Vermont Huts & Trails (formerly Vermont Huts Association) is a nonprofit creating a statewide, four-season network of huts and connecting trails. Their mission is to enhance outdoor recreation access, support rural economies, and foster environmental stewardship by providing rustic, accessible overnight lodging for hikers, bikers, and skiers.

I stayed at another one of their huts this week near Huntington, Vermont (home to Camels Hump Mountain) with a group of friends in what is becoming an annual pilgrimage for us. Called Gale’s Retreat, it’s a simple two-story wood hut with space for four people, with a sleeping loft upstairs, and a kitchen/living room on the first floor with a huge wood stove.

The carved wooden birds at the Vermont Bird Museum are amazingly realistic.

The Gale’s Retreat Hut is on the grounds of the Vermont Bird Museum, which is a must-visit if you’re ever in the area. It houses 500 life-like wood carvings of birds (both male and female) that live or migrate through Vermont. They were carved by the museum founder a retired GE engineer and self-taught wood carver named Bob Spear. Bob built the original cabin as a retreat for his partner, Gale, a naturalist and writer. It’s situated amidst the small trail system adjacent to the museum, where we hiked during the day. The hut is also conveniently adjacent to the Catamount Backcountry Ski Trail (which runs the length of the state of Vermont) and the Camels Hump XC ski trails, where I ski each winter.

The only heat source is a large wood stove.

The interior of the cabin is very basic. There’s a Coleman camp stove if you want to cook or make tea/coffee, along with pots, pans, and utensils, but no running water. We carried all of our drinking water in with us rather than fuss around trying to melt snow and purify it, although we did melt some snow on the cookstove in a big pot to wash dishes with. If you need to use the bathroom, there’s a moldering privy about 25 yards away. Quite a nice one actually, but unheated.

There’s a ladder leading to the upstairs loft, which has a low ceiling and four large mattresses we slept on; we brought sheets and quilts this time because we knew from experience how hot the woodstove can make the upstairs at night. When heating with a wood stove, you need to strike a delicate balance: keep the stove going all night, but not give it so much fuel that it gets too hot in the loft.

The loft has space for four.

While there was plenty of dry wood for the woodstove, it was too large to build a fire with. Luckily, I drive around with trail maintenance tools, including a maul, so I was able to split firewood to the size I wanted. I left a lot of split wood for the next party as well…I haven’t had a chance to split any wood by hand in the past two years, so it was fun to rekindle that pastime.

The hut is surrounded by a small trail system that’s a lot of fun to hike and snowshoe. In addition to hiking, we passed the time playing cribbage, reading, sipping wine, and nibbling on cheese and charcuterie. It was a fun and peaceful trip, completely off the grid, and a nice respite from the daily grind.

There’s plenty of firewood for the wood stove.

So if you’re looking for an inexpensive getaway and don’t mind more primitive accommodations, the huts of Vermont Huts and Trails are a wonderful experience suitable for the whole family. This was the second hut we’ve stayed in and we plan to visit the rest managed by Vermont Huts and Trails in other parts of the state.