Ed McGuirk Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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I have lived in New England my entire life. If your interest is primarily fall colors, then your timing of late October / early November is way too late. Unless you want to photograph what we call stick season (leafless trees).
Here is what is generally considered the peak time range of colors in various parts of New England
Sep 27 to Oct 5 Northern New Hampshire and Northeast Kingdom of Vermont
The Northeast Kingdom is north and east of St. Johnsbury. northern New Hampshire is down thru about Gorham. Baxter State Park in Maine also goes in this time range.
Oct 3 to 12 New Hampshire White Mountains, Midstate Vt Rutland to Rt. 2. This includes the area from Gorham down thru about Lincoln, NH
Oct 10 to 16 Southern NH and Vt, Acadia Area of Maine (ocean makes it go later), Burlington Vt area (lake makes it go later). This includes the Lake Region and Monadnock region of NH., and Vt from Rutland south thru Brattleboro.
Oct 15 to 25 Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Connecticut
A very large caveat about these dates, they are a range of what is typical. They vary from year to year. Last year we had an extremely warm September, and the peak color was 10 to 14 days later than the typical range (this is very rare). With that said, if you shoot for the the first two weeks of October, you will always find color somewhere, and New England is compact enough geographically that you can move around pretty easily. You can also change your elevation between mountains and valleys to seek out color stages. During this time frame lodging fully fills up, so book your lodging months in advance.
If you are interested in mountains, waterfalls, streams (as opposed to barns, farms, New England Village greens), I would recommend the White Mountains of NH, and the area of Vermont from White River Junction and North, in the eastern half of the state. I would go between Oct 3 to Oct 15. if the pastoral farms, etc is your fancy, then you can't beat teh area around Woodstock VT. in general Vt is better for the pastoral landscape, and NH's White Mountains are better for wild landscapes.
Montpelier Vt makes a good base for the Vt portion. From here it is an easy drive to Moss Glen Falls in Granville, Texas Falls, Smugglers Notch, Ricker Pond and Kettle Pond in Groton State forest. Peacham Vt. is nearby if you want the more pastoral barns and farms look.
New Hampshire White Mountains are mountain and waterfall heaven. The Kancamagus highway Rt. 112 between Lincoln and Conway has mountain views, great views of the Swift river, and Sabbaday falls. This drive also gets you up at good elevation. not far from the east end of this highway is Chocura Lake, great for reflections. Also try Franconia Notch state park near Lincoln for more waterfalls, along the Falling Waters Trail, and the Basin cascades trail. Crawford Notch state Park contains Silver Cascade, Arethusa Falls and Ripley Falls among others. The Sugar Hill NH at the north end of Franconia Notch is also a great location.
A good base for this area would be Lincoln NH. Avoid North Conway (too crowded).
If you are looking for landscape photography in natural settings, I'd recommend staying away from the major cities like Burlington, Portland, Manchester or Boston, they are too far away from the mountains.
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