I'm a fan of fall and of New England and have often gone ....10 years or more it was Col Day weekend that was the best bet for color (as you know, mother nature can be much earlier or later than she promises..:)....now, we've noticed it's later in October a bit because we've had some hot and extended summers...

but..Berkshires are great, and whiel you may not want to pay to stay there, you won't want to miss Stockbridge and have lunch at the Red Lion Inn, check out the Norman Rockwell Museum and several other interseting sites.

Jackson, NJ would have several nice drives ..and nearby outlets if that appeals to you..

Prettiest NE town with huge tourist appeal for quaint inns, motels and scenic views..Woodstock, VT and the Queechee Gorge...

BUt,...here's my quersteion to the board...how's the weather this summmer in NE. We live in the South nowadays and we've had a bad drought all summer....dry summers are bad for foliage enthusiasts...I heard on the news that VA, WV, and the caronlinas are worried abuot losing tourists this year because of an expected bad foliage year...

anyone have an idea for New England and upstate NY? How's the rain fall?

PS - don't go Columbus Day unless you are VERY VERY patient. It's really tough - the drive, every restaurant...and prices will be slightly higher.

From 30+ fall trips to Upstate NY etc..I want to help answer this :)

Columbus Day weekend...not if you can help it.
Traffic, crowds and the colors are not at their peak..depending on the summer ..

Over all, we had the best color and crisp fall weather closer to Halloween weekend..so in addition to apples, you can bring home a pumpkin that you picked yourself or at least chose at the farm.

We spent weekends in Rhinebeck for so many years but then 'discovered" the Berkshires..sooo beatiful.
Farther..closer to 3 hours than the hour and a half that is Rhinebeck etc. You get on the Taconic , I think the exit is 21 or 23...signs will tell you.
If you go to Rhinebeck , spend some time in Millbrook..oh my...lunch at Allens, a stallion farm next door, valley across the road, views are so wonderful, vineyards nearby..charming village with antique shops and a good diner..sigh..I am making me miss "home" :)

LOL. I just realized that I am guilty too, of posting on a year old thread :D

Well for the person who asked about this year's foliage, the rumor over on the foliage forum at Yankee Magazine's website is great color this year. It has not been droughty in our area of NH although currently we have some early color (faded looking) in stressed trees. We always expect swamp maples to turn early but they are usually red. The one in our yard is pale orangey brown. Not pretty although I have seen some nice color on an occasional branch in an occasional tree. I know color has seemed later in the past few years but we have had an unseasonably cool summer this year. Night time temps are already in the 40s (but days have been 70s-80s). Yes, Columbus Day weekend will have traffic crawling along the interstates esp on Friday afternoon and Sunday/Monday late afternoon. BUT, there isn't any traffic at all on the secondary roads and there's some wonderful views in lots of places. I would avoid the White Mountains. By the third week in October I expect the leaves will be off the trees in central NH except for some rare cases. There's a new variety of maple tree used in commercial landscaping so I've seen a few nice trees in recently landscaped parking lots around Concord NH.

Just a FYI - I am in Southern ME right now and things are turning already. I have been told that it is because of the drought not the cool nights. I am not sure what that will do with the foliage this year!

I'm the original poster, and how funny that this thread was brought up again- because we're in the midst of planning our "second annual" trip.

We ended up going the first weekend in October last year, and found a great deal on the Sheraton in Nashua, NH. Nashua itself isn't charming, but it was very convenient. We logged over 500 miles on that trip, taking in NH, VT and the Berkshires.

Now we have a dog, so we're unable to go the Priceline route. I think we'll stick with Nashua, as it's affordable, and likely go with the pet-friendly Red Roof Inn. But any other budget, dog-friendly suggestions are welcome!

<b>ALL</b> La Quinta hotels are dog friendly, they don't even charge a pet fee. Any size dog too.
We traveled across the US with Pup..and we didn't just get a dog floor, we were given suites twice ..

A couple more sites with some info:

http://www.travelnotes.org/Travel/sep16.htm

http://www.foliagenetwork.com/default.php

I believe the Red Roof Inn in Nashua is in the middle of a very busy area (Spitbrook Rd) so you would face traffic congestion during commuting times. The Red Roof Inn in Concord NH isn't in a particularly pretty location on Rt 106 but there would be a lot less traffic. It is much more convenient if you want to go to the coast or mountains. Even Burlington VT is only about 3 hours from Concord. The Red Roof is sort of by itself at the end of Concord's commercial district with places like WalMart and the Steeplegate Mall. The entire length of Loudon Rd (nearby) is filled with chain restaurants but downtown Concord offers some decent independent restaurants. The newspaper has been reporting a new dog park which I think isn't that far from the Red Roof. Rt 89 from Concord makes it handy to get to central and northern VT. Concord is 40 minutes north of Nashua.

Consider the Berkshires or Connecticut.
Too late for Maine and it's too far.
Southern Vermont is worth considering too.

Dfrost, same thing here in Vermont. We have color, but it's faded and darker looking rather than vibrant. I was in upstate New York yesterday, specifically near Schroon Lake, and I saw really bright reds and oranges.

Ya never know what you'll get though, until you get it.