National Parks of the East in 2022

WOW....Thank you everyone. It looks like a lot of good information and it will take me some time to go though it & all the links in detail.

DH and I have traveled to the east coast a couple of times in an RV and have been to the New England states once in 2009. We avoided toll roads then because we don't mind taking back roads and we know that there are bridges/tunnels we can't go on because of our propane tanks, but I'll have to review our route from our other trips.

Places we've been to but really want to repeat because our friends haven't been are:

Boston, MA Freedom trail
Arcadia National Park
Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, VA
Smokey Mountains National Park (a must see for our friends)
White Mountains & Kancamagus Highway in NH


Other places that we are considering that I didn't mention before (depending on route we take):
Colonial Willamsburg/Jamestown
Gateway Arch
Niagra Falls
Mammoth Cave National Park
Shenandona National Park, VA
Congargee National Park, SC - the only one on this list we haven't been to yet.


We have all been to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Gettysburg before but repeating those locations are not off the table at this time.

AZ Buck, Our friends are on a trip right now and we just decided to plan this trip together last weekend so I'm not sure of all the places they are interested in. NYC & Washington DC being two of them. We are going on a trip with them at the end of August and will have plenty of time to discuss where we all want to go. I'm just doing some basic research right now.

I will definitely check out the "Notches" you mentioned!

Donna, We're not planning on Florida this trip.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on what our plans will be.

Utahtea

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Places we've been to but really want to repeat because our friends haven't been are:

Boston, MA Freedom trail
Acadia National Park
Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, VA
Smoky Mountains National Park (a must see for our friends)
White Mountains & Kancamagus Highway in NH


Other places that we are considering that I didn't mention before (depending on route we take):
Colonial Willamsburg/Jamestown
Gateway Arch
Niagara Falls
Mammoth Cave National Park
Shenandoah National Park, VA
Congaree National Park, SC - the only one on this list we haven't been to yet.

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A few comments:

Don't try to take your RV to the Arch. Parking still isn't great down there, the way I understand it. Use your "toad" and leave the RV somewhere else.

Shenandoah has a "low bridge". Know the height of your rig. I believe it's St Mary's.


Donna

Great Road! First, it's pronounced Kan-ka-MANG-us (with an 'n'). If you can, drive it from west to east, from Lincoln to Conway. It's a long steady climb from the east side to the top of the pass, while the western approach is significantly shorter. I once biked (bicycle) from Conway to the top of the pass and was completely exhausted. I also totally destroyed my brakes on the way back down, even though I was passing cars(!!) to try to save the brakes for the bottom. With an RV and a toad, going westbound on the Kancamagus could prove a trial.

AZBuck

Shenandoah, further information: It's Mary's Rock. Here's the quote from the NPS Shenandoah site:

Be sure you will clear Mary's Rock Tunnel (mile 32.2), with a maximum clearance of 12'8". This is the measured clearance for both lanes of the road. RVs, camping trailers, and horse trailers are welcome, but be prepared to shift into low gear, going downhill.


Donna

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

Shenandoah, further information: It's Mary's Rock. Here's the quote from the NPS Shenandoah site:

Be sure you will clear Mary's Rock Tunnel (mile 32.2), with a maximum clearance of 12'8". This is the measured clearance for both lanes of the road. RVs, camping trailers, and horse trailers are welcome, but be prepared to shift into low gear, going downhill.


Donna

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A good thing to think about with any type of back (non-interstate) roads, be they in a park or not.

We have a couple fairly main roads in this area with low bridges that seem to make the news far too often due to a large vehicle (mostly tractor trailers) hitting them.

It seems obvious (and both are marked with numerous signs) but somehow those drivers still wind up where they won't fit...

If you are going to be spending a lot of time on non-Interstate roads (not necessarily 'back' roads, but even some older US and state highways) you'll need a road atlas that shows where low clearance bridges are. For this I've found nothing better than the Rand McNally Motor Carriers' Road Atlas. It seems to get updated each year and is available in various editions (year/binding) from various retailers.

AZbuck

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

A few comments:

Don't try to take your RV to the Arch. Parking still isn't great down there, the way I understand it. Use your "toad" and leave the RV somewhere else.

Shenandoah has a "low bridge". Know the height of your rig. I believe it's St Mary's.


Donna

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All parks & sightseeing will be done in our Jeep Wrangler which is our tow vehicle. We don't plan sightseeing on travel days with the motorhome.

Utahtea

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

Great Road! First, it's pronounced Kan-ka-MANG-us (with an 'n'). If you can, drive it from west to east, from Lincoln to Conway. It's a long steady climb from the east side to the top of the pass, while the western approach is significantly shorter. I once biked (bicycle) from Conway to the top of the pass and was completely exhausted. I also totally destroyed my brakes on the way back down, even though I was passing cars(!!) to try to save the brakes for the bottom. With an RV and a toad, going westbound on the Kancamagus could prove a trial.

AZBuck

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We will not be doing Kancamagus with the motorhome! Just out of sheer luck we did the Kancamagus Highway from West to East when we did it back in 2009! Good to know it was the best way.

Utahtea

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

Shenandoah, further information: It's Mary's Rock. Here's the quote from the NPS Shenandoah site:

Be sure you will clear Mary's Rock Tunnel (mile 32.2), with a maximum clearance of 12'8". This is the measured clearance for both lanes of the road. RVs, camping trailers, and horse trailers are welcome, but be prepared to shift into low gear, going downhill.


Donna

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Thank you for finding out this information. It would be close for us in our motorhome, but I really doubt we would be driving the Skyline Road in our RV. We would more than likely camp at a RV park on one of the roads that travers the park and then take our tow vehicle to drive Skyline Road.

Utahtea

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Originally Posted by BillyGr

A good thing to think about with any type of back (non-interstate) roads, be they in a park or not.

We have a couple fairly main roads in this area with low bridges that seem to make the news far too often due to a large vehicle (mostly tractor trailers) hitting them.

It seems obvious (and both are marked with numerous signs) but somehow those drivers still wind up where they won't fit...

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We try very hard to pay attention to these kinds of things!!!!

Utahtea

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

If you are going to be spending a lot of time on non-Interstate roads (not necessarily 'back' roads, but even some older US and state highways) you'll need a road atlas that shows where low clearance bridges are. For this I've found nothing better than the Rand McNally Motor Carriers' Road Atlas. It seems to get updated each year and is available in various editions (year/binding) from various retailers.

AZbuck

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That looks like a must have for this trip! We do have the Rand McNally RV GPS in the motorhome which takes into consideration our height and weight and is suppose to show us the correct roads to take....but I DO NOT totally trust GPS and always have a map! The atlas looks like the way to go!

Thank you,

Utahtea