You may want to move up your travel dates, many times,depending on Mother Nature of course, that can be the tail end of foliage in the north. You will probably find plenty to do for 3 days in the White Mountains. The White Mt. Chamber of Commerce sends out an email newsletter that can be very helpful.

A lifetime is too short. I don't know what your money situation is, but maybe a cog ride up mt wash, followed by dinner at the hotel (bring a dress jacket). There are so many places to stop along the Kanc with great vistas, right next to rivers and waterfalls, etc. Maybe a trip into Meridith and a ride on a paddle boat on Lake Winnepesaukee. there are tram rides to the top of Wildcat or Cannon Mountain. A scenic train ride is fun. Lots of stuff to do without hiking all of the 4000 ft mountains in 3 days.

Realize that mother nature calls the shots, I will not be able to get away from PA till Oct 1 and we were heading over to the Route 1 area of Maine,Rockport, Bar Harbor etc, I could plan the trip differently, after leaving the North Conway area we were planinng to go to Vermont for 3 or 4 days, generally when is a good time for the foliage?

You many want to check out the southwest corner of NH, it offers great scenery, with covered bridges, orchards, quaint towns, unique shopping and is right next door to VT and Mass.

You might consider doing your trip backwards. Begin in Vermont and work over to Route 1 in Maine. I only suggest this because the follage will last longer down by the coast that up in the mountains.

I agree with VtMom, to capture the most of the foliage, start in Vermont (the Burlington Area is best) and work your way towards the coast of maine, that way you will be travelling with the foliage, rather than against it. One thing to note though, make sure you have reservations anytime from sept 15 - oct 25th or so, there are no rooms to be had in the North Conway Area, and frequently for well over 50 miles in any direction.

Last itinerary is fine except if you are leaving from York PA it is almost 12 hours to Burlington, 3+ hours of highway driving to Portsmouth, ME and then 9 hours back home. And you have not even seen a leaf yet!! If you only have 3 days. pick a spot and enjoy. You can't time the peak and it will be great no matter what. Make sure you bring alot of windex if your plan is to see NE from a car window but there are so many better ways without giving yourselves a heart attack.

IMHO, pick a place- Jackson, NH, Manchester, Vt, Weston, Vt, Stowe, Sunapee region and plan your days from there

I have taken many of the suggestions offered and put together a different approach, here is the revised lineup which by mistake I did post as a seperate topic. I am planning to start the trip Oct 1

Day 1, Drive To Sturbridge Village, About 300 Miles, Stay In Sturbridge

Day 2, Sturbridge Village, Stay In Sturbridge

Day 3, , Drive To Grafton, Vt, Via Mohawk Trail And Greenfield Mass And Williamstown, Mass And Wilmington, Vt, Look At Cheese Factory In Grafton, About 175 Miles, Stay In Grafton, Vt or nearby

Day 4, Drive To Stowe, Vermont, About 110 Miles, Go To Waterbury To See Ben And Jerry’s Ice Cream, Stay In Stowe.

Day 5, Drive To Newport, Vt Via Smugglers Notch, Go To Cabot To See Cheese Made, About 100 Miles, Stay In Newport

Day 6, Drive To North Conway, About 115 Miles, Stay At Conway, Tour Franocia Notch, Mount Washington, Kancamagus Highway, Lake Winnipesaukee Lake, Stay In Conway

Day 7, Tuesday Oct 7, Stay In Conway,

Tour Bretton Woods, Crawford Notch, Pinkham Notch, Conway To Sanbornville, Raven Series

Day 8, Wednesday, Oct 8, Stay In Conway

Flume Gorge

Conway To Lincoln, Plus Things Not Completed In Day 7 And 8

Day 9, Drive To Campbello Island, Me, About 279 Miles, Stay In Campbello

Day 10, Drive To Bar Harbor, About 105 Miles, Stay In Bar Harbor

Day 11, Tour Acadia National Park, Stay In Bar Harbor

Day 12, Bar Harbor, Look Around Town, Stay At Bar Harbor

Day 13, Drive To Ogunquit, Me, About 211 Miles, Stay In Ogunquit, Stop At Ll Bean

Day 14, Drive To Gloucester, Ma About 75 Miles, Stay In Rockport, Take Whale Watching Cruise

Day 15, Wednesday, Oct 15, Drive To Home About 4oo Miles thru the Pocono Mountains

Thoughts?

I just mapped out your trip. The only thoughts I have are 1. no sardines allowed in the car and 2. have a relationship therapist ready to meet with you on your return home.

More seriously, unless seeing cheese made is the highlight of the trip, skip that day. on way to N. Conway, stay in Lincoln and do all the stuff on the west side of the Kanc like the flume gorge. Given all of the driving you are doing, it really isn't necessary to do the entire Kanc-302 loop- pick 1 (my suggestion is 302 with Crawford Notch/Mt Wash Hotel)

Don't stay in N Conway rather stay in Jackson. I like sturbridge village but if you have been to Colonial Williamsburg (and even if you haven't), it can be missed and still have a fulfilling life. This way you can go straight up 87 and cut over to the Mass Pike and up Rt 7 thru Lenox, up into Williamstown and on up thru Vt. You have saved some hours in the car and not really missed anything essential.

Thanks for the suggestions Neslaw1, I do want to see the Cabot Cheese Factory, but the suggestion about staying in Lincoln is a good one, I will head to Lincoln from Cabot and stay the night in Lincoln and go to Franconia Notch State Park, the Flume, maybe the aerial tram and then drive over to North Conway later that day. if I miss something at Franconia that I really wanted to see, I would still maybe have that chance from Conway