Submitted by Lizhasausername t3_ywckhh in vermont
I'd like to visit Craftsbury or similar for some xc skiing this winter, but I don't have a car, and they're an hour away from the nearest Amtrak or Greyhound stations. Are there any active rideshare boards for that region? Any suggestion for a xc ski center that offers shuttle service from some kind of transit? Anyone going to Craftsbury around Christmas and wanna carpool from anywhere on the Vermonter line?
Haha, Boston, or sometimes NYC. So anywhere that the bus or train gets me to! I know there are buses from Boston to Montpelier and Burlington, or when coming from NYC it'd be the train to Waterbury looks like? But if there's some town elsewhere on the route that has a local bus service that gets me closer to Craftsbury that'd be great to know!
the Route 2 commuter bus runs from Montpelier to St Johnsbury, which isn't Craftsbury but the first bit is just a little closer. It does get you closer to Burke, which is another option for Northeast Kingdom xc trails.
Sterling College is in Craftsbury, so there may be students driving in/out around school breaks. Not sure of any ride boards. /r/icecoast is pretty active. not VT specific (and not much xc talk?), but I think a lot of people coming up from NY/MA use it to talk and sometimes organize trips.
Have you called Craftsbury Outdoor Center? I wonder if they run shuttles to Montpelier?
I live between Montpelier and Craftsbury (sort of) and never heard of bus service north of Montpelier.
I did call Craftsbury, and they didn't have any suggestions. :(
Totally different option: if you started in NYC, you could Amtrak to Middlebury. Book a place to stay in Middlebury and take the local shuttle, Tri-Valley Transit's Snow Bowl Shuttle up to Rikert Outdoor Center for the day. The bus only runs on weekends in January and February, but those are your best options for good snow anyway.
Ooh i never heard of that, thanks for the lead!
Hey. Try Peg’s Pick Up:
Thanks! I gave them a call and they quoted $120 each way from Montpelier, yikes! I was hoping for more like $50-70 for the hour ride.
Ya. I think what you are learning is there are parts of Vermont that are not easily/inexpensively accessible by public transportation and are only frequented by people arriving by their own car. Craftsbury is one of them.
Renting a car is maybe the best option.
Yeah alas! That’s what I’ve done before, but it seems so silly when it’s just going to sit in the parking lot at Craftsbury for however many days I’m there. Oh well.
Rental cars come with all season tires which are not very good in wintery conditions. Pegs has great vehicles for all winter conditions. With everything considered, I think her rate is not as bad as you are making it out to be.
If you were to go with Pegs, set your pickup date/time well in advance.
Here’s a description of the nordic skiing there:
https://www.killingtongroup.com/try-cross-country-skiing-at-mountain-top-inn-nordic-center/
There’s catamount outdoor in Williston https://catamountoutdoor.org/maps-conditions/ not sure how close it is to a bus route, but I would imagine it is feasible, or at least not too terrible if a cab/Uber is needed
Catamount is great for the proximity to Burlington, but miles behind Craftsbury as a ski destination.
Bummer. I’ve never been to either, just knew that Catamount should be fairly easy for transport
Maybe try Turo? That's like airbnb for your car. I just did a quick search and there were vehicles available in Montpelier.
Yeah i quite like Turo and I did check! And if I’m gonna have a rental car sit in the Craftsbury parking lot for four days at least it would be cheaper than one from Boston! But the ones “in Montpelier” are still a drive away from the train station. But I suppose I could take an Uber or Lyft to get the car! So many steps lol
Just FYI there isn't Uber or Lyft anywhere in Vermont except Burlington.
https://www.strattonjitney.com/ can get you from NYC to Stratton
Unique-Public-8594 t1_iwiub3q wrote
Would you like to mention what town you are in so we know your start point?