VAN-COMPARATOR Guide
New England in the fall by RV: the ultimate foliage road trip
Fall foliage by RV from Boston: the White Mountains, Vermont’s Route 100 and Acadia. Foliage calendar, campground closures, prices and booking advice.
Every autumn, New England’s maples catch fire and millions of Americans hit the road to go leaf peeping. In an RV, you sleep in the middle of the show. The ideal base is Boston, the region’s gateway and the best-connected airport from Europe.
The foliage calendar
Peak colour moves north to south: late September in northern New Hampshire and Vermont, the first half of October in the White Mountains and central Vermont, mid-to-late October around Boston and Massachusetts. A 7-10 day loop in early October maximises your odds — keep some flexibility, as weekly updated foliage maps are published all season.
The classic 1,000 km loop
- White Mountains (New Hampshire): the Kancamagus Highway, 55 km with no gas station or shop, is THE foliage drive. National forest campgrounds line the route.
- Vermont: Route 100 south to north, white-steepled villages, Stowe and its farms.
- Maine: on to Acadia National Park, pink granite cliffs above the Atlantic; book Blackwoods campground.
- Coastal return: Portland, Maine, and its lobster shacks, then back to Boston.
Prices and October pitfalls
Expect $130-250/day for a Class C in October, a little less for a campervan. Make no mistake, this is genuine local high season: book the vehicle by summer and park campgrounds several weeks out. Second trap: many campgrounds, public and private, close between October 15 and November 1 and shut off water at the first frost. Check closing dates before building the route, and plan for heating — nights drop below 5°C. The good news: unlike the big western routes, this is a loop, so there are no one-way fees and no daily driving stage exceeds three hours.
Compare the offers
Van-Comparator searches Yescapa, Goboony, Roadsurfer and Indie Campers, with Outdoorsy and RVshare coming to cover the whole northeastern US market. For a first trip across the Atlantic, our guide to renting an RV in the USA covers licences, insurance and mileage.