We'll be in Vermont and New Hampshire this fall for the foliage and would appreciate hearing of your favorite backroads -- or not so backroad roads. Thanks

I've always been partial to Vermont's Route 100, north of Route 4. It runs along the eastern edge of the Green Mountains.

Kangamankus (sp?) Highway in NH. Too bad the Old Man of the Mountain has fallen; that would have been spectacular to see. Oh well, he's on the back of the quarter now.

It's Kancamagus (pronounced Kan-ka-MAW-gus) - most New Englanders like to pronounce it incorrectly by adding an "n" thus: Kancamangus. They're wrong.

It's everyone's recommendation for a foliage route and therefore gets a bit busy, to say the least, in the Fall. You'll find it on the map as NH 112 between Conway and Lincoln. In spite of the traffic it makes a nice - and justifiably popular - circle route when combined with I-93 through Franconia Notch, US 3 through Twin Mountain, then US 302 through Crawford Notch.

You'll find far fewer fellow leafpeepers if you get off these well-known roads and head for places like Evans Notch, which is NH 113 following the ME/NH state line north from Fryeburg Maine. You can also head west of Lincoln on NH 112 (same route number as the Kancamagus, but a different direction) and then north toward Littleton and the town of Franconia.

If you are moderately fit and would like to experience the best view in the Whites for the least effort, park at the old train station at the northern end of Crawford Notch (now an Appalachian Mt. Club facility where you can ask directions) and climb the easy 1.5-mile trail to the cliffs on Mt. Willard with its fantastic view south. I have taken numerous non-hikers up there over the years and all have found it to be one of their best foliage experiences.

Thanks. As always I get the info I'm looking for.