The Great American Road Trip Challenge~4.5 years · 48 states · one loop
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Leg 14 · Late fall (closes the loop)

Appalachia & the Return

Ridge, gorge, and the road home

Appalachia & the Return

1PITTSBURGH2FALLINGWATER & THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS3CHARLESTON4NEW RIVER GORGE NATIONAL PARK5SENECA ROCKS & THE MONONGAHELA6HARPERS FERRY7BERKELEY SPRINGS10THE FINGER LAKES11CORNING12SYRACUSE13COOPERSTOWN

Tap a pin to open that stop's first day · numbers follow the driving order

Three rivers, a house over a waterfall, the New River Gorge, and Niagara — the road home.

Ridge-and-valley bronze

Time it right

The last leg runs the ridges as the color drops, closing the loop in western New York before winter shuts the passes.

11

Stops

27

Days

21

Things to do

3

States

Jump to a day

704Three Rivers & the Incline705Warhol & the Strip706Free Day707Southeast to Fallingwater708Fallingwater & Ohiopyle709South to Charleston710The Gold Dome711Southeast to the gorge712The Bridge & the Rim713Whitewater714Northeast to Seneca Rocks715The Crag & the High Plains716Northeast to Harpers Ferry717The Confluence718North to the spa town719Take the Waters720North to Niagara726Gorge & Vine727Ithaca & the Falls728South to Corning729The Glass Museum730Northeast to Syracuse731Canal & Art732Southeast to Cooperstown733The Hall of Fame734Last Free Day735Home to Boston

Still to come

1 of 11 stops · ~3 days

  1. 8Niagara Falls & BuffaloNY~3d

Stops, in order

  1. Stop 1PittsburghPittsburgh, PADays 704–707

    The steel city reborn — three rivers, a fabled hilltop view up an incline, a city of bridges, and the world's biggest Warhol collection.

  2. Stop 2Fallingwater & the Laurel HighlandsFallingwater & the Laurel Highlands, PADays 708–709

    Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece cantilevered over a waterfall, in a mountain region of whitewater and forest.

  3. Stop 3CharlestonCharleston, WVDays 710–711

    West Virginia's capital on the Kanawha River, crowned by a gold-domed statehouse taller than the U.S. Capitol.

  4. Stop 4New River Gorge National ParkNew River Gorge National Park, WVDays 712–714

    America's newest national park — a deep, forested gorge spanned by one of the great bridges, with some of the best whitewater in the East.

  5. Stop 5Seneca Rocks & the MonongahelaSeneca Rocks & the Monongahela, WVDays 715–716

    A dramatic quartzite fin rising over a mountain valley — the East's great climbing crag — in a forest of the state's highest peaks and wild high plains.

  6. Stop 6Harpers FerryHarpers Ferry, WVDays 717–718

    A perfectly preserved historic town where two rivers and three states meet — the site of John Brown's raid and a spark of the Civil War.

  7. Stop 7Berkeley SpringsBerkeley Springs, WVDays 719–720

    America's first spa town, where George Washington himself once soaked in the warm mineral springs.

  8. Stop 10The Finger LakesThe Finger Lakes, NYDays 726–728

    Eleven long glacial lakes lined with wineries and cut by spectacular waterfall gorges.

  9. Stop 11CorningCorning, NYDays 729–730

    A glassmaking town with one of the most dazzling museums anywhere — a whole world of glass, with the furnaces lit.

  10. Stop 12SyracuseSyracuse, NYDays 731–732

    The old Salt City on the Erie Canal, and the gateway to the Adirondacks.

  11. Stop 13CooperstownCooperstown, NYDays 733–735

    A storybook village on Otsego Lake and the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame — the final stop before the long loop closes back in New England.