• Camden (ME): The dazzling trees that blanket rolling hills are reflected in Penobscot Bay on the east side, and in the lakes to the west. Ascend the peaks for views of color-splashed islands in the bay. Autumn usually arrives a week or so later on the coast, so you can stretch out your viewing pleasure.

  • Crawford Notch (NH): Route 302 passes through this scenic valley, where you can see the brilliant red maples and yellow birches high on the hillsides. In fall, Mount Washington, in the background, is likely to be dusted with an early snow.

  • Kancamagus Highway (NH): A highway? Don’t scoff. NH Route 112 is a relatively new road by New England standards, but it’s no interstate. You’ll be overwhelmed with gorgeous terrain along this soaring pass cut through the White Mountain National Forest, which was paved for the first time in 1964.

  • The Litchfield Hills (CT): Route 7, running south to north through the rugged northwest corner of Connecticut, roughly along the course of the Housatonic River, explodes with color in the weeks before and after Columbus Day. Leaves drift down to the water and whirl away with the foaming river.

  • The Mohawk Trail (Western MA): The stretch of Route 2 that runs from the Massachusetts–New York border to the Connecticut River winds wildly and bends in a famous hairpin turn: It was built in 1914 for automobiles that only traveled at leaf-peeping speed. So, take it easy as you travel this 63-mile mountain artery, and pull over when the kaleidoscopic colors splashed across the Berkshire Hills and Hoosac Valley pull your gaze away from the road. 

  • Mount Auburn Cemetery (Cambridge, MA): More than 5,000 trees spread across Mount Auburn’s 175 acres. Each deciduous specimen changes color on its own schedule, and, at the peak of foliage season, each seems to be a different shade of red, orange, or gold.

  • Nashoba Valley (Harvard and Bolton, MA): An easy day trip from Boston (no need to pay those fall foliage rates at country inns!), this gently rolling area of woodlands and farmland offers an extra autumn treat: loads of orchards where you can pick your own peck of crisp fall apples.

  • Vermont Route 100 (VT): Route 100 wriggles the length of Vermont from Readsboro to Newport, plying the Mad River Valley for a stretch. It’s the major north-south route through the Green Mountains, and it’s surprisingly undeveloped. You won’t have it to yourself on autumn weekends, but as you head farther north, you’ll leave the crowds behind.

  • Walden Pond State Reservation (Concord, MA): Walden Pond sits surrounded by the woods where Henry David Thoreau built a small cabin and lived from 1845 to 1847. When the leaves are turning and the water reflects the colorful trees, it’s hard to imagine why he left. 

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.