The Short Version
The things people text us about, answered before you have to ask.
Finding the Lodge
Your GPS will probably send you up Country Club Road. Take Crosstown instead. It's the same amount of driving, you get the Haystack view, and you'll see exactly how close the Crosstown trails are to the house. Cell service thins out back here, so read this before you lose bars.
From Route 100, take a left onto Crosstown Road
Not the next left onto Country Club. Crosstown is the prettier way in and it shows you the trails.
Go past the golf course, then take a right onto Barber Road
The golf course is your landmark. If you haven't passed it yet, keep going.
Watch for Haystack Mountain, and the road bends right
You'll get a beautiful view of Haystack along here. As you're looking at it, the road bends to the right. The Crosstown trail is right there if you want to note it for later.
Follow the road to the first road on the right
Take it.
Our house is up the road on the left
Pull in along the front of the house, or in front of the garage if you prefer. In winter, see the note below about where to leave the car.
Winter Driving and Parking
Please come with snow tires
It has come to our attention that some drivers arrive in snow country without them. We've watched people get stuck on the access road to Mount Snow. This is just a gentle reminder: we get plenty of snow up here, and you don't want to spend your day sliding around instead of skiing.
Where to leave the car in winter
Park in front of the garage rather than in front of the door when snow is in the forecast. That lets the plow driver keep the area by the front door clear, so when you're leaving you can pull right up to the door and load.
Plowing
Plowing is done on a regular basis as it snows, usually early in the morning. You shouldn't have to think about it.
Heat and Cooling
A new heating system and thermostat are on the way. Until then, here is exactly how the house works.
Heat, in winter
The heat is remotely controlled and set to 72 degrees. If you want to adjust it, the large Rinnai heater in the living room is controlled by the thermostat directly above it.
Leave the interior doors open and that one unit will heat most of the house.
The other rooms
The bathrooms and foyer have radiant heat, each with its own thermostat in the room.
Every bedroom has its own electric heater. These are a little tricky: they work well as long as the dial on the unit itself is left alone. If you want a different temperature, use the thermostat above it instead.
Summer
Half the house sits on a slab, so it stays naturally cool. The one dehumidifier in the central location is enough to take the humidity and stickiness out of the air.
There is a window air conditioner if you want it cooler. Shut it off if the noise bothers you, but please turn it back on when you head out for the day and when you leave at the end of your stay. It empties automatically through our system in the basement.
About the Bears
This is the only thing on this whole page we'd ask you to take seriously. Black bears live in these woods, and they have long memories. A bear that finds food at a house once will come back to that house for years, and it stops being a wonderful story and starts being a problem for everyone on this road.
So the rule is simple: nothing edible goes outside. Not a cooler on the deck, not a trash bag by the door, not leftovers in the car overnight.
Keep all food indoors
Please don't leave food outside at any point during your stay. If we find that food was left out, we do have to charge a fine. We'd much rather never have that conversation.
Garbage stays inside too
Bags stay in the house. On a longer stay, just ask and we'll open the garage so you can use the bins out there.
If you actually want to see one
Here's the good part. Sit quietly in the early morning in the woods along the golf course, in summer or fall. That's where we've had our best luck. Patience does most of the work.
The Trails
Two trail systems start essentially at the driveway. These are our own directions, not a trail map, so read them once before you set out.
The VAST snowmobile trail
How to get on it
The VAST trail is across the road, heading toward the golf course. You'll need to give it a blast to get up the hill, then head right at the top.
That'll bring you past the golf course and near the Crosstown trails and the power lines.
Horace Hill mountain bike park
Head up the hill to the VAST trail system, then go left. You'll drop down a short piece of singletrack and find the top of the trails there.
If you'd rather not guess, take your bikes down to Route 100 and park at the bottom. Either way there's a climb. The ride down is worth it. It's about a mile each way, and the whole system runs about five miles with connecting trails along it.
The Crosstown trails
Ride near the driving range across Crosstown Road, then take a right toward the trails.
Or go down Barber Road, left onto Country Club, and a right onto the trails.
In winter
Mount Snow
About a ten minute drive to the lifts. There's room here for gear, so leave it set up rather than packing it in and out every day.
Mount Snow Golf Course
Within walking distance in the warm months, and the woods along it are the bear-watching spot.
Where We Eat, and Where to Get Groceries
Most restaurants around here are genuinely good, so you can wander and do fine. These three are the ones we go back to, described honestly, including the one that gets loud.
1846 Inn and Tavern
Live music, and the food is always great. The one we send people to first.
19 South Main
Excellent food. We had braised ribs there that we did not stop talking about for two years. Make of that what you will.
Dover Bar and Grill
This is a bar, so tables are limited and the menu is short. It gets loud. But the food is reasonably priced and it does exactly what it sets out to do. Go in knowing that and you'll have a good night.
Quick and close
There's a 7-Eleven at the bottom of Country Club Road, and it's open late. That's your forgot-the-bread-for-the-PB-and-J option.
A real grocery run
The best spot is the Big Y in Greenfield, Massachusetts. It's right off the highway and still about an hour out, so we stop there on the way up for the bathroom and any last-minute essentials.
Once you're here, Shaw's in Wilmington is about twenty minutes away.
Checking Out
Check-out is 10:00 AM. We keep this short on purpose. You're on vacation, not on staff.
The two things we ask
- Start the dishwasher
- Start the washer with the towels you used
The beds
Just turn the linens down. No need to strip them.
Windows, doors, trash
Leave all windows and doors closed.
Don't worry about the trash unless you've been here a while. On a longer stay, ask and we'll open the garage so you can put bags in the bins there.
We're Here to Help
Marcie and Jeff answer within the hour, and have for eight years running. If something isn't right, or you just can't find the light switch, reach out. We'd always rather hear about it while you're here than read about it later. And we'd love to hear what brings you up, or a little about your group.
We genuinely hope you enjoy your stay. Thank you for choosing Miner Stays for your Vermont getaway.
Marcie 860-377-0058 Jeff 860-428-7701 GreatMinerStays@gmail.com minerstays.com