Friends of mine are planning a trip to Vermont in Jan 2010. Just need some info on good, reasonable places to stay for a week and that are easy access to the trail system. Some where you can ride from right where you are staying. We are form Pa.
Thanks
Full Version: Looking to ride in Jan 2010
If it is a group of guys there is a place in Canaan called Pure Country that has 3 cabins, each with 3 bedrooms and sleeps 6 easily with full kitchen and satellite tv. I havent stayed there for about 4 years. They are clean and comfortable but they are a little dated(1970ish).Not high class but it is on a bluff looking across Lake Wallace into Canada and is right in the heart of snow country.The # is 802 266 3311. It is kinda in the middle of nowhere but if your looking to RIDE this is a great area. Gas is about 10 miles. You could probably rent a house reasonable closer to Island Pond, Burke or Derby. Theres a little more nightlife in town. Check the price at P C and see how reasonable it is. I think you could get a house on the trail for $1200 or less for a week. I will get you a phone # this weekend. My buddys rented a house for a month in Troy for $1800!!!Kinda a last minute rental in a tough economy! I know she has more rental properties so I will get your her # and PM it to you, her name is Laurie. I will be up there until wednesday so I will get back to you when I get back! Im sure You can find what your looking for. Hope this helps. Its a start anyways!! Jim
Island Pond is a great place to go, You have the clyde river hotel you can stay or the lake view motel also. There are quite a few places in the st. Johnesbury area also. (comfort inn, halliday motel, just to name a few)
Thanks for the starter info. Yes it will be a group but not sure how many yet. We started talking about this and figured we better start now.
Depends on snow conditions and what you are looking for. I avoid Island Pond as much as possible but others think its great.
I would say Island Pond is the safest bet. Ilike the riding there. Call the Lakefront motel, they will treat you right.
Island Pond is great.
Try the Clyde River Inn. Reasonable rates, restaurant down stairs. Sled out of driveway.
Just got back, trails were OK at best. But still fun for spring riding.
Try the Clyde River Inn. Reasonable rates, restaurant down stairs. Sled out of driveway.
Just got back, trails were OK at best. But still fun for spring riding.
Check out the Eden/Morrisville/Jay area. really pretty, good trails, and you should be able to find affordable lodging/food. SnowGoer had a feature on Eden some years ago, and had nothing but good things to say about the trip.
EDIT: I found this from snowgoer, thought I would share:
"Seeing nearly the entire length of the state, one would think we’d covered more than 10 percent of the available snowmobile trail network.
The math is clear, though. Out of about 4,700 miles of Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) trail, we rode 455 miles. And we only get to 10 percent by rounding up from 9.68 percent.
But we did prove that we could get a good feel for Vermont and VAST’s trail network in a short period of time, from the steep maple-covered Green Mountain National Forest in the south and central parts of the state, to the rolling rocky pine forests in the northeast corner. That’s an advantage in a state that’s 158 miles long and 90 miles wide.
A spaghetti-like network of well-marked, well-maintained trails make it hard to travel in a straight line, though we’re not sure we’d want to race from border to border. There’s too many white clapboard churches begging for a photo op, there are culinary treats to sample at every stop and there are plenty of steep switchbacks to remind a snowmobiler that it’s OK to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
There’s a special memorial at trail junction WR29, southwest of Barnard. For the random passer-by, the yellow school bus mounted to the trail sign looks like a forgotten kid’s toy. For local snowmobilers Leon “Woodie” Woods and Gordon Holmes, it’s a memorial to a previous area resident. It’s called Buster’s Bus, after a gentleman named Buster (“I don’t even know his last name,” Woodie says) who lived a solitary life in the woods in an old bus. Buster is now gone, as is his unusual home — but the marker and memories remain.
As with most snowmobile areas, there’s a story or a legend behind every turn in the trail. Sometimes it’s lingo — “Jeezum crow!” Walter said as he went off trail and landed in the puckerbrush. Sometimes, it’s a geographical reference, such as the “Northeast Kingdom” in regard to the three counties tucked into the state’s northeast corner. Other times, it’s a specific spot or trail.
There’s a low spot on trail 12 where the trail makes a 90-degree turn. It’s called “No Town” and it’s not marked on the trail map — but it’s something Woodie and Gordon stop to explain. This is the site of an old logging camp, an industry that helped define early Vermont. We talked about the loggers, their hardscrabble lives, the forest, and the ghosts that remain at an otherwise ordinary bend in the trail.
In the Northeast Kingdom, there’s the Yellow Bucket Trail (Corridor 3) — a throwback to the early days of snowmobiling where the singletrack trail was marked by a series of yellow pails. The trail is wider now, but the trail markers still remain in the form of painted yellow coffee cans."
EDIT: I found this from snowgoer, thought I would share:
"Seeing nearly the entire length of the state, one would think we’d covered more than 10 percent of the available snowmobile trail network.
The math is clear, though. Out of about 4,700 miles of Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) trail, we rode 455 miles. And we only get to 10 percent by rounding up from 9.68 percent.
But we did prove that we could get a good feel for Vermont and VAST’s trail network in a short period of time, from the steep maple-covered Green Mountain National Forest in the south and central parts of the state, to the rolling rocky pine forests in the northeast corner. That’s an advantage in a state that’s 158 miles long and 90 miles wide.
A spaghetti-like network of well-marked, well-maintained trails make it hard to travel in a straight line, though we’re not sure we’d want to race from border to border. There’s too many white clapboard churches begging for a photo op, there are culinary treats to sample at every stop and there are plenty of steep switchbacks to remind a snowmobiler that it’s OK to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
There’s a special memorial at trail junction WR29, southwest of Barnard. For the random passer-by, the yellow school bus mounted to the trail sign looks like a forgotten kid’s toy. For local snowmobilers Leon “Woodie” Woods and Gordon Holmes, it’s a memorial to a previous area resident. It’s called Buster’s Bus, after a gentleman named Buster (“I don’t even know his last name,” Woodie says) who lived a solitary life in the woods in an old bus. Buster is now gone, as is his unusual home — but the marker and memories remain.
As with most snowmobile areas, there’s a story or a legend behind every turn in the trail. Sometimes it’s lingo — “Jeezum crow!” Walter said as he went off trail and landed in the puckerbrush. Sometimes, it’s a geographical reference, such as the “Northeast Kingdom” in regard to the three counties tucked into the state’s northeast corner. Other times, it’s a specific spot or trail.
There’s a low spot on trail 12 where the trail makes a 90-degree turn. It’s called “No Town” and it’s not marked on the trail map — but it’s something Woodie and Gordon stop to explain. This is the site of an old logging camp, an industry that helped define early Vermont. We talked about the loggers, their hardscrabble lives, the forest, and the ghosts that remain at an otherwise ordinary bend in the trail.
In the Northeast Kingdom, there’s the Yellow Bucket Trail (Corridor 3) — a throwback to the early days of snowmobiling where the singletrack trail was marked by a series of yellow pails. The trail is wider now, but the trail markers still remain in the form of painted yellow coffee cans."
Island Pond is the safest bet. Pure Country motel and cabins if going up for foreclosure auction soon.
Derby is another good place to stay. It's only a few miles by sled to Island Pond and the rest of the NEK, and you also have access to the area west of there...Jay, Montgomery, and Eden. Island Pond is a great snowmobiling town, but it's a little too busy for some people. Sometimes the groomers can't keep up with all the sled traffic that goes into town and the trails get bumpy.
QUOTE (bakersnow @ Mar 13 2009, 08:06 PM) 
I would say Island Pond is the safest bet. Ilike the riding there. Call the Lakefront motel, they will treat you right.
The Lakefront is a great place, Owners Sharon and Bob Dexter are very involved in the I.P. snowmobile experience with Bob being President of the Brighton Snowmobile Club. Three groomers do an excellent job of keeping the trails in good shape. Plenty of gas, goceries and a few resaturants within walking distance with a greater variety of restaurants in Derby/Newport to the north or Burke to the south. Also nice is the variety of trails in/out of I.P., more of a "hub" than a destination at the end of the trail. Most who criticize the trails in I.P. haven't been back recently and are remembering 2005-2006 season when I.P was one of the few areas that had snow and was overwhelmed with riders from all over the east. The past few seasons have seen much less sled traffic in the N.E.K., with only a couple of weekends in late February getting somewhat "busy".
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