New England is the reason “leaf-peeping” is a word. There’s no better place in the country to point an RV in early October — a compact region where the coast, the mountains, and six states’ worth of sugar maples all turn at once. I’ve done this loop in peak color, and the six-week wave of red and gold rolling down from the mountains to the coast is worth planning a whole trip around.
Here’s the 10-day New England loop that strings together the coast, the White Mountains, and Vermont at the best time of year to see them.
The Route Overview
Total Distance: ~900 miles Best Time: late September–mid-October (peak foliage); summer for the beaches Starting Point: Boston, Massachusetts
The Loop:
- Boston → Cape Cod
- Cape Cod → coastal Maine → Acadia National Park
- Acadia → the White Mountains (New Hampshire)
- White Mountains → Vermont’s Green Mountains
- Vermont → the Berkshires → Boston
The color moves by elevation and latitude — high and north first, low and south last — so a route that starts in the mountains and ends on the coast can ride peak foliage for a week or more. Our fall foliage RV trips guide breaks down the timing.
Days 1–2: Cape Cod
Start soft on the Cape: the dune-backed beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore, the sunset at Race Point, and a lobster roll in Wellfleet. Camp at Nickerson State Park in Brewster.
Don’t miss: the bike trails and the ferry to Provincetown.
Days 3–4: Coastal Maine & Acadia
Up the coast into Maine — Portland’s oyster bars, the lighthouses of the mid-coast, and the granite finale of Acadia National Park. Drive (or bus) up Cadillac Mountain, walk the Park Loop Road, and eat popovers at the Jordan Pond House.
Don’t miss: the Cadillac Summit Road needs a 2026 vehicle reservation (May 20–Oct 25) — book it ahead. Full logistics in our New England coastal route guide. See the Acadia NP guide for campground timing.
Days 5–6: The White Mountains
Inland to New Hampshire’s White Mountains — the Kancamagus Highway (“the Kanc”) is one of the great foliage drives in America, and Franconia Notch and Mount Washington anchor the range. Camp in the White Mountain National Forest.
Don’t miss: the Mount Washington Cog Railway, and the notches ablaze in early October.
Days 7–8: Vermont’s Green Mountains
West into Vermont, the quintessential fall-foliage state: covered bridges, dairy farms, and the Green Mountains along Route 100, the spine of the state. Stowe, the Ben & Jerry’s factory, and endless red barns against gold hillsides.
Don’t miss: Route 100 in peak color is the picture on the postcard.
Days 9–10: The Berkshires → Boston
South through the Berkshires of western Massachusetts — art museums, farm stands, and quieter color — then back to Boston to close the loop.
Where to Camp
New England camps up fast in foliage season — book early:
- Acadia (Blackwoods): six months ahead on Recreation.gov; October weekends vanish in minutes.
- State parks (Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire): reservable ahead; the coastal and mountain sites are the first to fill.
- National forest campgrounds (White Mountains, Green Mountains): a mix of reservable and first-come — arrive early for the latter.
Midweek is dramatically easier than foliage weekends for any of these.
When to Go
Late September through mid-October for the color — the whole reason to time a New England trip. The mountains (White and Green) peak first, in late September and early October; the coast and the southern Berkshires follow into mid-and-late October. Summer is lovely for the Cape and the coast but misses the leaves. Exact peak shifts a week or two each year with the weather, so build in flexibility and watch a foliage tracker.
The Bottom Line
New England is the best fall-foliage RV trip in the country, and 10 days is enough to ride the color from the White Mountains down to the coast. Book Acadia and the state parks six months out, reserve your Cadillac Summit slot, and go midweek if you can. Start with our New England coastal route guide for the Boston-to-Acadia logistics, and the fall foliage RV trips guide to nail the timing.