Things to do in New England with young kids.

In My Humble Opinion
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If you’re going to Six Flags New England, you might as well drop by the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield before or after. It’s only a 20-minute drive away and is popular with kids.

Other things kids might enjoy in the region:

Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory: Deerfield, MA
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art: Amherst, MA

There is plenty of hiking to do in western Massachusetts. If you find that you’re running short on time and just want to stretch your legs, there are lots of places to go, but I’ll name a few to start with:

Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation: has an observation tower on top, can drive up to summit if you want for a few $, but depending on how fast you are, only takes 30-45 minutes to walk up there

Skinner State Park: The white building at the summit of Mount Holyoke is a three-story historic former hotel that’s interesting to explore.You can also drive to the summit. The hike to the summit can also be relatively quick (45 minutes-1 hour), but the trail network is much more confusing than Sugarloaf’s.

Mount Holyoke Range State Park: The hike to the summit of Mount Norwottuck takes about 45 minutes by the fastest route, and the views to the north are quite nice. Bonus: very close to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

The above three suggestions yield great views for comparatively little effort. Children are definitely capable of doing these hikes–I know, because I’ve seen tons of kids at all three places.

Sure, have some ice cream while you’re here. My favorite places in the Pioneer Valley are Herrell’s and Mount Tom’s. Herrell’s makes more interesting flavors (for example, in April Herrell’s had hamentaschen and charoset flavors on their menu). (Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (of Ben & Jerry’s) have visited Herrell’s, too!) Mount Tom’s menu is more conventional, but the store is also a candy shop and has a quaint feel that’s representative of rural New England.

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Edward the Head:
The places in eastern Massachusetts that were mentioned are all worthwhile, but I agree with kiz and Quercus that trying to visit eastern MA sounds like a lot of time to spend in the car. My concern is that going any further east than Old Sturbridge Village will eat up too much time in driving. I also don’t understand what’s so great about Six Flags parks that it’s worth visiting two of them on the same trip, but whatever.

I think sticking to the I-91 corridor is a better bet. The places I mentioned are all in the I-91 corridor in Massachusetts. From the Pioneer Valley it’s an easy drive into Vermont, and Vermont definitely has things to do, as Shagnasty and cmkeller mentioned.

Mount Monadnock isn’t far away from I-91 and is definitely worth hiking, but it’ll take the better part of a day. Mount Greylock is worth hiking too, but hiking it is going to take most of the day, unless you drive straight to the summit or do a short hike starting from one of the trailheads along the road to the summit.

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We already have passes to Six Flags so it makes for two ‘free’ days for me. Plus my kids enjoy the amusement parks.

We will already be driving 6-7 hours from DC to get there. They are ok being in the car, and it seems Boston is less than 2 hours from Six Flags. Though I’d rather have a few days to see Boston so I doubt we’ll go.

What I’m really looking for is just day things to do, Mount Washington might not be something we do, I’ve only just heard a lot about it, but it doesn’t seem to be that interesting over all. I will have to ask my kids what they think about one of the ship museums and one of the historical towns. I’ve also extended my vacation by a bit more then a day so that will give us more time as well.

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Mount Washington is a great experience, but to drive approximately 3 hours from Springfield just to go up the Cog or Coach, spend 30 minutes up top, and then come back down isn’t the way to do it. You should stay in the Conway area and get a feel of the mountains as part of the trip.

If you want a mountain experience, driving up Greylock (or better yet hiking it) makes much more sense. It’s not close to the experience of going up Mt Washington, but it’s also not a 12 hour investment.

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Hiking up Greylock from the bottom to the top is still a 6-hour investment, though. My friends and I are in the middle of planning a group hike of Greylock for June, and it looks like a round trip starting from the base to the summit would take 4 hours at a bare minimum–if we’re super-fast. It’ll probably end up being more like 6 or 7. Granted, this is a group of six middle-aged adults of various levels of physical fitness, hiking experience, and hiking interest, and we’ll no doubt want to take breaks to eat and rest and hang out at the summit for a bit.

Monadnock would be closer to the OP than Greylock, and at least by hiking it he could say that he had visited New Hampshire. (And also have the experience of hiking what’s supposedly the second-most hiked mountain in the entire world, after Mount Fuji. I keep seeing this claim made, but nobody ever offers any evidence to substantiate it.) There’s no way to drive to the summit, so to get to the top he’d have to commit to a 3.5-4 hour round-trip hike.

The northwestern corner of Massachusetts, where Mount Greylock is located, just doesn’t have a lot for kids unless they like the outdoors. I suppose Edward the Head and his daughters could go ziplining at Zoar or something. But even though a hike of Greylock from the base to the summit would be long and strenuous, Greylock’s trail system and auto road do offer some possibilities for quick hikes. The Round Rocks trail loop and the walk along Sperry Road to the Stony Ledge vista are reputed to be easy, short walks to amazing views.

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It’s very weather dependent but there’s some great hot air ballooning in Lake George area.

PM me if interested, I can provide some contacts.

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Shortest route is on the western side. 4 hours is a reasonable time. I did it with 2 6y/o’s a few weeks ago took us 6 hours with breaks and lunch. The hikes from the North Adams side are longer and better IMO.

I think Greylock would be a good compromise over Washington. It has an auto road if the OP just wants to drive up. Washington is cool but it’s an awful lot of driving to get there. I think the OP is looking at way too much driving time to carry out his/her plans. The White Mountains aren’t on the way anywhere, Just navigating through them is a lot of time. It’s an hour drive to get from the east side of Washington to the west.

From Six Flags NE Greylock is actually closer than Monadnock, either is about an hour and a half drive. But there is really nothing near Greylock. Manadnock is at least closer to civilization. There really is nothing to substantiate Monadnock’s claim, it’s certainly hiked a lot and it’s some of the best views per effort you can find but the only way it could be the second most climbed would be if you excluded mountains in China. Even then I doubt it. Monadnock is a lot of hiking for the inexperienced, certainly doable but it might be the only activity for the day when everyones worn out.

If the OP wants some easy hiking for first timers Wachusett(princeton MA) , Watatic(Ashburnham ma/nh) West Rattlesnake Mountain(Holderness, NH). All offer really good views and can be done in a few hours.

Holderness is in the lakes reagon of NH, south of the white mountains, Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake are beautiful summer destinations. I don’t know how well the kids will take to NE water though, it’s cold.

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Of everything mentioned, the flume gorge might be the most ‘can’t miss’ experience in terms of how easy/beautiful/accessible it is. It’s not weather dependent (unless it’s pouring rain which will ruin most plans just the same) and really great scenic stuff for minimal effort. As already mentioned there are plenty of fun things to do in the White Mountains and North Conway area. Taking the Cog up Mt. Washington is worth it even if you’re bound to get some less than ideal weather at the top, and it’s not an all-day event. There are so many great hikes in NH and the Adirondacks but it’s all dependent on how much you want to strain and/or spend time on it.

Tubing down the Saco River is worth doing and is flexible to schedule, although I can’t guarantee it always attracts a family friendly crowd. It definitely pulls a spring break vibe but you could just as easily not encounter that at all. Also not sure how warm the water is in June, but under the right conditions it’s a great time and can be very relaxing.

Can vouch that Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor are well worth the trip but not sure you if want to go that far out of your way. if you choose to, it is beautiful and you can drive right to the summit of Cadillac Mountain or check out Thunder Hole and the coastline.

I’d highly recommend making scenic New England part of your trip vs. day trips to standaround type of places (assuming that’s what your daughters are into). Nothing wrong with museums, guided tours or aquariums but in a choice between those or the sights, the scenic route is far more memorable imo.