foliage plans

[jolly]

Hi guys!
I found this great forum three years ago when we planned our first trip to New England. This year, we’re about to be back and I’m wondering what you think about the plans I’ve made for our stay in Vermont.
I’m travelling with my husband and son and we’re starting in NYC (Boston would have been my first choice, but as we’re from Germany, connections to NYC are easier to find) going up the Maine coast all the way to Acadia NP, then eastwards through NH (mainly the White Mountains there) and then into Vermont. Here’s in short words what I’ve planned:
I’m interested in your thoughts and looking forward getting some hints, advices.. whatever. Thanks in advance

October 8th
Starting in Montpelier, VT on I89
Taking 100 north, visiting Moss Glenn Falls
Back on 108 North, visiting Bingham Falls, Smuggler’s Notch
Detour on 109 North to see Village Covered Bridge, Montgomery CB and Jaynes CB
Back on 15 South, visiting Gates Farm CB and the Old Red Mill in Jericho, then back to Montpelier

October 9th
From Montpelier East on 2, then 232 South, visiting Owl’s Head and Kettle Pond
Then continuing on 302/25 South visiting the villages of East Orange, Waits River and East Corinth. Back up north on side roads, passing by East Topsham, Peacham, the AM Foster CB and finally 215 South to Carbot and back to Montpelier

October 10th
From Montpelier 100B and then 100 South, visiting Moss Glenn Falls near Granville
Afterwards 125 West to see Texas Falls, later taking 53 South visiting Falls of Lana, then continuing on 73 and 7 South with a little detour to Hammond CB and arriving in Rutland

October 11th
Loop drive, 4 East to Killington, 100 South all the way to Rawsonville, then 30/11 West into Manchester, 7A/7 North back to Rutland

October 12th
From Rutland on the fastest way to Jenne Farm, Reading – any suggestion which is the best way to get there? Right now I’ve planned to take 4 East into Woodstock and then 106 South.
Afterwards back up North and a loop around Cloudland Road, Pomfret and South Pomfret to get back on track on 4 East over Queechee Gorge and on 12A/5 South, passing Cornish Windsor CB and then following I95 South to reach Brattleboro

October 13th
It’s planned to see parts of NH
From Brattleboro 119 East, passing Ashuelot CB, 10 North visiting Coombs CB, Thompson CB and Sawyer’s Crossing CB.
Reaching Marlborogh taking 124 East and visiting Mt. Monadnock SP and then back on 101 West/9 West to Brattleboro

October 14th
For a fast start taking I91 North, in Cambridgeport taking 35/30 South, passing Newfane, East Dover and in West Dover 100 North up to West Wardsboro. Then East on Stratton Arlington Road becoming Kelly Stand Road, 7A South to Bennington and 9 East back to Brattleboro.

October 15th we sadly have to leave to NYC to fly home

[faxmachineanthem]

Hi jolly,
Would it be practical to rework the trip so that you go through Vermont first and then head to Acadia? Reason being that Acadia's foliage peaks later than Vermont's due to the moderating influence of the Atlantic. Others may disagree but I feel that your itinerary is about 3-5 days on the late side for some spots (Smugglers Notch, Owl's Head, Killington). That said you're covering a lot of ground here. So some spots will probably not be past peak, especially in southern Vt. Also something to keep in mind if you're flexible with routing, the Whites in NH peak earlier than Vermont due to their high elevation.

That said, this trip looks like a great time to me. Some of the routes may be long, Vermont roads always take longer than you expect. But I'll let others more familiar with the roads chime in on that.

[jolly]

Hi!

Thanks for your answer.
I've to admit that we're not really flexible with reworking the trip, because all accomodation is prebooked. Indeed I could still cancel and change, but meanwhile it shouldn't be easier to find the right places in our price range, so...
I know, that we're too early in Acadia for peak, but the park has so much to offer even without foliage and it seemed to be more important to have colors in NH and VT.
It's always difficult to make the perfect schedule for such a trip and if in some places we will be past peak, that's not the end of the world I think.
By the way, we're in the Whites from October 2nd - 6th.
If some routes may seem to long, we might shorten the plan of the day and go back to our base earlier - and return some other year to make up for the missed places
Curious what others think!

[wentworth]

jolly, you will be too late for Killington and Rt 232, both of them peak in late Sept--Southern Vermont should be OK at that time, but I would strongly suggest you do everything a week earlier--unless we have a real warm September, you're going to miss the peak color

[pwt54]

You may be late for peak foliage up north and along route 100. The highlands of routes 17, 125 and 73 may be bare, but the lower elevations, especially the west side in the Champlain Valley, should still have good color. You might concider doing some roads in the Champlain Valley, west of the Green Mountains. Route 53 is one that should be good.i concider Rutland as part of the Champlain Valley. Roads west of Rutland should be good. Routes 30, 140, US 7, and 30 should be great. Be careful in southern VT. That area is in bad shape right now because of Irene. The main roads should be passable, but the side roads may not be. I have heard reports of covered bridges being damaged down there. The only one I'm sure of is the Bartonsville bridge off route 103 between Chester and Bellows Falls. It's gone. Your route to the jenne farm is the best one. This area is in the Connecticut River Valley. You should have good color there.

[jolly]

Wentworth and pwt54, thanks for your opinion.
Seems we're really too late in some areas, but as mentioned, doing everything a week earlier won't work for us.
At least I'm glad to hear that for other areas everything might be just in time.
Thanks for the hint with Champlain Valley, I should have a look in my map to get a better idea what roads you meant.
In 2008 we've taken this photo on October 11th, somewhere shortly before getting into Ludlow



It was past peak, but we were still thrilled about the colors, 'cos over here in Germany you don't really find that red and orange, so after all I think we won't be disappointed.

I already read that Irene has caused some bad damages in Southern VT (saw some videos and photos too) and I'm really sorry for you guys over there. We at least know that roads might be unpassable and we've to be prepared to change some plans.

[jolly]

During the past days I regularly had a quick look at the resources for road closures. Yesterday I finally checked our planned route in detail and learned that nearly every day we've to expect delays/detours.
But specially October 10th, 11th and 14th seem not to be practicable from today's point of view.
I don't wanna lose precious vacation time on replanning, so I'm hoping some of you locals can help me finding alternatives that will be worthwhile.

[jolly]

No one any idea?
Would be really helpful to me, because you know the area much better than I!

[pwt54]

It's been tough trying to figure out which roads will be open. Route 9 did open up this weekend and route US 4 will be open next weekend. These roads will have gravel surfaces in the washed out areas and there will still be construction crews there, so there might be delays. You should be able to get to the jenne Farm, but route 106 south of there isn't open yet.
At that time of the season, western and southwestern Vt will have the best color. use this website to check on the roads. They took route 9 off the closed status this weekend.
http://511.vermont.gov/main.jsf