Hike4Life

Colorado family flying into Boston early October, 2013 where we will stay a couple of days to see the historic sites, then pick up a rented RV and would like to see the Fall Foliage by driving through a bit of Main, Vermont, NY (want to stop by Niagara Falls), Toronto and eventually end up near Detroit, MI where we will drop off the RV and fly back to Colorado. Can you help with a suggested trip plan? We have a total of 8 nights for this trip.

DebitNM

This is last year's but use it as a guide:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/guide/lea...vermont-oct-1/

dfrostnh

Get your campground route set up. Some campgrounds close after Columbus Day. Traffic is going to be extremely heavy Columbus Day weekend so plan accordingly i.e. if you're headed to Maine get on the road early in the day if going I95 on a Friday or Sat. We generally don't visit southern Maine choosing campgrounds in the mid-coast area but if you want sandy beaches, southern Maine is best.

From Portland, you can drive over to NH's White Mountains but my second week of October, foliage would have peaked. Portland to Conway area is about an hour. You could take the famous Kancamagus Hwy over to I93 then plot a drive thru VT. Color will be best in the southern part of the state. The route over Hogback Mountain from Brattleboro to Bennington ought to be nice. Then you can head to Albany NY.

Ackislander

You absolutely will need reservations for campgrounds in advance. You would need hotel/motel/inn reservations as well, as I found out the hard way last year. Get out the Good Sam guide and start today. Or Woodall's, but seriously, today.

You don't say when in October. It makes a huge difference. There is a northern route (roughly Boston to Bethel, Maine, then west on US 2), a middle route (Boston north on I 93 through Franconia Notch then west), and several southern routes ( Boston to Conway and west across the Kancamagus to Hanover, NH, then across VT or MA 2 from Boston to Brattleboro etc) .

You do not really have time to go much beyond Wiscasset in Maine, and you should be aware tha none of the good scenery in Maine is on US 1 or I 95 . I think defrostnh and I are both fans of Brunswick and Harpswell.

I can come back with more but I have to get ready for church. One thing you absolutely must think about is whether you can take a rental RV into Canada, even if you are coming back, and what the heck you are going to do with it while you are inToronto. Toronto is not an easy city to drive in like Denver. It is a mess for all kinds of reasons and all the good stuff is in congested areas. You might be able to leave the RV at a commuter rail stop and take the train in, but you don't want to drive there.

Anonymous

Do NOT plan to drive a rented RV on the Kancamagus!

Ackislander

Everyone else will be driving RV'S on the Kanc, so assuming they have driven RV's before, no problem. It isn't like there are any big drop offs.

There are wind warnings on I 89 in Vermont for trucks and RV's, but I think that is worse in winter.

Gretchen

That begins to sound like a lot of distance for 8 days total, beginning with a couple in Boston. Toronto may be the outlier, but I haven't really looked at a map.
And the campground reservations was my very first thought for that time of year.

Hike4Life

Thanks All for the fantastic guidance. We are going to recalculate our plan and make adjustments based on your advice. Might be back with revised plan for our input.

Thanks, again!