East Coast Fall Road Trip

Fall is the perfect time to plan a road trip. You haven’t experienced fall foliage on the East Coast until you take a road trip to hunt for fall colors! 

Growing up in Atlanta, I didn’t experience too much of Fall foliage. As I became an adult and had my own kids, getting outdoors in nature has been something we aim to do every day. We love when summer slowly ends and October rolls around because the colors start to turn and the weather gets a bit cooler. Fall in the southeast gets overlooked, but I promise you it is worth the trip!

Disclaimer: This blog post is in collaboration with RVshare. Thank you for the support!

Where to experience Fall on the East Coast?

The perfect place for a fall road trip in the southeast is Virginia down through Western North Carolina along the Blue Ridge Parkway continuing into the North Georgia Mountains! If you only have enough time for one area, I’d highly recommend exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway in Western North Carolina. The colors have been beautiful the last couple of years and the Blue Ridge is always putting on a show! 

If you have a lot of time to explore, start with Virginia and make your way south! It’s such a beautiful time of year and not to be missed!

Planning Your Fall Road Trip

When planning your fall adventure you should start by deciding how you will get there. Will you drive your own car and find a hotel or place to stay? Or will you rent an RV and camp? 

There are so many different ways to travel and explore the great outdoors, you just have to decide what works best for your family. 

We like to mix it up when we go on road trips. Sometimes we will rent an RV and other times we will drive our own car. RVshare is a great option for those looking to explore RV travel or test out a few different models on the road. You can even have an RV delivered to your destination if you don’t want to drive it! It just depends on the experience you are looking for and what will make things easiest for your family. 

Let’s Get On The Road!

The best way to experience both Western North Carolina and North Georgia fall foliage is to start in North Carolina and work your way down. You can do this two ways. If you live in North Carolina or fly into Charlotte, you can pick up your RV rental there and then start your trip! Check out these RVshare rentals in the Charlotte area. 

Since we live in Atlanta, last year during this time, we drove 5 hours from Atlanta to Boone, NC (which is high country North Carolina). The leaves start to change first at higher elevation which is why we drove to Boone first. There are a ton of RVshare rentals available in the Atlanta area as well. 

Places to explore along the Blue Ridge Parkway:

Price Lake

Rough Ridge - Grandfather Mountain

Linn Cove Viaduct

Linville Gorge

Wisemans View

Crabtree Falls

Mount Mitchell

Craggy Gardens

Frying Pan Mountain

Clingmans Dome

Black Rock Mountain

Nantahala National Forest

Experience Fall In North Georgia

When people think of Georgia, fall foliage is not something they think about. However, fall in the North Georgia Mountains is incredibly beautiful and worth the stop on your fall road trip! 

There are many places to see the colors in North Georgia, but if you’re coming from Western North Carolina, you’ll want to stick to the western side of North Georgia. 

Places to explore in the North Georgia Mountains:

Amicalola Falls State Park

Fort Mountain State Park

Vogel State Park

Cloudland Canyon State Park

Blue Ridge

If you have more time, you can head east and see more of what the North Georgia Mountains have to offer. Areas like Brasstown Bald, Helen, and Tallulah Gorge State Park are areas not to miss if you can squeeze them into your trip! Brasstown Bald is the highest lookout in the state and completely worth the trip! 

No matter what part of North Georgia you choose, you’ll get to experience some of the best views Georgia has to offer.

Fall Road Trip Tips

Last year was our first year experiencing an East Coast fall road trip and definitely a tradition we will continue to have. Fall on the East Coast is one of the busiest times of year. So, if you’re planning your fall road trip you definitely want to plan ahead for it.

Here are a few tips to get you through your first fall road trip on the east coast:

Do your research

Make a list of all the places you want to see while on your trip. One thing I always do is to make a long list of places to explore and then play it by ear on what we actually get around to seeing. When traveling with kids, you kind of have to lower your expectations on how you think the trip will go. Things can change quickly (like the weather), whether you’re traveling with kids or not, so do your research and come prepared.

Book Accommodations EARLY!

With Fall being a busy season, you’ll want to make sure you book your lodging or RVshare rental early on.

Visit during the weekday

The weekdays are usually less crowded than the weekends and typically the perfect time to go out chasing fall colors! You might still have some crowds, but it shouldn’t be as busy as going on the weekend. 

Get up early

What’s the saying? The early bird gets the worm? When you get up and get out early, you are usually more than likely to get the trail or lookout all to yourself! Sometimes we like getting up for sunrise and if you time it right, sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway can be truly spectacular.

Be patient  

Being patient is one of the most important things you can do on your fall road trip. With it being a busy time, there will be crowds and parking may be slim. It’s okay. At the end of the day, everyone is there for the same reason; to admire the beautiful colors of fall. 

Autumn in the southeast is truly underrated and if you have the opportunity to explore it, I highly recommend it!