NW Indiana to Bar Harbor

[WrightOn]

This is the vacation this summer. Reservations are made on the island already. We are staying at Lake Erie SP in western NY (90) on our first leg of the trip. 8 hours later will take us just west of Boston in the Lowell area. I'm having a hard time locating a CG in that area just for a stop over. I do not have a generator.

Our daughter lives in Manchester NH one hour north. The question includes both roads and CG options for the 2nd night:

1. Don't worry about the tolls (my cheapskate side) and stay on 90 and 495 around Boston and into Maine?
2. Is there a recommended place to stay close to the interstates in the western Boston area for a stop over (no sightseeing)?
3. Jump ship, go north into southern NH for a landing spot for the night?

Thanks for your help!
Brian

[fwed]

Minuteman is a great campground, but the last I knew Garmin still had the wrong address. It's close, but you have to go around the corner to the entrance. The Garmin address is the middle of the campground. Contact the CG for a real address or coordinates. From there you'll have a 5-hour drive to Mt Desert on a good day, depending on which route you take.

EZ pass is a must. Sign up for automatic replacement of funds and you won't have to worry about anything in that line. Especially great at those interchanges with full speed lanes. Works from Illinois to Maine to North Carolina.

fred.

[jplante4]

ACZL wrote:
For those that may have traveled this route, is there a big truck stop or similar on 84 at the 90 interchange? Buddy of mine goes from Niagara Falls NY to New Brunswick, and they stay at a rest area along the MA Pike while in MA. Even tho he has a genny on his toy hauler, doesn't use it while staying in rest area.

The Charlton rest area isn't far from that interchange. It's usually pretty packed.

[jkwilson]

ACZL wrote:
For those that may have traveled this route, is there a big truck stop or similar on 84 at the 90 interchange? Buddy of mine goes from Niagara Falls NY to New Brunswick, and they stay at a rest area along the MA Pike while in MA. Even tho he has a genny on his toy hauler, doesn't use it while staying in rest area.

There is no exit there. You’d have to run down 84 a ways to get off onto surface streets.

[ACZL]

For those that may have traveled this route, is there a big truck stop or similar on 84 at the 90 interchange? Buddy of mine goes from Niagara Falls NY to New Brunswick, and they stay at a rest area along the MA Pike while in MA. Even tho he has a genny on his toy hauler, doesn't use it while staying in rest area.

[Crowe]

stay the night at Cabelas.

Pretty sure it isn't allowed. I would call first. I would stay in Littleton at the Boston Minuteman campground.

8 hours from the state park to just west of Boston is most likely a pipe dream. Between construction, summer traffic and idiots it will most likely be about 10 hours minimum. On paper it should only take another 45 minutes to get to Manchester from Littleton BUT you can sit on Rt. 495 and/or Rt. 3 for literally hours at any time, with rush hour being the worst. And on rare occasions you can breeze right through but just plan accordingly. There are no rest areas with hook-ups and overnight stays are not allowed. And as stated above many are closed.

[jkwilson]

WrightOn wrote:
Do any of the interstates on this route in Massachusetts have rest areas with electric hook ups? Ohio does, and five other states do as well after searching for this.

Try finding a place to park in one of them! Drove across Ohio last fall and the rest areas were overflowing onto the ramps.

[jplante4]

WrightOn wrote:
Do any of the interstates on this route in Massachusetts have rest areas with electric hook ups? Ohio does, and five other states do as well after searching for this.

Actually, we consider ourselves lucky to have rest areas at all. They've closed several in the area over the past 10 years. No money for infrastructure here.

[WrightOn]

Do any of the interstates on this route in Massachusetts have rest areas with electric hook ups? Ohio does, and five other states do as well after searching for this.

[ACZL]

Syracuse to Ellsworth ME (just north of ANP) is about a 10 hours straight drive doing 70 mph. Believe there are tolls in NH and ME as well. Currently, diesel is cheaper on the T-way than at Pilot/Loves truck stops. Same w/ Mass pike fuel. 2 years ago we left Syr w/ full tank of fuel. Stopped at Love's on NY/MA line to top off & scale out (had a '15 F350 w/ 3.55 gears then). Stopped again at the TA in NH ($) and last fuel stop was in ME at Dysarts outside of Bangor before heading towards BH. Traffic as mentioned was pretty heavy NW and N of Boston until you got into ME and past 1st toll booths, then it started to lesson.

If you wish to perhaps extend your 1st day of driving some, Junis Ponds (Geneva NY area) has a CG right next to the T-way or Verona (exit 33), Villages @ Turning Stone RV park (about 2-3 miles from t-way exit).

As mentioned too, Binghamton area is under construction at 17/86/81 interchange, but shouldn't have any problem getting onto 81 to 88. I was just on 88 last week for work and the right lane stunk pretty much all the way to 90. Had areas of recent re-paving, but that was like between Sidney and Oneonta (home of Brooks BBQ chicken, M-M-GOOD). 88 also has a couple very good hills to pull and fuel stop at exit 12 and a Pilot just before you get onto 90. Boring yet kinda pretty drive.

[jplante4]

I-90 (the thruway) is fine. I-86 goes through Binghampton which is always under construction and the last time I took I-88 it was miserable. Worse road I've ever been on.

Minuteman is your obvious stop, but that's 500 miles from Erie and that means a 10 hour drive. I'd add a night and stop at Arrowhead Marina and RV Park in Schenectady, right off I-90. But then again I'm retired and I don't have to hurry.

Minuteman is a surprisingly nice campground.

[moebedick]

I would take Rt90 to 495n to 62e and stay the night at Cabelas.
Avoid 290 weekdays between 7&9am and 3&7pm. If you think Boston traffic is bad,
you’ll discover what bad really means. It can be an absolute nightmare.
When you are touring Bar Harbor, don’t miss the Schoodic Peninsular. It is what you think the Maine coast should be,without the people.

[DrewE]

I would probably aim to stop before Boston; I suspect it would be more than 8 hours from Lake Erie SP to the greater Boston area, but I might be wrong; Google maps does suggest it's about 8 hours driving time, more or less, depending on the route one takes.

I personally would hop down to I-86 and I-88 rather than taking the Thruway across New York. It's a little longer (both in distance and time) but not tolled and if you have to refuel along the way the fuel would be cheaper than the Thruway service areas that you can use without exiting and reentering. It's also not so busy of a road (though the Thruway for the most part isn't unbearably crowded). I might aim to stop at Schodack Island State Park (south of Albany) and then more or less take route 9 across to I-89 and I-93 etc. to Manchester. That would be about three and a half or maybe four hours to Manchester from Albany.

The Mass pike (I-90) tolls aren't excessive, in my opinion. I-495 is not a toll road, nor is I-290. The NY Thruway tolls do add up, partly because it's a quite long road in comparison. You can look up the toll calculators online if you wish for your vehicle classification and routing.

[jkwilson]

I wouldn’t go into Boston unless you have to. I wouldn’t get near the coast unless you have to. You’ll start hitting Boston traffic not long after you get on the Mass Pike and it won’t end. You especially don’t want to mess with driving anywhere near Boston Friday or Sunday. The city evacuates on weekends and you could easily need 3 hours to go 100 miles.

Our kids are in Boston, and the last time we were there (car, not RV), we came back from Concord taking 9 to Albany and then hit 90 there. Not as easy as Interstate driving, but not horrible even going through the Green Mountains. We normally take 90 as much as possible, even with the tolls. Much easier driving than 80 and coming from the south.

Boston Minuteman in Littleton is as close to town as I’d get. I stop around Albany and make the last run into the area at midday to avoid as much traffic as possible.

Get an EZPass. You’ll regret not having one.