New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Quebec Road Trip!

As you can see by the title, this is a jam packed road trip itinerary that I have put together for you. To date, this is easily one of my favourite road trips that I have done and I am so excited to share it here with you. Along with this blog post that outlines my entire trip, I have also created a custom Google Map so you can easily access destinations, campsites and other recommendations.

Let’s get into it!

I live in Ontario, Canada so that is where this trip began and ended for me. I went for a full week, but if you don’t have that long you can still do this trip. We spent a few days in certain areas which drew out our trip (we intentionally did this since we had the time). For formatting purposes, I will be writing out the day by day itinerary of this road trip that I did, but again this can be done over less time and feel free to remove/add whatever fits your interests and schedule best.

Day One: Ontario to New York

The first day was one of our longest driving days. I personally like to drive the most on the first day of my trip because I always feel very excited and just ready to hit the road. We crossed the border in Niagara Falls, grabbed Dunkin’ and drove straight to our first stop at Bald Mountain Rondaxe Fire Tower, a trail I found on the AllTrails app. This was a great spot to stretch our legs, and it was so beautiful. I highly recommend this stop if it’s on your route!

The next stop of the trip was one of the best of the entire week, and one of my favourite spots I’ve seen in my whole life. The night before I was scrolling on Threads and saw someone post a picture of a cool staircase and I noticed it was on our route, so we went and I am so happy we did! The pictures speak for themself, but I am talking about Whiteface Mountain. We paid to drive up the mountain where this is a castle that you hike 1KM of stairs/rocks and you have the most incredible view the entire time. If you don’t want to pay the fee, there is a trail that starts at the bottom of the mountain but it closes frequently so check their website to be informed. If you drive to the castle, there is also an elevator you can take instead of taking the stairs. Dress warm!

After Whiteface Mountain we continued on to find a place to sleep for the night because the next two stops in New York that we had planned were closed, so we wanted to hit them first thing in the morning. We did not have a campsite booked because we wanted to see how far into New York we’d end up, and when we were looking absolutely everything was completely full so we ended up staying in a fancy Eco Hotel called Cambria and I actually really enjoyed this stay, even though it was more money than I am usually willing to spend – desperate times call for desperate measures.

To Note: Cell service in the adirondacks is extremely spotty.

Day Two: New York to Vermont to New Hampshire

After a great sleep, we headed to our first stop of the second day, High Falls Gorge. Looking back, my friend and I agreed that this stop could be missed. The price was steep considering more than half the trail was closed to construction, and the views are beautiful however the next stop has similar and grander views. The next stop was Ausable Chasm and we did the hiking trails there but you can also go rafting which looks like a blast! We really enjoyed this stop and it was definitely worth the paid entry.

We said our goodbyes to New York, and headed into Vermont. At this point we vowed to only listen to Noah Kahan in Vermont and we stuck to that, it was such a vibe. We stopped at Warren Falls to swim, go cliff jumping and ride down the natural waterslide. We spent many hours here and it was great, just super busy! Then we hit the road to New Hampshire, but along the way we grabbed some ice cream and maple syrup.

Day Three: New Hampshire to Maine

Our welcome into New Hampshire was at sunset so we stopped at our campsite in White Mountain National Forest and went to bed early. We were at the Zealand campsite there and it was located perfectly for us, as it was only 10 minutes down the road from our first trail of the day, Mount Willard Trail. In my opinion, this trail is also a must-do because the views are just incredible. The lookout is also huge, so if it were ever busy you’d still be able to find plenty of room to hang out regardless. We had the entire thing to ourself!

At this point, it was time to go to Maine. Hey Alexa, play Maine by Noah Kahan!

We went to Portland which was not part of our original plan, but we were a bit ahead of schedule so we went to Portland Head Light and Fort Williams Park. I read that the Lighthouse there is the most photographed Lighthouse in the world, so of course we had to see it! And if you love sea food, there are little food trucks everywhere to grab a bite to eat.

After soaking up the coastal views, we headed towards Bar Harbor and Acadia, where we would spend a few days. We arrived earlier than we planned, so we did the Beehive Trail in the evening – the trail that inspired this entire trip! There was a cloud inversion we could see from the lookouts, and there were only a few people we encountered on trail. It was perfect!

We spent the end of the night in Bar Harbor and let me tell you, Bar Harbor is an absolute must when you’re in this part of Maine! It was so much fun, there is so much to do, see, eat and so many fun humans to meet. We spent a lot of time in Bar Harbor over the course of 3 days, we couldn’t get enough of it. On this particular night, we just explored the little shops and ate some delicious food.

Day Four: Acadia National Park

Waking up in Acadia was very exciting because there is just so much to do in the area. We had some ideas of places we wanted to see, but we left our schedule pretty loose just to get some relaxation in.

We started our day by walking to the Bar Harbor Island during low tide, and this was another highlight of the whole trip for me. You can watch the ocean lower until a sand bar stretches across to the island, walk across it (while seeing a plethora of crabs, sea squirts and sea shells) and go hiking on the island or look for sea glass around the beaches. It was so much fun, I need to come back here!!

Next we went to Thunder Hole because the sign there says it is best to experience two hours before high tide, and we absolutely understood where this rock formation got its name from! It was so much fun we ended up going here three times, and only one of those times was with a massive crowd of people all cheering the water on which was an absolute blast.

We decided to hike the Great Head trail and it was one of my favourite hikes of the entire trip. The cliffside views are absolutely stunning, highly recommend!

We had another early night and slept at the Blackwoods Campground.

Here are some other random stops we made:

• Western Point Overlook
• Schooner Head Overlook
• Otter Cliff Overlook
• Cooksey Drive Overlook

Day Five: Acadia National Park to Quebec

We had scored a permit for Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain, so this day we woke up at 2:30am to be at the mountain for 3:30am. We waited in a long line up of cars, and then drove up the mountain, hiked about 1KM and picked a spot to sit and enjoy the first sunrise in the US. It was really foggy on the mountain when we first arrived which made us worried, but the skies cleared! The adventure gods were surely smiling down on us.

After another visit to Bar Harbor, we said goodbye to Acadia and headed over to Stephen King’s old residence which was so fun to see! I am a book girlie as of 2024 (I literally had read less than 20 books in my whole life before 2024, and now I have already read 60 books this year) so this was fun for me but my best friend has been a Stephen King fan for years, so I think this stop was even more fun for me just to watch how excited she was to see it!

We then entered back into Canada and headed to one of our favourite places, Quebec City. Quebec City is rich in history, has great views, cute shops, scrumptious food and something for everyone to enjoy. We started off by enjoying a free art museum, then explored old churches, and did a Mead tasting! This was my first time trying Mead and I loved it, I bought a couple of bottles to bring home even.

After our Quebec City excursion we headed over to a waterfall that has been on my bucket list for so long! Jean Chutes Larose – I highly recommend this stop to everyone! If you plan on getting close to this waterfall, heads up as it is the slipperiest waterfall I have ever experienced and you get soaking wet. My hiking boots had puddles in them!

We were thankful that our campsite at Grand Jardins National Park was right across from a bathroom with a shower and air dryer to help us clean up after playing in the waterfall! This is the prettiest front country campsite I have ever stayed at.

Day Six: Quebec

We woke up early and headed straight to our longest hike of the trip, Mont Du Dome. This was another big bucket list hike for me and was another favourite of the whole trip. Hiking in Quebec is always a great time.

After we decided to visit Canyon Sainte Anne because my last Quebec trip didn’t have time for this stop. This stop was alright, I don’t think I’d personally go back even though it had great views.

At this point we needed to start driving in the direction of Ontario, so we decided to stop at Quebec City one more time and we visited the Morrin Centre which was an old prison that they turned into a beautiful library.

Then we stayed at the coolest hotel I have ever been to and it wasn’t even expensive – I will definitely be returning here immediately! It is called Hotel Universel in Quebec City.

Day Seven: Quebec

Another hike that I have on my list is L’Eperon Trail. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been in the area to do it but always had something happen that didn’t allow me the time for this trail. Well I finally got to do it! It’s a cute trail, a couple of pretty lookouts but not as grand as the other trails we did. Across from the trail there were canoe rentals, and we did that after hiking which was really refreshing. I recommend that for sure!

Our last stop in Quebec was Parc des Chutes de Sainte-Ursule, which was another cute place to stretch our legs but nothing that is necessary to see unless you’re in the area.

Day Eight: Ontario

On our drive home, we stopped to see the town of Perth because I always see breathtaking photos of it on social media. I am so glad we stopped here! There was a festival with live music when we arrived, and the park was packed with people watching the concert so we went up front with other people and danced to the music. It was a great way to end a great trip, celebrating the beauty in the world, life, and people.

My Google Map:

Thank you so much for reading this blog post! I hope this helps you plan your next adventure. This sure was a fun one!

Until next time,

Keep on trekkin’

Katie 🥾 🌲 🗺️