Driving from upstate NY to Fort Wilderness

[jeffrey1966]

Hi to all! I will be driving from NY to the fort starting april 4th and scheduled to check in at Fort Wilderness on april 7th staying till april 17th. I am currently planning to pick up my son from school on april 4 and starting the trip from NY just south of Albany about 1:00 in the afternoon. We are about 2.5 hrs north of NYC. I am wondering if I should avoid the northern part of I95 from NYC -Washington and take the western/southerly route on 81, and connect with 95 in the south or should I just deal with 95. I am not a good late night driver so that isn't an option. I appreciate any help you experienced travelers can pass along.

 

[chateau]

I took that route often, years ago, so the advice may be dated, but experience tells me to stick on 81 and catch 95 further south. It takes you away from some of the high traffic areas, especially since you won't be driving at night. Be careful.

 

[CDNCruiser]

We live in Canada, about 25 miles from the north end of I-81.

Our route is I-81 all the way to I-77 then I26 to I-95 . . . we bypass all the congestion around NYC, Baltimore & DC.

 

[jeffrey1966]

We live in Canada, about 25 miles from the north end of I-81.

Our route is I-81 all the way to I-77 then I26 to I-95 . . . we bypass all the congestion around NYC, Baltimore & DC.

CDNCruiser, I travelled on 95 to florida a couple years back and ran into some serious slow downs in New Jersey and around DC, so I hoping to avoid that. I-81 sounds like a more scenic and pleasant way to go. Do you have any recommendations for places to park for an overnight rest? Thanks for your response.

 

[jeffrey1966]

I took that route often, years ago, so the advice may be dated, but experience tells me to stick on 81 and catch 95 further south. It takes you away from some of the high traffic areas, especially since you won't be driving at night. Be careful.

chateau, When you travelled 81 in the past were you driving or towing an rv? I have towed my camper to a lot of campgrounds within 3 hours of home but this will be my first time towing our camper to the fort.

 

[Jeepin Dad]

81 and the interstates you would need to take to get over to 81 will have less traffic but it is more mountainous with quite a few steep grades to deal with. If you can time your trip so you aren't hitting the major metro areas at rush hour the traffic is manageable on 95. I'm about an hour north of Baltimore and plan on leaving about 4 a.m. to make sure we are south of D.C. before rush hour when we head to the Fort in March.

 

[CDNCruiser]

We have a 35' motor home and tow a car. We are retired and we take our time, normally 4 days, not more than 400 miles per day.

Our first stop is normally Harrisburg East Campground in Harrisburg PA - our second night is often Wytheville KOA in Wytheville VA but sometimes we carry on to Statesville KOA in Statesville NC. In the north it's often a problem finding a campground open in the winter months, all three I mentioned are open year round.

We really like New Green Acres Campground in Walterboro SC. Long pull-thru sites under tall pine trees.

Our last night is either at Coastal Georgia RV Resort in Brunswick GA or at North Beach Camp Resort 2 miles north of St. Augustine FL.

Big city rush hour traffic is never a problem along our route.

If you like, you can read about our travels here:

http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2012/03/to_walt_disney_world_in_a_moto.html

http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2012/03/yesterday_i_shared_with_you.html

http://www.carol-anne.ca/Motor Home.htm

Hope that helps!

 

[Napria]

Our last night is either at Coastal Georgia RV Resort in Brunswick GA or at North Beach Camp Resort 2 miles north of St. Augustine FL.

I'm so glad you mentioned these two campgrounds. We have been thinking about staying at each of them at different times. I guess they're pleasant enough if you regularly stay. Thanks!

 

[jeffrey1966]

CDNCruiser, Thanks very much for the information! This is extremely helpful and I will put your campground suggestions on my list of places to stay. I really like your comment about this route not being affected by rush hour traffic.

 

[Jeepin Dad]

I really like your comment about this route not being affected by rush hour traffic.

While not anywhere near as bad as Baltimore or DC, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and Harrisburg can have significant delays so if you can avoid going through those to spots at rush hour you shouldn't have any other major traffic delays. From Albany my favorite way to get over to 81 is to take 90 west to 88 west, there is usually no traffic at all on 88, and pick up 81 in Binghamton.

Since you are towing a camper just make sure your brake and cooling systems are in good working order because like I said there are quite a few climbs and descents that will work those systems.

If you do take the 81 route let me know how it goes. We usually do a Vermont trip every summer and stay with family but this year we are going to Acadia National Park in Maine for a few days before heading to Vermont for the 4th of July. Since we will be towing the camper this year I'm debating the same thing you are for our return trip, I prefer I-81 for traffic reasons but think it may be easier on the vehicle to stick to the more eastern route.

 

[jeffrey1966]

While not anywhere near as bad as Baltimore or DC, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and Harrisburg can have significant delays so if you can avoid going through those to spots at rush hour you shouldn't have any other major traffic delays. From Albany my favorite way to get over to 81 is to take 90 west to 88 west, there is usually no traffic at all on 88, and pick up 81 in Binghamton.

Since you are towing a camper just make sure your brake and cooling systems are in good working order because like I said there are quite a few climbs and descents that will work those systems.

If you do take the 81 route let me know how it goes. We usually do a Vermont trip every summer and stay with family but this year we are going to Acadia National Park in Maine for a few days before heading to Vermont for the 4th of July. Since we will be towing the camper this year I'm debating the same thing you are for our return trip, I prefer I-81 for traffic reasons but think it may be easier on the vehicle to stick to the more eastern route.

Jeepin Dad, I was actually considering heading south from my location and taking rt.78 out of New Jersey to connect with rt.81 but now I am realizing that I might get caught in some heavy traffic coming out of NYC on that friday afternoon. I was going to leave home at 1:00 pm but should probably leave earlier to avoid the traffic slow down. I tow with a ford f350 diesel and most of the time I don't even know the camper is back there but it sounds like there are some fairly big hills to deal with on 81. We are a little over eight weeks till we go and I will put some more thought into how I connect with rt.81. Acadia National Park sounds like a great trip! The coast of Maine is beautiful. I will let you know how the trip on 81 goes. Thanks.

 

[Jeepin Dad]

If you leave by 1:00 you should be able to get down to 78 before the heavy traffic hits as long as 87 is moving at a decent pace, this is probably the easiest route for the vehicle. 84 over to 81 in Scranton isn't a bad alternative either if 87 is moving slow.

 

[1Grumpy9]

My parents always take I-81, I-77, I-26 to I-95 to head to Florida with the camper in tow. In fact, they take it without the camper in tow. I-95 has gotten to be a really rough road with a camper and dealing with the congestion of Balt/DC/Richmond traffic can make the headache even more. The only traffic you would have to deal with is the Charlotte traffic and if you time that right, you can miss the rush hour on I-77. Usually my parents will leave our house (we live right near Harrisburg, PA) off of I-81 around 5am (due to getting out of our neighborhood with the camper) and arrive in Orangeburg, SC at a hotel around 5pm for the evening. Then they can make Daytona Beach by 1pm the next day.

After hearing the horror stories of them traveling I-95 a couple of years ago with the camper (the roughness of the road had my dad worries about the shocks on the truck), it has made me re-think driving down that way to go to Disney next year.

 

[jeepfreak]

81 to 77 to 26 to 95 is the way we from Ma. and you'll also save a ton of dough on tolls!

 

[RandolphNY]

81 to 77 to 26 to 95 is the way we from Ma. and you'll also save a ton of dough on tolls!

Just wondering what tolls your are referencing.

My plan to travel down is to pick up 81 in Williamsport, PA and then grab 95 outside of DC.

Thoughts? I am just looking for a change of scenery and I know 95 can be nasty.

 

[CDNCruiser]

Just wondering what tolls your are referencing.

My plan to travel down is to pick up 81 in Williamsport, PA and then grab 95 outside of DC.

Thoughts? I am just looking for a change of scenery and I know 95 can be nasty.

On the I-81 to I-77 to I-26 to I-95 to I-4 route there are no tolls. None at all in our entire 1,405 mile trip.

We do not pay a dime in tolls after we cross the 1000 Island Bridge from Canada into the USA. The bridge costs us $5.75 and that covers both our RV and the car we tow behind it.