There are New England adventures that take a day, and destinations worth visiting for a weekend, but there are also a number of incredible New England Adventures that are bigger and take longer than a day or a weekend. These take planning ahead. Today I’m sharing 5 to consider for the next year.
5 Multi-Day Adventures in New England
1. The Presidential Traverse, White Mountains, NH (2 days) The classic New England backpacking trip: ridgeline the whole way, above treeline for long stretches, huts to break up the miles. It’s hard. It’s also the trip most New England hikers put off for years and then wish they’d done sooner.
2. Paddle-and-Camp the Maine Island Trail (2-3 days) A string of islands off the Maine coast you can hop between by kayak, camping on a different one each night. Less physically brutal than the Presidentials, more logistics tides and weather actually run this trip, not you.
See our trip on the Maine Island Trail
3. Vermont’s Route 100 by Bike, Waterbury to Weston (2 days) Point-to-point through the spine of Vermont during peak foliage, inn to inn instead of camping if you’d rather sleep in a bed. This is the “adventure trip” you can talk a less outdoorsy friend into.
4.Section-Hiking the New England Trail, Connecticut's Traprock Ridges (2 days) Connecticut doesn't get much credit as a hiking state, which is honestly Connecticut's loss to advertise and everyone else's gain, the New England Trail runs right along a string of dramatic traprock ridgelines with views that punch well above what you'd expect this far south. Shelters and camping spots are spaced out for an easy overnight, and you'll likely have the ridge to yourself.
Canoeing the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Northern Maine (2-3 days, minimum)
This isn't a casual add-on to a Maine trip, it's a genuine wilderness canoe route through the state's northern interior, remote enough that you're well past cell service and closer to moose than other paddlers most of the day. It's a bigger commitment than everything else on this list, but if you want a trip that actually feels like an expedition instead of a nice weekend outside, this is the one.
Like a Local
Whatever you pick, book your hut or campsite reservation now, not the week before. Fall weekends fill fast, and unlike summer, there’s no walking up and hoping: most of these spots are reservation-only this time of year.
