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bc-00044's avatar
bc-00044
Explorer
May 20, 2021

Poconos PA to Bar Harbor Maine -- need advice

Visiting family in Poconos PA and then want to drive up into New England to see more family in Maine and visit Acadia NP. What sites, national parks, state parks landmarks should we anchor our trip around? Haven't been on the east coast in a decade and never explored north of Adirondaks. Any advice appreciated!!! Towing a 34' TT from Colorado
  • What kinds of things are you interested in? Hiking, biking, water activities, nature, museums, historical sites, tourist destinations, ...?
  • Agree with Drew. More info on likes/dislikes will help a lot. There's so much up this way it's impossible to even start.
  • My advice is, figure it out quickly and get your campgrounds booked ASAP. Here in the North East it seems there are way more campers than campsites.

    If you look on google at the Maine coast you will see that once you are north of Portland Maine there are several roads that head south southeast off of Route 1. There are some very nice small coastal towns down those roads.

    You would want to find a campground in the area and explore without the trailer through those towns.
  • sorry for lack of detail. not hikers! Scenery, scenic drives, historical stuff, neat small towns, beauty of our country (that we can see with minimal physical exertion - we are old).
  • Lots of neat small towns in all of New England. Favorites are Newport, RI, Gloucester/Rockport/Newburyport, MA, Ogunquit, Boothbay Harbor and surrounds in Maine. Coastal drive in NH is short but very pretty. Easy access to multiple beaches and awesome food at Petey's in Rye. Acadia National Park in Maine of course. Lots of history in Concord area of MA. Boston, of course, is loaded with history. Just don't take the TT in there! There's so much history up here I'm not sure were to begin! Oh, forgot about Gettysburg. No walking necessary around the battlefields. All driveable.

    I would, however, check ahead and see what's open for facilities and what hours they are open. This area is starting reopen quickly and by Memorial Day should be back to some semblance of normalcy. Some places will still require masks but others won't and at the very least should not need to be worn outside (unless by choice).
  • schlep1967 wrote:
    My advice is, figure it out quickly and get your campgrounds booked ASAP. Here in the North East it seems there are way more campers than campsites.


    Agree. The Bangor Daily News reported a couple of weeks ago that campgrounds and RV parks are already at record booking levels for this year.
  • In addition to what Crowe suggests, and in no particular order...

    Salem, MA (of witch trial fame)

    Mt Philo State Park, Charlotte VT -- though don't even think of camping in the campground there with your trailer, nor pulling it on the road up and down the mountain.

    VT route 108 through Smuggler's Notch (between Jeffersonville and Stowe); DO NOT take your trailer on that stretch of road.

    The Kancamagus Highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire; the road is suitable for RVs, though not all of the pull-offs are. Among the many stops on the road, Sabbaday Falls is a very short stroll-hardly worth calling it a hike, but a pretty spot. There's plenty of other scenic points and a few historical buildings and such, too. (More generally, the White Mountains are a pretty region of the state.)

    The auto road or cog railway up (and back down) Mt Washington.

    Northern New England is chock full of small towns.