800-VERMONT (updated Tuesdays & Thursdays).

On Thursday, we're headed to Littleton, NH for a three-night stay and will be driving all over the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the Great North Woods and White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Not sure how colorful it is right now, but a spectacular drive (detour) from parts north back to Nashua is Route 77 from Goffstown to Route 13 through Mont Vernon to Milford.

PS If you're planning on staying overnight in parts north, reserve NOW.

Thanks so much for the resources, djbooks! I'll definitely look into that drive to Nashua, I don't believe we've done that. We do already have our hotel reservation, so we're all set - we'll plan to return to Nashua late Saturday night so our drive home isn't too long Sunday.

Although there's lots of green still, in the Concord NH area there are areas near water that are bright with color plus individual trees here and there. The on-ramp at exit 12/Rt 93 is very pretty. Colors seem brighter this year. Rt 89 to VT ought to have some nice color near Concord and Hopkinton because of all the water in the flood control area and ponds. From downtown Concord you can take Pleasant St west toward the hospital and keep going. This goes thru pretty towns of Hopkinton and Contoocook. Take a side road to Gould Hill Orchard for view and heirloom apples. Continue on to Warner NH. There are two roads up Mt Kearsarge. One from Warner, from downtown take a right onto what else Kearsarge St. But if you use a map to get up to New London NH, pretty college town, it's at a higher elevation and there should be some pretty good color in that area. At the intersection turn to head to Wilmot. Watch for signs to Winslow State Park. It will be a toll but should be worth it. There's a winding road up this side of the mountain which ends at the park. Large parking and picnic area. Also steep trail to top. Really nice views from here toward Lake Sunapee. Drive all the side roads around the lake. Before you get to New London or on your way back there's also a small lake in North Sutton. Look for Musterfield Farm Museum http://www.musterfieldfarm.com/
Harvest Day is Sunday Oct 5. This is probably one of the prettiest farms in NH, now a museum but continuing as an active vegetable farm. Just the drive and the farm is pretty. We usually go to their event in August and it is wonderful but haven't been to Harvest Day.
To continue the meander use map to go back to Bradford and then over to Henniker/Hillsboro. Try to find Washington NH and Hillsboro Center. There's a pretty little pond in Washington. Keep eyes open for stone arch bridges. Henniker is a college town. Daniels restaurant overlooks the river. Nice menu. If you have a good map there's a road from Henniker thru flood control area that comes out on Rt 202 which then connects you back to Rt 89.
Follow djkbooks directions from Goffstown but in Goffstown, take a detour to Mt Uncanoonuc Perennials. Very pretty perennial nursery on the side of the mountain.
If you want to go further north head for Center Sandwich NH and Squam Lake. Expect a lot of traffic esp in downtown Meredith. Try to find Sandwich Creamery. It's waaaay off the beaten track. Twice we have seen black bears in this area. This is just at the beginning of the mountains.
I would expect a lot of southbound traffic on Rt 93 in the late afternoon backing up at Hooksett Tollbooth. Following djbooks suggestion you would avoid this entirely. With a good map you can get over to Goffstown from Hopkinton/Concord after exploring the Hopkinton/New London area.
Otherwise you could get off Rt 93 at exit 12S and follow Rt 3A all the way. It will bring you back to Rt 293 in Manchester. Stop to enjoy homemade ice cream at Merrivale Farms. Try the Indian Pudding ice cream! (Hope they are still open)
If you want a really detailed road map pick up the state atlas and gazetteer usually at bookstores. It even shows dirt roads but also location of covered bridges and waterfalls. In areas I've described there are several covered bridges but you would need to know which side road to take.
Have fun!

Thank you so much for your details! That all sounds wonderful. We can't wait!