Trip From NYC to Niagara Falls

I am planning a 4 day roadtrip with my family (parents, husband, brother and 5 kids) from NYC to Niagara Falls. I would like to have some stops on the way there and back. I have heard that the Adirondacks Mountains and Syracuse are on the route. The problem is I don't know how to map it out and what exactly is there is to do. Can anyone help me out? I basically want the kids to be able to get out and stretch and play for a few hours before getting back in the car for hours on end of driving. Also I was also thinking on the way back we would leave Sunday night and drive a few hours find a hotel to stay over night, do something Monday morning before driving back in the afternoon - any ideas?

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Originally Posted by sukihanna

I am planning a 4 day roadtrip with my family (parents, husband, brother and 5 kids) from NYC to Niagara Falls.

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Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! How soon is the trip? What are you traveling in that will fit ten people?

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I would like to have some stops on the way there and back. I have heard that the Adirondacks Mountains and Syracuse are on the route.

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Well, the Adirondack Mountains are not really on direct path between NYC and Niagara Falls. The shortest possible distance is about 400 miles and you would use I-80, I-81 and I-90 which would bypass both the Catskills and the Adirondacks. It can be done in about eight hours of driving. If were to add side-trips to the Adirondacks or the Catskill Mountains it would easily add 5-6 hours of driving. There are several places you could stop along the way, but I am still not sure I understand why you want to do this.

Here some ideas about stops along the way. And just about everyone who has ever visited Niagara mentions that you really need to view it from the Canadian side if you can.

Mark

Thanks for the reply Mark.
We are leaving tomorrow in 2 minivans.
Is the route you suggested the "scenic route" I have heard about?
I basically just want some points along the trip to stop and stretch. I don't want to go to far off the route but I have young kids (7 and under) and I know they will be needing to stop for breaks.
I need to be in Niagara Sat & Sun, so Fri and Mon will be our travelling days.

The route Mark gave you is as scenic as any that will get you from New York to Niagara Falls, and has a number of places along the way that are not too far off the main road where the kids can blow off some steam. Among the stops I'd recommend are:

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area The Kittatiny Visitor's Center is just off exit 1 of I-80 in New Jersey.
Lackawanna State Park This is just north of Scranton and a very short drive from exit 199 of I-81.
The Erie Canal can be relatively easily accessed in the Palmyra/Macedon region of central New York from exit 43 of the New York State Thruway (I-90).

I wouldn't try to stop at each of these on both the way up and back, but spread out over both trips, they should fill your bill quite nicely.

AZBuck