New England Foliage
 

Hey,

My mom is flying to Boston to visit me on Oct 7. It's her first time in New England and she has been talking about the foliage for weeks. I want to take her on a day trip to Kittery, Maine. I know it's about an hour from Boston and I want to keep the drive as short as possible. Does anyone know of any place along I-95 between Boston and Kittery where there are good parks or views? She is old, and can't walk for more than an hour or so. Thanks!

The southern ME coast is not known for its foliage. How about southern NH around Peterborough/Hancock or even out Rt 2 in western MA? The western Boston suburbs have some pretty country scenery - Concord/Lexington with all the historic sites, Minuteman National Park in Lexington, etc. but there may not be much color in those areas that early in Oct.

The nice thing about viewing the foliage is that you don't have to walk for an hour, you can view it by car, and maybe turn off at a view point or for lunch.

We like Kittery, but you have to know what outlets to visit in advance, or there is too much getting in and out of a car for a person who tires easily.

I'd suggest a drive west on Rt. 2 to Westminister, MA,(hour from Boston) and lunch at the Old Mill. It's located in a very pretty setting.
http://www.1761oldmill.com/

8-)

Hmmm...not sure of any parks that are on the way to Kittery. But you will see plenty of foliage along 95. You may want to try Durham and drive around the UNH campus which is beautiful in the fall. For lunch you could stop in Portsmouth, which has Prescott Park (right on the harbor) and tons of good places to eat lunch. If you want to eat lunch in Kittery you could try Bob's Clam Hut, an institution very famous for their fried clams. Nothing fancy, think picnic tables.

I'll second the idea to drive thru Durham. Between I-95 and Durham you will go over the bridges over Great Bay and the rest of the way into Durham is scenic. You might consider lunch at Newick's on Dover Pt Road. The restaurant is on the water's edge. If you aren't familiar with it, it's very casual and very popular paper plates but an extensive menu. There is a park on the Durham side of the bridge where people can launch boats and have picnics so you would look right onto Great Bay. I think the name may be Hilton Park. Prescott Park might be nice too. There are benches but we carry bag chairs in the car just in case. From Prescott Park you can also take Rt 1B thru Newcastle which is a wonderful short drive. At one point you will go over a causeway with a view of the old Navy prison across the harbor and on the opposite side a distant view of the beautiful grand hotel Wentworth-by-the-Sea. Newcastle is a beautiful little town filled with very old homes and the Wentworth is gorgeous. You could also extend the loop for a drive thru Rye where there are palatial homes overlooking the ocean. If she can handle a short boat trip, the inland river cruise from Portsmouth or Portsmouth Harbor cruise are both wonderful.

Kittery is not particularly scenic, and definitely not a good foliage viewing area. If you want outlet shopping AND foliage, drive up to Tilton NH, which is in the lakes region. There is an outlet mall there, and it's surrounded by mountains.This is about an hour's drive. If you want to drive about two hours, North Conway has spectacular scenery, and a lot of outlet shopping ( and traffic).

Doing your outlet shopping in NH rather than ME give two advantages: Not only foliage, but also not paying the Maine sales tax (and I think they tax clothing).

hi xc, fyi i live just west of bangor, me. and we really have no color change at all yet. there is a super site for color change info at www.state.me.us/foliagereport
they even have a live chat site on certain days so you could ask them where exactly to go on a given day.
there is a similiar site for nh. www.foliage.visitnh.gov

Last year we did the 6 New England states and I would recommend Jackson New Hampshire. You'll find all the beautiful folliage around; Camcamagus highway and a trip up the highest mountain by car in first gear;mount Washington. Lovely.Paul

From Rt 95 just over the bridge in Maine take rt 103 towards Kittery Point.Stop at the town dock (next to Capt'n Sims) for a view looking out to the Isles of Shoals and Portsmouth,NH.Further up the road is Fort McClary Park.should offer some nice foliage.Stay on the 103 and visit the bridge in York Harbor.From here back to Rt1 or Rt95

Thanks for all of the great ideas!

You can also save your car a huge amount of wear and tear by taking a van ride to the summit of Mt. Washington. I've heard it said that one round-trip up the auto road is equal to 20,000 miles of wear on transmission, brakes, nerves...

Re: Jackson, NH is about an hour from the Kancamagus Highway (a national scenic byway and worth the drive.) but it is close to Mt. Washington and the gondola ride up Wildcat Mt. across from Big George.

A fantastic loop ride is from Jackson, to Rt 302 through Crawford Notch to Rt 3. Then south on Rt 3 to 93 and south through Franconia Notch. From there continue south to Rt.112 East which is the Kancamagus. Go to the other end 40ish miles to Rt 16 North which takes you through North Conway and on through to your starting point in Jackson.


mm

The foliage is running a bit late this year. Was in central VT a few days ago and there wasn't any color at all. Nights are getting cool now so hopefully it will brighten up for you b4 your Mom gets here. Get into or close to the mts if you can. That will be your best bet for some color as opposed to the coast.