New England states

The only major city in New England to absolutely avoid being in the middle of with the motorhome is Boston.

I would avoid ANY of the larger cities such as Springfield, Worcester, Providence, Hartford, Portsmouth, etc. While it's "doable" it's not fun. Boston, though, is absolutely a no-go.

In NH, Danforth Bay Campground is about 45 minute east of most major White Mountain attractions. DB gets great reviews and has lots of amenities. Well run campground, overall clean. large wooded sites for the most part.

Also might want to consider Fransted family campground or Lincoln Woodstock KOA both get great reviews and are more centrally located to all White mountain attractions

Scenic Kancamagus highway is a must drive, but you will be VERY luckie if you see a moose as they are in decline.

In VT check out Quechee Pine KOA centrally located in vt, good reviews,close in interstate.

Hope this helps
Mike

Of the area from W Virginia to Maine, if you have never been to the northeast, I'd say the Maine coast is a must. Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park (NP). Stay at Bar Harbor CG. Boothebay is nice (Shorehills CG). Day trips to Rockland and Camden. You can see the Kennebunkport and Ogunquit area from Bayley's CG in Scarborough. Portland, NH is great and you could stay at Wakeda CG in Exeter, NH (ask for one of their very long pull thru's.

The Lakes region of NH is fantastics. Meredith Woods CG in Meredith is good. From there day trips to Franconia Notch and across the Kancamagus Highway to Conway, NH.

The best CG to see Boston is Normandy Farms in Foxboro, MA. Take rt. 495 around Boston to Foxboro. Boston is a great walking city. Take the train into it from Normandy Farms.

From there I would head to Lake George, NY and stay at Lake George CG. A lot of history in that area. Lots to see and do. You could take a day trip to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and Ben and Jerry's Factory.

I would spend my time between Lake George and Bar Harbor and skip the rest of the northeast if this is your first trip.

Agree with some of the others on Maine and on avoiding Boston. Look hard at staying in the Portsmouth NH/Kittery Me area either on your way to Acadia or on your way back. This puts you about 50 miles from Salem, and Boston, easy day trips with the toad. And is also a lovely area on its own. Even Lake Winnepasaukee is a fairly easy day trip from that area. Cape Cod though is still 2plus hours away so if Plymouth and the Cape are on your itinerary, skirt Boston, preferably on a Sunday Morning on your way there.

The majority of campgrounds in New England close around Columbus Day or shortly thereafter. Usually that's before snow (and around the peak or just after the peak of foliage season), but there are no absolute guarantees on that. Columbus Day weekend is perhaps the busiest tourist weekend of the year with leaf peepers, so getting reservations for then would be a good idea; other times they're probably not necessary except for quite popular destinations.

The only major city in New England to absolutely avoid being in the middle of with the motorhome is Boston. I would avoid it with the car as well and take public transit if you want to see the city; driving in Boston is no fun at all, and navigating is its own special challenge. Propane is restricted from the Boston area tunnels. Other significant cities may be better avoided, but are not impossible to get around. Do be aware of low clearances (which are usually marked at least somewhat in advance); they are more common than in the western states.

Vermont state parks have no hookups, and many have pretty small sites and tight access roads (often originally laid out by the CCC). Many are in quite pretty areas; if you like a little hiking, the half dozen or so around Groton State Forest are interconnected by a nice network of trails through the forest. Mt Ascutney also has some nice hiking and great views (and a road up nearly to the summit so you don't have to hike all the way up if you don't care to or are not able to).

I second JoeH's suggestion to check out upstate New York, as well; the finger lakes and Adirondacks have some really lovely places. Letchworth State Park is one of the very nicest state parks in the nation.

The Shelburne Museum is large and has a very eclectic collection centered around folk art (if it's centered around anything); plan on a full day to see it if you stop.

In New Hampshire, the White Mountains are lovely. The Mt Washington Cog Railway is worth taking, though not exactly pocket change. It almost certainly is cold and windy at the top, occasionally very, very windy. The Kancamagus Highway is a neat scenic road through the White Mountains, not fast going but certainly reasonable to take with a motorhome (though some of the many pull-offs may be a little tight).

There are a few relatively major roads to avoid with a motorhome (state routes and such). "Parkways", in New York and Connecticut mainly, with very few isolated exceptions are legally restricted to passenger cars and not at all suitable for RVs due to quite low clearances. There are some mountain passes that are not good for RVs, to varying degrees. VT 17 through the Appalachian Gap (between routes 100 and 116) would best be avoided although it is not technically impassable. VT 108 through Smugglers Notch (between Cambridge and Stowe) is worse, and completely unsuitable for RVs, though it's a very pretty road in a car. Most years at least one or two semi trucks get physically stuck in the notch, wedged between rocks, despite their being forbidden...with some big, obvious signs stating as much.

Heading east. Plan a few days at Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Portland, Maine coast, LLBean are all worth it along with Salem MA, and the Freedom trail in Boston.

Check out the Finger lakes region of NY. From there, maybe up to 1000 Islands. THen over to Lake George area, maybe followed by Vermont and New Hampshire. Then off to Maine. Bar Harbor, Boothbay Harbor and Orchard Beach are places we stop at.

As far as New England is concerned, Acadia National Park is a must in our books. We stayed at Bar Harbor Campground while visiting the park. We liked it so much, we stayed twice as long as we had planned. Shore Hills Campground in Boothbay, ME, was also a very enjoyable visit. Lots of great sightseeing in both places. My wife went to graduate school (the second time) in Vermont and I really enjoyed seeing the campus in Middlebury, VT. We did a lot of back roads and out-of-the-way campgrounds. Didn't have ANY negative experiences and everything was beautiful - despite the fact that last fall was a "low color" fall as far as the foliage was concerned.

Rob