Road Trip to North East, Looking for Suggestions

Hello northeastern Tacoma world members! I'm coming to you from down in Alabama. I'm planning a trip up to the northeastern states for about 10 days at the beginning of October and looking for input, suggestions, things I should know type stuff.

The general plan is I leave Alabama and make my way up to DC pretty quickly, a friend is flying in there and I'll pick him up. That's really where the trip starts. From there we plan to make our way up the coast through DE, NJ, PA, NY, CT, RI, MA, and into Maine. I think we'll spend probably half of our days in the Maine area.

From there we will pass through NH, VT, and upstate New York. Then skirt along the great lakes and make our way into Ohio where he will fly back home.

That's about all the planning we've done. We aren't looking to build an itinerary, but I'm looking for can't miss things, good places to eat, recommend breweries, good campsites, etc.

We plan to camp just about every night, just get hotels when showers are needed or the weather isn't cooperating. Is there public land up there available for camping like there is out west in Utah, Colorado, etc? Any thing we should be aware of weatherwise that time of year? Any wildlife concerns? I will have my dog with me as well, a 40lbs blue heeler.

One place I plan to stop at for sure is Acadia national park. I'm also hoping to catch some of the beautiful fall colors you get up there, so any suggestions for that are welcome.

I plan to make the trip in my 2001 4Runner. It's pretty well built, Kings, armor, bumpers, winch, etc. Build thread on T4R linked below.

Thanks for any input and feedback you may have. I'm looking forward to visiting. Maine will be the 49th state I've been too, with the trusty 01 4Runner having taken me to 48 of them. Maybe next summer a road trip to Alaska is in the works to get the elusive number 50.

And a picture of the 4Runner on the other side of the country, Washington state, for your troubles reading through this.

 

What type of road(s) do you prefer? Interstate or winding state, county or local roads?
I-81 up thru VA is a nice ride.
You could then sidetrack via I-66 to DC.
From there you could head northwest via I-270->I-70 to get back to I-81.
I-81 will take you north to Scranton PA where you can pick up I-84 east toward Newburgh.
Once there it'll be decision time - head north toward Albany and the MA Turnpike (I-90) or head east thru the CT traffic from Danbury past Hartford on to Sturbridge MA to connect to I-90.
After that if your goal is ME, the choices are limited.
I-90 to I-495 to I-95 north and the coastal route to ME.

 

There is minimal public land for camping. Most New England state forests have campgrounds, but I don't know how many require reservations. The farther north you get, the easier that may be.
My previous post skips RI. Any route that takes you to RI will consist of some of the highest traffic roads in New England, if that matters. I suppose you could take MA/RI 146 south to Providence and venture south the coastal location in RI.
Weather-wise, October in New England can be almost anything - high 90s with wicked humidity to Halloween blizzards. October starts the decline of the foliage in northern New England - see: https://newengland.com/seasons/fall/foliage/peak-fall-foliage-map/

 

If leaf-peeping is a primary goal, I'd suggest the northern route starting around Burlington VT and then heading east along route 2. Route 2 is about the only continuous west-east route across more northern VT & NH. Your timing should put you there at near peak fall colors.

 

Not much public land in Maine. I have camped in many of the state parks. Most are pretty good. However, I think most are closed to camping after October 15th. You can search for them here:

https://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/doc/parksearch/index.pl

If you can't get a site in Acadia National park for camping, Lamoine State Park is just down the road.

Also, if you want to really get away in Maine, try the North Maine Woods: https://www.northmainewoods.org

Have fun!

 

I like the side roads if you get to see a lot more than you do on the interstate. If they don't offer any extra views or stops then I'm fine with the more direct and faster interstate.

I-81 and then I-66 to DC is the plan. I've driven that route many times. May make a stop in the shanandoah NP on the way.

After that we may take the route you suggested to avoid Philly and NYC, or we may suffer and drive through to stop at a couple places along the way.

How is Highway 1 in Maine? It looks like it hugs the coastline pretty well and might have a lot of good stopping points along the way.

That sucks about minimal public land. Are sites like free campsites.net viable options up there to find campsites? That's what I've typically used out west.

I'll have to look into the reservations and see if they look busy. We're trying not to book too many things so we can just kinda go with the flow and plan around the weather also.

Is there much to do around Providence? We may stop there one night on the way north.

Thanks for that foliage color map. It looks like we are going to be there right during peak time. I'm hoping for temperatures on the cooler side. I love crisp nights.

That is the route we plan to take, except going east west across VT and NH. I'm glad our timing seems to be about perfect.

Thanks for the links! We'll be out of the area by October 15th so hopefully they stay open until at least then. I'll have to check on a campsite at Acadia.

The North Maine Woods is something I was considering. It sounds like it's a bunch of dirt roads on private land? How remote really is it? Like need to bring extra fuel remote, or just keep an eye on the gas gauge and be reasonable?

Would you recommend going up there? Any concerns about wildlife like bears/moose?

I'm no stranger to remote, I've done the white rim trail, Mojave road, and death valley so just want to make sure I know what I'm getting into.

 

Depending on where you go in the NMW, you can be anywhere from 20-100+ miles from fuel. I will be in that area 9/26 to 9/30 for my annual partridge hunt. I bring an extra 10 gallons of fuel since most of the hunting is finding birds on the road. As far as remoteness, it's pretty much all timber lands. If you venture there in early October, you'll see many other vehicles since it will be moose and bird season. In the winter/summer, depending on my route, I can sometimes go a day or two without seeing another vehicle. I don't really get concerned with the bears or moose. Bulls will be in rut, so they will be moving a lot. Great time of year to see a big one. I saw more bear and bear sign this summer than I have seen in recent years. I have never had one in my camp. I would just take standard precautions of storing food wisely.

 

I was gonna suggest skipping the CT/RI leg and taking the taconic up to 90, there have been times me and my wife have taken it just for the views even if it was a longer trip overall. There are a couple pull offs where you have a panoramic view of the catskills that's worth it alone

 

Taconic as @Brownmatthall suggested is excellent to drive in prime fall, as is Rt. 22 from lower NY all the way up to the MA area at which point you can really just point and shoot to find amazing scenery. If you do take 87 through NY at any point I recommend stopping in New Paltz for some food/beer and going up to either the Mohonk Mountain House or Minnewaska State Park areas (both will be super crowded due to day hikers but I can steer you in the direction of off-the-beaten-path spots). There's some camping around there too. What's your route through NY look like?

Not much to see in CT but if you're planning to go along the 95 corridor you HAVE TO take the Merritt (Rt 15) instead of 95, it's a gorgeous route that's fun to drive and has amazing foliage. If you're staying along the coast stop in either Guilford, Madison, or the Old Saybrook area for some seafood.

Acadia is a must-do in Maine but if you want to drive further inland try to get closer to Moosehead Lake and that region. If you want to do some wheeling while in the Northeast check out the area around Jericho Mountain State Park in NH, views are amazing both on and off the trail.

 

I would have to agree somewhat. Nothing to see via the interstates in CT & RI except for some small pockets of more rural spaces. Local roads are about the same unless you get off into the more rural areas of NE CT and NW RI.
Given your timing taking the more northern route (as @Brownmatthall suggests) will catch more peak colors on your way to ME than on your return trip. Paralleling the Hudson can offer some interesting views and then picking up Route 7 out of Albany-Troy area will take you up thru the Green Mountains. Follow that to Burlington and then Route 2 east will take you across northern VT & NH to ME.

 

People have given you some good information and recommendations but i don't see any Brewery recommendations.

Luckily the new england area has some of the best breweries in the US. Portland ME and Burlington Vermont have a ton, but every small town seems to have their own now.

Some of the big hitters that I would recommend stopping at if you are in the area:

Bissell Brothers - Portland, ME
Burlington Beer Company - Williston, VT
The Alchemist - Stowe, VT
Tree House Brewing Company - Charlton, MA
Orono Brewing Company - Bangor, ME

good luck on your trip!

 

You’re getting lots of good advice.
I’ll add a few places.

Horseneck State Reservation, MA

Cape Cod National Seashore.

For a remote, wild, free area of about 90,000 acres, check out Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument, Maine. https://www.nps.gov/kaww/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

 

If you end up inland in Maine look at Quill Hill in Rangeley, should be some excellent foliage sights there if you're in the area at the right time

 

New Hampshire

https://www.google.com/maps/place/P...493246de3253b915!8m2!3d43.017171!4d-70.733878

favorite sea food at the coast (Petey's)

Great hike in the white mountain ( the Flume)

https://www.google.com/maps/place/F...8976424346f7bb!8m2!3d44.0970568!4d-71.6800213

Best road scenic road through the white mountains

Kancamagus highway

https://www.google.com/maps/place/K...962a016e3ca912d!8m2!3d44.0505797!4d-71.566737

If you have kids or want to see bears

https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...ed2f4c5dc074d3d8!8m2!3d44.04772!4d-71.6858231

Woodstock brewery near the bears is good too.
Boat ride on the "Winni"; The mount washington, runs fall trips.

Maine coast ;

Maine Dinner

https://www.google.com/maps/place/M...2b6fb8db3bc9de2!8m2!3d43.3419816!4d-70.563167

But really hard to get bad seafood place on the coast of maine.

The whole coast of maine is totally stunning; No need to go arcadia, the time you save getting to arcadia, you can visit a lot more coast.

One more... get your lobster roll here; if you are determined to go that far up

(Reds)

https://www.google.com/maps/place/R...6136272c1d7296!8m2!3d44.0024488!4d-69.6641444

 

Great resource for NMW.

https://www.northmainewoods.org/

 

Like everyone else said, Ct sucks. Go right on through.

Cape Cod National seashore. Just hope a plane doesnt go down when you plan on being there…. Obviously impossible to plan around but derailed my weekend completely this week.

White mountains in New Hampshire is one of my favorite spots in the northeast. Hiking, camping, some forest roads up there. Mount Washington auto road on a clear day is amazing.

Maine woods. B-52, and the old train is on my list. Havent been but highly recommended by many around here. Some info on a prior run: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ods-of-maine-train-spotting-trip-2k19.581296/

 

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions and comments so far. I really appreciate it, it's going to make the trip even better having some locals insight!

Thanks for the advice. I'll bring my 3.5 gallon rotopax and just be smart about fuel up there. Good to know about the bears and moose. I saw a moose and her calf in Yellowstone last year. It would be neat to see a bull in Maine though!

Thanks for the tip. If we end up going that way we'll definitely take the taconic instead of the interstate.

Thanks for all of this! If we don't do the taconic we'll probably take that route 22 towards Massachusetts and Connecticut. That Minnewaska state park looks like a gorgeous spot in the fall. Any idea how parks are up there about dogs in general? I know out west a lot of parks don't allow dogs in, I assume they're pretty much allowed most places up there though.

Lots of seafood is in the plan, so we'll keep those cities in mind and definitely take the Merritt if that's the route we go.

The route up through NY is either going to be just clipping the corner of the state from NJ into CT, or taking the Taconic up to Albany area and then cutting east towards the coast. Coming back south through NY will probably have us leaving Vermont around Burlington and staying close to the Canada border and then along the great lakes. But if there's a must see thing in upstate NY those plans are totally flexible.

This is something I hadn't considered yet. Drive further north and then east into Maine, and then cut across towards the Maine coast. Then we could come down the coast on the way back and cut across NY or PA to get to Ohio. Once we're closer we may make that adjustment based on how the foilage is looking, and the weather.

Thanks! Breweries are always fun places to visit so I'm sure we'll be stopping at a couple along the way.

Thanks! How busy does cape cod get on the weekends? I'd like to go out there, but it will probably be a weekend when we're in the area.

I'll have to check out the Katahdin in Maine also. Looks roughly like the same area as the North Maine Woods.

That looks pretty amazing on a clear day. I imagine there's pretty good stargazing at night in these remote Maine locations? It always amazes me how many stars you can see when you get away from the city lights.

Thank you for the food recommendations. I'm looking forward to my first real lobster roll.

Is the Maine coast worth driving all the way to the Canada border? It looks like highway 1 hugs the coastline all the way up there.

What is there to do on cape code? Is it just scenic natural beaches? Or is it more built up get your umbrellas and towels type thing?

I've heard about the plane wreckage and the train, those are things we may try and see while we're up there.

Mount Washington looks like it's got some good views and not too far from highway 2. We'll add that one to the list!

 

Rt 22 is killer in the fall. Gets more gorgeous the further up you go. If you end up in the New Paltz are let me know and I'll give you some excellent sight-seeing spots there too (look at 41.74773026475927, -74.26481169830012). Dogs are good-to-go in Minnewaska, as long as they're on a leash. No issues and I always see people hiking with their pups. Believe the policy is the same with Mohonk, but if you want to avoid the crowds with a really short hike to a killer waterfall drop me a PM and I'll steer you to the places the locals go.

As for Quill Hill, the stargazing is spectacular. On a clear night it's nothing short of amazing. I've spent far too many hours just lying there looking up; it's probably not quite the same as out in the truly dark sites out west, but it has to rival it. Also, one of the "locals" spots I mentioned above in the Hudson Valley is dark/remote enough that you can see the Milky Way on a clear night. It only gets better as you go further north.

Maine coast is very pretty, but I'd say spend your time in the Acadia / Bar Harbor area. Just be careful driving, moose are hiding in the brush and you have to re-position your brain to look about 5' higher than you would for a deer. We've ridden the quads up on the Down East Sunrise Trail out of Machias a bunch and it's really calm and Canadian feeling there... unfortunately full-size 4x4s are prohibited, so if you want to do some sight-seeing in ME there's (in my semi-experienced opinion) much prettier and more exciting places to go than all the way up the coast.

 

Wheeling on the beach
https://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/cape-cod-national-seashore-oversand-beach-driving.htm