Early fall road trip. Where to?

[HeatherC]

New England…truly spectacular in the fall. I would fly into Boston and spend a day or two there. I would then suggest visiting Newport, RI for an overnight. (About an hour and an half drive). After that I would drive to Portsmouth, NH and spend a day there. Then I would drive up the Mainecoast stopping in places like Bath or Boothbay Harbor or Camden to Acadia NP and stay in or near Bar Harbor for couple nights. After that I would head to North Conway, NH which is in the White Mountains. Then I would fly home from either Manchester, NH or Boston.

All these places have lots of great, shopping, walking, restaurants no plenty of charm. The timing with the leaves would be last two weeks of September and first week of October.

Have fun wherever you decide!

 

[Frwinkley]

OP here: Thank you for the many great suggestions!

I neglected to mention that we've done the NE area. DH and I grew up in NJ and have family in Boston, RI and Connecticut, so we've seen lots of the area.

 

[disny_luvr]

We did the trip you mentioned - Yellowstone, Tetons, Badlands, Mount Rushmore (no Glacier) - two summers ago and we absolutely loved it! We flew into Denver, stayed there for two nights, and then started our road trip. We headed to South Dakota first and then to Yellowstone/Tetons next, and then stopped at Rocky Mountain NP on our way back to Denver. The whole trip took us two weeks. I think the longest we drove from one place to another was 8 hours.

I didn’t read all the comments, but have you considered New England? We live in PA and love to visit Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and even New York. There are a lot of really pretty areas in these states and depending on when you travel in the fall, you could even be there during peak leaf-changing season.

Congratulations on your retirement! I’m a teacher, too, and dream of retiring.

ETA - I see you’ve already visited NE. This summer we are flying to San Francisco and taking a two-week road trip. We are visiting Big Sur, Yosemite, Disneyland, LA, snd flying out of SD. Maybe something to consider.

 

[Frwinkley]

We did the trip you mentioned - Yellowstone, Tetons, Badlands, Mount Rushmore (no Glacier) - two summers ago and we absolutely loved it! We flew into Denver, stayed there for two nights, and then started our road trip. We headed to South Dakota first and then to Yellowstone/Tetons next, and then stopped at Rocky Mountain NP on our way back to Denver. The whole trip took us two weeks. I think the longest we drove from one place to another was 8 hours.

I didn’t read all the comments, but have you considered New England? We live in PA and love to visit Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and even New York. There are a lot of really pretty areas in these states and depending on when you travel in the fall, you could even be there during peak leaf-changing season.

Congratulations on your retirement! I’m a teacher, too, and dream of retiring.

ETA - I see you’ve already visited NE. This summer we are flying to San Francisco and taking a two-week road trip. We are visiting Big Sur, Yosemite, Disneyland, LA, snd flying out of SD. Maybe something to consider.

We actually did a similar trip to what you have planned this summer. We started in Las Vegas, and flew out of San Francisco. We spent a few days in Lake Tahoe also, which was beautiful. We did LA and SD on a separate trip a few years ago. So many places to visit!

The trip that you described is exactly what I'm thinking. Denver is an easy nonstop flight from Pittsburgh.

Just for your future consideration: we did two other roadtrips from Denver. We did the 5 Utah national parks and Park City. Beautiful!! We did this in June and the weather was perfect.

Separately from Denver also, we did RMNP, and south to Telluride and Durango. Also wonderful!

Retirement for you will be here before you know it! Time flies!

 

[disny_luvr]

We actually did a similar trip to what you have planned this summer. We started in Las Vegas, and flew out of San Francisco. We spent a few days in Lake Tahoe also, which was beautiful. We did LA and SD on a separate trip a few years ago. So many places to visit!

The trip that you described is exactly what I'm thinking. Denver is an easy nonstop flight from Pittsburgh.

Just for your future consideration: we did two other roadtrips from Denver. We did the 5 Utah national parks and Park City. Beautiful!! We did this in June and the weather was perfect.

Separately from Denver also, we did RMNP, and south to Telluride and Durango. Also wonderful!

Retirement for you will be here before you know it! Time flies!

Yes, the Utah NPs are on our list! In fact, it was between the Mighty 5 and the trip to South Dakota/Yellowstone/Tetons and we decided on the latter one.

I didn’t realize you are from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities. We love to visit there. (We live in Hershey). I have twins that are graduating this year and they cannot decide between Pitt and Penn State. They truly love both schools.

 

[Pooh2]

We did the Blue Ridge Parkway in September last year.
We drove from NH and started at the northern end, all the way to the southern end.
Beautiful drive and lots of nice little towns along the way with cozy bed and breakfasts.

 

[amylevan]

Yellowstone and Grand Teton are amazing, and bonus, the fall is an excellent time to visit because the ridiculous summer crowds are gone.

Glacier starts to shut down earlier than YNP and GTNP, so do keep that in mind. I believe some of the boat tours are done by the second week in September. So depending on what you want to see, it may be best to put glacier off for another trip. (It is also pretty far from YNP, it took us 7 hrs to get from Glacier down to YNP.)

 

[Frwinkley]

Yes, the Utah NPs are on our list! In fact, it was between the Mighty 5 and the trip to South Dakota/Yellowstone/Tetons and we decided on the latter one.

I didn’t realize you are from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities. We love to visit there. (We live in Hershey). I have twins that are graduating this year and they cannot decide between Pitt and Penn State. They truly love both schools.

We love Pittsburgh. We moved from NJ a very long time ago and apart from visiting family, we never go back.

Can’t go wrong with either school! My DD graduated from Pitt (she initially had no interest in going to a city school, but once she got to the Cathedral of Learning, she was hooked). Might have helped that her boyfriend (now husband), was at CMU! Will your twins go to school together?

I think we’re really learning toward your trip. Is there anything you would have done differently? What was your favorite spot?

We’re also considering Glacier, but having been to the Canadian Rockies, I’m afraid we’ll be disappointed.

 

[disny_luvr]

We love Pittsburgh. We moved from NJ a very long time ago and apart from visiting family, we never go back.

Can’t go wrong with either school! My DD graduated from Pitt (she initially had no interest in going to a city school, but once she got to the Cathedral of Learning, she was hooked). Might have helped that her boyfriend (now husband), was at CMU! Will your twins go to school together?

I think we’re really learning toward your trip. Is there anything you would have done differently? What was your favorite spot?

We’re also considering Glacier, but having been to the Canadian Rockies, I’m afraid we’ll be disappointed.

They will go together. They are best friends and I'm not sure how they would do at different colleges. Obviously at some point they will each have to go their own way, but they aren't ready for that yet.

The Cathedral of Learning is awesome! When we were at Pitt for Student Acceptance Day back in late November, it was decorated for Christmas and so beautiful!

We loved everything about that trip, but we were probably all pleasantly surprised by how much we loved South Dakota. We really loved Badlands NP. You won't need to spend more than a day here - the park isn't big - but it's a really unique place. When we were there, we also visited the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. We just visited the museum part, but it was really interesting. It is very close to the Badlands and you can visit both places the same day. We also went to Wall Drug. I heard a lot of good things about it but we just though it was meh. I'd skip it next time, but that is just my opinion. Mount Rushmore was fun, too. Make sure you go to Custer State Park and drive Iron Mountain Road for some great views of Mount Rushmore. We did not get to go visit Crazy Horse, we just saw it from the road, but if we had more time, we would have visited here, too. On our way from South Dakota to Yellowstone we wanted to visit Devil's Tower, but again we ran out of time.

Out of the Tetons and Yellowstone, we actually liked the Tetons more. The Tetons are just beautiful and we really enjoyed the hiking here. Be sure to visit Jenny Lake. You can take a boat across the lake or hike it. We took the boat over and hiked back. The hike to Hidden Falls isn't too difficult and the falls are incredible. I'd highly recommend this hike if you enjoy hiking. After Hidden Falls, you can continue on or turn around. We hiked up to Inspiration Point before turning around (we were running out of daylight). Make sure to visit Schwabacher's Landing, too. I'm not sure where you plan on staying. We stayed in Jackson. The town is very charming, but it is really, really expensive. We also went whitewater rafting while in Jackson. It was so much fun!

My favorite part of Yelllowstone was the Grand Canyon. It is absolutely beautiful! Yellowstone has so many unique features and is beautiful, too, it is just different than the Tetons (not in a bad way). We stayed at the Old Faithful Inn and Canyon Lodge and are glad we stayed inside the park; however, traveling in fall should be less crowded so staying inside the park may not be as important. If you don't stay at OFI, make sure to visit it. The lobby is stunning!

As I mentioned, we did not make it to Glacier, but my parents were out in Yellowstone/Tetons in September a few years ago and they had planned on going to Glacier, but it had already snowed and most of the roads were closed, so they never made it there. Just something to keep in mind.

I hope you have a great trip!

ETA - There really isn't anything we would have done differently. Maybe spent more time in South Dakota, but then we would have had to cut out something else. We definitely want to go back to all these places again and hopefully we'll be able to see/do some of the things we missed the first time.

 

[MillauFr]

If you want a tour guide of the Pacific NW I will make my services available if you pay expenses...

 

[Frwinkley]

They will go together. They are best friends and I'm not sure how they would do at different colleges. Obviously at some point they will each have to go their own way, but they aren't ready for that yet.

The Cathedral of Learning is awesome! When we were at Pitt for Student Acceptance Day back in late November, it was decorated for Christmas and so beautiful!

We loved everything about that trip, but we were probably all pleasantly surprised by how much we loved South Dakota. We really loved Badlands NP. You won't need to spend more than a day here - the park isn't big - but it's a really unique place. When we were there, we also visited the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. We just visited the museum part, but it was really interesting. It is very close to the Badlands and you can visit both places the same day. We also went to Wall Drug. I heard a lot of good things about it but we just though it was meh. I'd skip it next time, but that is just my opinion. Mount Rushmore was fun, too. Make sure you go to Custer State Park and drive Iron Mountain Road for some great views of Mount Rushmore. We did not get to go visit Crazy Horse, we just saw it from the road, but if we had more time, we would have visited here, too. On our way from South Dakota to Yellowstone we wanted to visit Devil's Tower, but again we ran out of time.

Out of the Tetons and Yellowstone, we actually liked the Tetons more. The Tetons are just beautiful and we really enjoyed the hiking here. Be sure to visit Jenny Lake. You can take a boat across the lake or hike it. We took the boat over and hiked back. The hike to Hidden Falls isn't too difficult and the falls are incredible. I'd highly recommend this hike if you enjoy hiking. After Hidden Falls, you can continue on or turn around. We hiked up to Inspiration Point before turning around (we were running out of daylight). Make sure to visit Schwabacher's Landing, too. I'm not sure where you plan on staying. We stayed in Jackson. The town is very charming, but it is really, really expensive. We also went whitewater rafting while in Jackson. It was so much fun!

My favorite part of Yelllowstone was the Grand Canyon. It is absolutely beautiful! Yellowstone has so many unique features and is beautiful, too, it is just different than the Tetons (not in a bad way). We stayed at the Old Faithful Inn and Canyon Lodge and are glad we stayed inside the park; however, traveling in fall should be less crowded so staying inside the park may not be as important. If you don't stay at OFI, make sure to visit it. The lobby is stunning!

As I mentioned, we did not make it to Glacier, but my parents were out in Yellowstone/Tetons in September a few years ago and they had planned on going to Glacier, but it had already snowed and most of the roads were closed, so they never made it there. Just something to keep in mind.

I hope you have a great trip!

ETA - There really isn't anything we would have done differently. Maybe spent more time in South Dakota, but then we would have had to cut out something else. We definitely want to go back to all these places again and hopefully we'll be able to see/do some of the things we missed the first time.

Thank you so much for all of this great information!

Wishing your twins a wonderful college experience!