Jump to content

Tennessee–North Carolina-West Virginia or New England area ?


joedeep

Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

We are planning for a quick trip in October. Fall color is bonus for October, but I am looking for overall trip, which should consider fall foliage, landscapes and beautiful scenery. After doing some reading, I can see two options, first is Blue Ridge Parkway and Smokey Mountain and secondly New England Area. Flight distance or price is not decision factor, as Boston, Atlanta as well as Washington are having almost same fare and flight times.

 

I understand, beauty is subjective and every place hold its own beauty.

To narrow down, I may have few considerations, which can help.

First consideration is, I will have full 4 days (not travel days) to see and drive places. If I talk about both options (long drives are ok with me) -

1- For New England, I will fly in Boston and will take a upper loop covering different places.

2- For NC/TN/VA, I can fly to Washington and drive till Atlanta and fly out. This will be via Smokey and some part of Blue Ridge Parkway.

Second consideration is, 7th October is not available for me to travel. Its previous weekend and later ones are available for me, if peak time of any place is relevant to that weekend.

Third consideration is, my interests are not just pictures of foliage, but landscapes with foliage, red and yellow foliage (and hopefully blue skies). To give better shape to pictures, I think, it is good to have some countryside or beautiful architecture. Something like this - https://goo.gl/MUpG49

 

Any suggestion, on what basis I should decide or what should I expect from both of these places ?

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMHO, it's pretty hard to beat New England -

Even in a "bad" year, it usually outshines other locations.

The variety of tree species, with their different fall colors, makes it so.

 

The mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont make for very picturesque vistas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, spoken like a true Yankee, JDM! I have to agree, though. I've gotten some great fall shots in New England, especially in Massachusetts and Vermont. But, as a former resident of east Tennessee (almost long enough to qualify as a probationary Redneck), I'm compelled to offer this: If you fly in to Washington, drive down through east Pennsylvania through Lancaster County (Amish country), then down through West Virginia, Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway, then through the Great Smoky Mountains. There are a lot of incredible views in the Smokies, one of the best is from the top of Clingman's Dome, but there are several spots along the highway. One caveat: Fall colors + weekend = heavy traffic. Sometimes, you have to wait in line for a place to park. You can continue south into Georgia, where there are some breathtaking views in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Then, on to Atlanta, and good luck with that...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like, I would want to choose New England for this year, though my travel time will be 28th Sep to 3rd Oct. I understand that it can be early for few area, so do not know, which area I should skip and which to include and search for routes and places. Can anybody from New England area suggest and give some ideas ?

This is my only time (in next many years), when I will go that part of US and my travel are perfect dates (supposed to be so 7th October weekend, I assume), so I want to choose it carefully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is no EDIT option, so have to post new one. I read more and it looks like, earlier dates (28th Sep to 3rd Oct) are good for Northern New England and later dates (12th Oct to 17th Oct) would be better for southern New England. Which can be considered as more photogenic for landscapes ?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would expect that by Oct 1, foliage in northern New Hampshire and northern Vermont would be past peak, especially places with elevation (mountains). There are many foliage maps available on line with forecasts and current foliage conditions in New England. Like with any landscape photography, location and lighting will define your success.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So far, there has been relatively little color change here in Saratoga Springs. Yesterday, I drove the Mass Pike through the Berkshires and saw a little color, but only at the higher elevations.

 

There are predictions out there for when the peak will arrive in various places, but the point to remember is that the change starts in the North and move southward. So if you start in the South where there is little change, and drive North, you will eventually encounter the boundary of change. Drive further, and the leaves will be on the ground. And everything is subject to the weather - it takes a combination of cold nights, warm days, and just the right amount of rain to generate good color. My experience, however, is that early October is better than late September.

 

My suggestion is to fly to Albany or Hartford rather than Boston, and then drive North through Vermont. From Hartford, you can take I91 all the way to Canada along the border between Vermont and Hew Hampshire. Alternatively, take a left at Brattleboro on Rt 9, head to Bennington, and then take a right on Rt. 7 up through Manchester and Rutland to Burlington. It's a relatively short hop from Albany to Bennington. Rt 7 has more of a 'backroads' feel, and includes a number of interesting small towns, whereas I91 is just superhighway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So far, there has been relatively little color change here in Saratoga Springs. Yesterday, I drove the Mass Pike through the Berkshires and saw a little color, but only at the higher elevations.

 

There are predictions out there for when the peak will arrive in various places, but the point to remember is that the change starts in the North and move southward. So if you start in the South where there is little change, and drive North, you will eventually encounter the boundary of change. Drive further, and the leaves will be on the ground. And everything is subject to the weather - it takes a combination of cold nights, warm days, and just the right amount of rain to generate good color. My experience, however, is that early October is better than late September.

 

My suggestion is to fly to Albany or Hartford rather than Boston, and then drive North through Vermont. From Hartford, you can take I91 all the way to Canada along the border between Vermont and Hew Hampshire. Alternatively, take a left at Brattleboro on Rt 9, head to Bennington, and then take a right on Rt. 7 up through Manchester and Rutland to Burlington. It's a relatively short hop from Albany to Bennington. Rt 7 has more of a 'backroads' feel, and includes a number of interesting small towns, whereas I91 is just superhighway.

@Monophoto, thanks for suggestion.

But I already booked flights to Boston, as there were no direct flights to other nearby airports.

I am just 11 days far from my travel date (28th Sep to 3rd Oct) and being many places green, I am getting little worried. I have been watching predictions and fall foliage reports on different forums.

May be, I can map routes later but now I have to book lodging, where, I don't know yet. I am still trying to find, if it should one base or two bases to cover more ground.

For those dates, I have read good areas are north of St.Johnsburry (Burke, St.Johnsburry Brownington, Stowe) and another area is South of it (White Mtns, Conway, Lake Sunapee, Killington, Norwich, Woodstock NH, Woodstock VT).

Do you suggest other area ? What do you recommend ? I will reach Boston on evening of 28 September and will be flying out on 3 October night.

In worst case, if my dates are really not worth, I will cancel it for this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...