COUNTRY
United States
Canada
WHEN TO GO
October
NUMBER OF NIGHTS
7 to 24
The landscape lights up in a warm, golden glow a the late afternoon sun hits and endless sea of trees that have turned yellow, orange, and red. As the sun drops below the horizon, you feel a chill in the air, a reminder that the summer heat and humidity are now just a distant memory. The cool, crisp air and the smell of autumn in the forest is second to none. It’s officially fall foliage season in New England.
As a native New Englander, September and October are my favorite months of the year, hands down. The summer crowds have gone home, the weather is still warm, and it’s still months before the first snow starts flying. Seeing the fall foliage in New England is a fantastic adventure for both solo and group travelers of all ages. In this guide, you’ll get intimate local knowledge and secrets that will get you away from the crowds and into some breathtaking places for an authentic New England experience.
Wicked Easy Access to New England
With close proximity to both the Canadian border and New York City, it’s easy to get to New England not just from the United States and Canada, but from destinations around the world. While Boston is the primary gateway to New England, you can easily base your fall foliage adventure from New York, New England’s regional airports, or any of the major airports in eastern Canada.
BASE CITY
Boston, Massachusetts
ALTERNATE BASES
Montréal, Québec
Portland, Maine
New York, New York
Visualize Your New England Fall Foliage Road Trip
We encourage you to use the map as guidance for planning your New England fall foliage adventure. We have included plenty of attractions in both the US and Canada for you to explore, but we certainly don’t expect you to visit them all. As always, feel free to modify any of these routes to fit your plans.
New England Fall Foliage Itinerary at a Glance
Your New England fall foliage itinerary is optimized to follow the peak of the fall colors around the region. You can easily modify this itinerary to fit your travel goals and schedule, as you’ll never be more than a day’s drive from your base in Boston. It’s not an exact science, but if done correctly (and the weather cooperates), you can experience peak fall colors for as much as three to four weeks straight. That’s not a type-o, but it is a little-known local secret.
Fall foliage peaks in northern New England around Columbus Day, though northern Maine can be slightly earlier. The peak then moves south, reaching the south coast shortly after November 1st. Additionally, the mountains and terrain do have an influence on the peak. Fall colors peak at higher elevations first and then move down the mountains.
Day 1
Arrive in Boston, Massachusetts by air or car
Drive to Portland, Maine
Overnight in a hotel in Portland
Day 2
Scenic Drive: US-1 North along the rugged coast of downeast Maine
Overnight near Bar Harbor, Maine
Day 3
Explore Acadia National Park
Day 4
Scenic Drive: US-1 to Houlton, Maine
Bonus Foliage: The Canadian Maritimes
Cross the border into New Brunswick from Houlton, Maine
Photograph the fall foliage in the Canadian Maritimes
Hiking, scenic drives, plenty of photo opportunities
Re-Enter the United States from Woodstock, New Brunswick to Houlton, Maine
Day 5
Scenic Drive: To Bangor on I-95 or back roads
Baxter State Park
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
Several Wilderness Areas
Overnight in Bangor, Maine
Day 6
Scenic Drive: US-2 from Bangor, Maine to Gorham, New Hampshire
Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway
Scenic Drive: NH-16 from Gorham to Conway
Drive to the summit of Mt. Washington
Photograph Conway’s famous covered bridges
Overnight in Conway, New Hampshire
Day 7
Scenic Drive: The Kancamagus Highway (NH-112)
Hike in the White Mountains off the Kancamagus
Hike at Franconia Notch State Park
Photograph the Old Man of the Mountain
Overnight in St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Day 8
Open time to explore Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom
Plenty of Hiking, Scenic Drives, Lakes, and more
Bonus Foliage: Québec's Summit Route
Cross the border into Québec at Stanstead (north end of Interstate 91)
Explore Québec’s National Parks along Autoroute 10
Scenic Drive: La Route des Sommets through Québec’s Eastern Townships
Visit Sherbrooke and Montréal
Re-enter the US at Derby Line, Vermont (from Stanstead), or
Re-enter the US at Lake Champlain/Highgate (St. Jean sur Richelieu to Interstate 89)
Day 9
Explore Stowe and Burlington, Vermont and the surrounding Green Mountains
Day 10
Scenic Drive: US-7 South through Vermont’s Green Mountains
Pass through western Massachusetts into Connecticut
Hike, drive, and explore national forests and state parks
For a faster route, hop across the state line and drive the New York Thruway (I-87)
Days 11 - 13
Open time to explore Connecticut how you like. A few ideas:
Poke your way across the state on back roads
Visit state forests and state parks
Explore New York City
Drive the Merritt Parkway across SW Connecticut
Anywhere east of Interstate 91 has breathtaking fall foliage
Hike to the monument where CT, MA, and RI come together and stand in three states at once
You want to ultimately wind up in Providence, Rhode Island
Day 14
Drive Interstate 195 East into southeastern Massachusetts
Explore the area between I-195 and I-495, which has great foliage, hiking, and scenic drives
Head to Cape Cod when you’re done
Days 15 - 18
Free time to immerse yourself in the fall foliage on Cape Cod
Visit the Cape Cod National Seashore
Hike the beach at Sandy Neck
Go for a walk in the woods or on other beaches
Plenty of scenic drives, too
Day 19
Return to Boston for your flight home or to your next destination
Northern New England: Area Overview
With far less population density than the rest of New England, the quaint small towns that dot the countryside throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine make northern New England one of the premier fall foliage destinations in the world. Its laid back vibe is ideal for exploring the region at your own pace.
But you don’t come to New England in the fall to hang out in town. Even without the fall foliage, northern New England is a true outdoor paradise. Whether you prefer hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, or biking, its mountains beckon both locals and visitors year-round. The same can be said for the beautifully rugged coast of downeast Maine.
Make sure you try the region’s world-famous seafood, as well as its maple syrup. You could easily spend the entire fall foliage season in northern New England, but as you’ll see, there’s so much more to the leaf peeping experience than just that.
Peak fall colors as seen from the Height of Land Overlook near Rangeley, Maine
Southern New England: Area Overview
Despite being the main artery that connects Boston and New York City, southern New England remains one of the top fall foliage destinations in the United States. Just outside of Boston, you’ll find numerous state parks and nature reserves that offer phenomenal hikes through breathtaking fall foliage. In western Massachusetts, you’ll find the same quaint towns and welcoming hospitality you find throughout northern New England. And Connecticut was recently named the top hiking destination in the country.
While southern New England is not quite as world-renowned for fall foliage as its northern counterparts, it has one big advantage: its beaches. While the peak fall colors at the beach generally don’t last long, they are absolutely spectacular when they do come. They make for some epic drone shots, too!
Québec's Eastern Townships: Area Overview
If you’re looking to get away from the crowds that descend on Vermont, New York, and the rest of New England at the peak of fall foliage, hop across the border into Québec. You’ll find yourself fully immersed in fairy tale landscapes and world-renowned Canadian friendliness. And best of all, you’ll hardly find any leaf peepers due to the language barrier keeping the crowds on the US side of the border.
But let me tell you a little not-so-well-kept secret: you can get around southern Québec just fine without knowing any French. Montréal, Sherbrooke, and Québec City are all fully bilingual, as is Gatineau. And those beautiful national parks that are all over southern Québec? Not only do they feature some of the best fall foliage in Canada, they’re all bilingual too, especially the ones close to the US border.
For the best fall foliage experience in southern Québec, we recommend driving La Route des Sommets (the Summit Route) through the Eastern Townships. The breathtaking scenic drive brings you to the top of the highest mountains in southern Québec, as well as through nearly every national park in the region. Don’t miss out on the incredible stargazing at Parc National du Mont Mégantic, the first international dark sky reserve in the world.
While we filmed our video of Québec’s Eastern Townships in July, you can only imagine how breathtaking the landscapes are lit up in the golden yellows, oranges, and reds of la coloration automne.
The Canadian Maritimes: Area Overview
If Québec’s not your thing, don’t worry. Head east from Maine to take in some of Canada’s best fall colors in New Brunswick. Starting in mid-September, the entire province turns a golden blanket of orange, yellow, and red. Its unique location gives you plenty of both mountains and coast to explore. And with New Brunswick being Canada’s only officially bilingual province, you won’t have a language barrier to deal with.
Fall colors peak in New Brunswick in late September and early October, which is earlier than most surrounding areas. However, if you miss it, don’t worry. The fall colors in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island peak in mid-October, the same time as northern New England and southern Québec.
While New Brunswick is the gateway to the maritime provinces, it also gives you easy access to Québec’s Gaspé Peninsula. Where the Appalachian Mountains meet the Atlantic Ocean, La Gaspésie is a stunning mix of mountains, cliffs, and coast. With four national parks on the peninsula and a fifth just off of it, La Gaspésie is breathtaking any time of year. But it’s particularly stunning at the peak of the fall foliage.
Wicked Friendly Hospitality
In Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Canada we recommend experiencing the locals’ warm hospitality to its fullest. There are plenty of mom and pop B&B’s, hotels, and lodges to fit most budgets. In addition to the warm welcome, they’ll also be able to offer something many of the chain hotels don’t: incredibly intimate local knowledge of the best places to view and photograph the fall foliage. If you have an RV or prefer camping, there are plenty of campgrounds throughout northern New England.
While there are still a few mom and pop options for lodging in southern New England, the chain hotels have been putting them out of business. As a result, you’ll often find the best deals at the chain hotels, especially near major highways and freeways. With the increased population density, southern New England does not have the concentration of campgrounds the way its northern counterparts have. Just be aware there are a few “islands” where there are hardly any campgrounds. Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, including the Cape and Islands, are the most notorious of those “islands”.
Take Your Fall Foliage Adventure Beyond New England
Open any travel blog or guidebook for fall foliage in the northeastern United States and you’ll find nearly everything focused on New England. But the truth is that there are so many other places nearby to see beautiful fall colors that come pretty close to rivaling those in New England, Québec, and New Brunswick. Heck, some of our best fall foliage pictures were taken in Oklahoma of all places.
UNITED STATES
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
CANADA
Québec City to La Gaspésie
Southern Ontario
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Track the Fall Foliage Across New England and Canada
Click on any state or province on the map to view its latest fall foliage report. Not all states and provinces maintain a map or database of fall colors reports, so that’s why some states are missing from the map below.
The Fine Print: Costs
The following per-person cost estimates, in US Dollars, follow the itinerary listed at the top of this guide (the 3-week self-guided adventure), as well as a shortened 1-week version and the ultimate fall foliage adventure that brings you to New England for the entire duration of the fall foliage. It assumes you stay in hotels and lodges and not campgrounds. With the itinerary being so customizable, you can easily modify it to fit both your schedule and your budget.
1-WEEK SELF-GUIDED ADVENTURE
$2,000 to $3,500
3-WEEK SELF-GUIDED ADVENTURE
$6,000 to $9,000
ULTIMATE FALL FOLIAGE ADVENTURE
$8,000 to $14,000
The Cost Includes
Flights to Boston from within the US or Canada
Rental Cars and Fuel
National Park Entrance Fees
Outdoor Activities
Hotels and Lodging
Meals and Snacks
Non-Alcoholic Beverages
The Cost Does Not Include
International Flights Originating Outside the US and Canada
Visa and/or Entry Fees to the United States and Canada
Alcoholic Beverages
Souvenirs and Personal Items
