Spacious Skies Campgrounds offer a variety of ways to check out Fall foilage.
Fast-growing Spacious Skies Campgrounds has created a new way for travelers to celebrate the East’s famous fall foliage with a campground-to-campground route called the Fall Color Trail, according to a press release.
The trail showcases where to stay and when to move on to follow the months-long progression of fall color from Maine to Tennessee.
Beginning with Spacious Skies Balsam Woods in north central Maine in early September, fall foliage enthusiasts can spend more than two months enjoying the colorful splendor of the East’s lush hardwood forests of maple, birch, oak, ash, hickory, beech and other trees as they turn a multitude of shades of red, purple, orange and yellow. Spacious Skies Balsam Woods was recently named one of the best campgrounds in the country for an “epic nature-based getaway,” notes the release.
The fall color trail ends at north central Tennessee’s Spacious Skies Belle Ridge, where the rich reds, oranges and yellows of the region’s dogwood, oak, maple and birch trees typically last until late October.
“RV travelers, campers and glampers with time and flexibility can experience the longest autumn of their lives as they follow the slow transition from fall to winter in some of the prettiest places in the East,” said Ali Rasmussen, CEO and creative director of Spacious Skies Campgrounds.
Rasmussen noted that each of the 13 campgrounds along the Spacious Skies fall color trail offers a different experience and distinctive vibe that celebrates its geography and nearby attractions. For example, at Spacious Skies Minute Man, located just 33 miles from the heart of Boston, travelers can couple an urban diversion such as the famous Freedom Trail and Boston Harbor Cruises with traditional harvest-season adventures at nearby rural attractions like Carlson Orchards Apple Picking and Taproom. Guests at Spacious Skies Shenandoah Valley, on the other hand, can view fall foliage along Shenandoah Valley National Park’s Skyline Drive and enjoy a broad range of outdoor adventures like hiking, fishing and biking.
“Even if travelers can’t take two months to follow the Spacious Skies Campgrounds fall color trail, there are many multi-stop options for leaf-peepers,” Rasmussen noted. “Some of the richest, deepest colors can be found in the southeast as the fall color has started to wane elsewhere. At deeply forested places like Spacious Skies Belle Ridge in north central Tennessee and Spacious Skies Hidden Creek in western North Carolina, fall color can sometimes last until Halloween and beyond.”
The fall trail winds through all 13 of Spacious Skies parks.
Many of the campgrounds offer alternative accommodations for travelers who don’t own RVs, including cabins, yurts, tent sites and in select locations, retro trailers. The yurts at Spacious Skies Shenandoah Valley have been called some of the best yurts in the state. Spacious Skies has also partnered with RVshare so would-be campers and glampers can rent RVs in each location or rent RVs that they can drive from place to place.
Here is how Spacious Skies Campgrounds travelers can follow the fall colors this year. (Drive times may vary depending on time of day and traffic conditions.):
Stop One: Start out at Spacious Skies Balsam Woods in Abbot, Maine. This campground is the company’s northernmost property and most likely location to see early color.
- Trees to see: Maples, birches and oaks
- Colors: Yellow, red, brown and purple
- Fall foliage timing: early September through early October
- Campground closes Oct. 31; reopens early May
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Walnut Grove
- Drive time: Three hours, 162 miles
Stop Two: Head south and closer to the coast to Spacious Skies Walnut Grove in Alfred, Maine, where the colors arrive a little later.
- Trees to see: Maples, birches and oaks
- Colors: Yellow, red, brown and purple
- Fall foliage timing: mid-September through mid-October
- Open year-round
- Where to next: Spacious Skies French Pond
- Drive time: One hour & 36 minutes, 75 miles
Stop Three: Make your way to Spacious Skies French Pond in Henniker, N.H., nestled in a forest where you will have a good sampling of the area’s fall colors.
- Trees to see: Maples, birches and oaks.
- Colors: Yellow, red, brown and purple.
- Fall foliage timing: Late September through mid-October
- Open year-round
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Seven Maples
- Drive time: 31 minutes, 22 miles
Stop Four: Take an easy 22-mile drive to Spacious Skies Seven Maples in Hancock, N.H., for some classic New England charm and several quaint towns nearby. The campground is known for its epic water park — named one of the best campground water parks in the country.
- Trees to see: Maple, birch and oak
- Colors: Yellow, red, brown and purple
- Fall foliage timing: Late-September through mid-October
- Campground closes Oct. 31; reopens early May
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Minute Man
- Drive time: One hour & 14 minutes, 44 miles
Stop Five: After you pack up, cross the border on your 46-mile drive to Spacious Skies Minute Man in Littleton, Mass., where the rural feel belies the fact that big-city Boston is just 33 miles away.
- Trees to see: Maples, ash, birches and oaks
- Colors: Yellow, red, brown and purple
- Fall foliage timing: Late September through mid-October
- Campground closes Oct. 31; reopens early May
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Adirondack Peaks
- Drive time: Four hours & nine minutes, 202 miles
Stop Six: After a couple of short drives, go just over 200 miles to Spacious Skies Adirondack Peaks in North Hudson, N.Y., where the region’s famed lakes, mountains and trees are on full display.
- Trees to see: Gums, oaks, hickories, maples and elms
- Colors: Yellow, red and orange
- Fall foliage timing: Mid-September through mid-October
- Campground closes Oct. 31; reopens early May
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Woodland Hills
- Drive time: Two hours & seven minutes, 133 miles
Stop Seven: The drive to Spacious Skies Woodland Hills in Austerlitz, N.Y., is sure to be memorable with river valleys, forests and state parks dotting the area.
- Trees to see: Oaks, hickories, maples and beeches
- Colors: Yellow, red and orange
- Fall foliage timing: Mid-September through mid-October
- Campground closes Oct. 31; reopens early May
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Country Oaks
- Drive time: Four hours & 59 minutes, 259 miles
Stop Eight: It’s time to bid a fond farewell to the New England portion of your fall foliage grand tour and head south to Spacious Skies Country Oaks in Dorothy, N.J., close to the shore.
- Trees to see: Oaks
- Colors: Reddish brown.
- Fall foliage timing: Mid- to late-October
- Campground closes Oct. 31; reopens mid-April
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Shenandoah Valley
- Drive time: Four hours & 52 minutes, 243 miles
Stop Nine: Say goodbye to the Southern Jersey Pinelands and drive inland and south to Spacious Skies Shenandoah Valley in Luray, Va.
- Trees to see: Oaks, chestnut, maples, ashes, birches and basswood
- Colors: Red, orange and yellow
- Fall foliage timing: Early- to late-October
- Campground closes Nov. 15; reopens mid-March
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Sandy Run
- Drive time: Five hours & 29 minutes, 331 miles
Stop Ten: Next, cross another state border and head to Spacious Skies Sandy Run in Fayetteville, N.C.
- Trees to see: Oaks, chestnuts, maples, ashes, birches and basswood
- Colors: Red, orange and yellow
- Fall foliage timing: Early- to late-October
- Open year-round
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Peach Haven
- Drive time: Three hours & 29 minutes, 191 miles
Stop Eleven: Head south to Spacious Skies Peach Haven, the most recent addition to the Spacious Skies family of campgrounds.
- Trees to see: hickory, beech, maple, dogwood, sweet gum, oak
- Colors: Red, orange, yellow, purple
- Fall foliage timing: Early- to late-October
- Open year-round
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Hidden Creek
- Drive time: One hour & 12 minutes, 56 miles
Stop Twelve: Drive northwest to the mountainous regions of North Carolina and Spacious Skies Hidden Creek in Marion, N.C., just outside of Asheville, where fall foliage season lasts longer than most places.
- Trees to see: Oaks, maples, birches, poplars
- Colors: Red, orange and yellow
- Fall foliage timing: Early-October to mid-November
- Open year-round
- Where to next: Spacious Skies Belle Ridge
- Drive time: Three hours & 40 minutes, 240 miles
Stop Thirteen: End your fall foliage extravaganza at Spacious Skies Belle Ridge in Monterey, Tenn., where more than 500 acres of woods, trails, waterfalls and more await.
- Trees to see: Oaks, maples, dogwoods, poplars
- Colors: Red, orange and yellow
- Fall foliage timing: Mid-October to mid-November
- Open year-round
- Where to next: Wherever you want. What’s holding you back?
