If your family is new to camping and outdoor adventures, or if some people just don’t like to be without basic levels of comfort, hut trips can be a great introduction to more extended backcountry trips. You can also avoid carrying quite so much gear or investing in so much gear as you dip your toes into backcountry adventures. You don’t even need to go that far into the woods to feel pretty remote.
I grew up going on what we called “overnight hikes” and staying at the Appalachian Mountain Club full-service huts in New Hampshire. My parents love to hike but don’t like to camp, so this was the perfect compromise. Later, as a college student, I worked at those huts. This post is to introduce you to the variety of ways that you can take your family to New England backcountry huts ranging from full-service hostels in the mountains to four-sided lean-tos that are barely a step above tent camping.
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What is a Backcountry Hut?
A hut or cabin is a fully enclosed building that you camp in. They can range from full-service and also youth hostel like, with mattresses, meals, and even blankets and pillows, to bare bones with only the walls, floor, and ceiling that enclose you and access to an outhouse.
Backcountry Hut Options for Your Family
The first step for getting ready for a hut trip is deciding where you might want to go. The backcountry huts and cabins that I know about in New England include:
Appalachian Mountain Club High Mountain Huts
8 huts that are full service in the summer and part of the fall. The length of the fall season varies by hut. Three huts are open for self-serve at a much lower rate in the late fall, winter, and spring. A few additional huts are open for self-serve in the spring. Exact seasons dates vary by hut. These huts are 1.6 to 4.5 miles from the road; longer routes in and out are possible and distances between huts vary from 5 to 7 miles. Several are above treeline, where you aren’t allowed to camp, so they are a great way to explore that unique landscape.
Another thing that is fun about the AMC huts (in self- or full-serve mode) is that they have a wonderful junior naturalist program. It has materials for 5-8 and 9-12 year olds plus a different winter program. During full-serve season, the naturalist runs a graduation ceremony at breakfast.
Maine Huts and Trails
There are three huts connected by cross-country ski and fat bike trails. They are full service (with showers!) in the winter and self-serve on a full-hut-rental basis in the summer season. My family has stayed at them and really liked the experience.
Green Mountain Club Rental Cabins
The Green Mountain Club has three rental cabins. I haven’t stayed at them but they look like great self-serve huts in the Vermont backcountry.
Appalachian Mountain Club Maine Lodges
These are self- and full-serve lodges in and near the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine. They are an excellent way to access an otherwise extremely remote part of the New England backcountry. We haven’t stayed at these lodges but heard rave reviews from others who have. I believe these are road accessible but you can also hike between them for a multi-day trip, so I’m counting them as huts.
Hermit Lake Shelters, Tuckerman Ravine, Mount Washington
These shelters include two that have sliding doors that close, meaning they technically meet my definition of a hut. My family recently did a winter ski touring trip to stay here and loved the ability to really feel like we were both snow camping and inside. This is the only legal place to stay on Mount Washington (except at one of the AMC High Huts) in the summer.
Other Cabins
There are many other cabins that qualify as “huts” in our definition. Some that I know about, although this is not an exhaustive list:
- Cabot Cabin on the summit of Mt. Cabot, one of NH’s 4000-footers
- Harvard Cabin in Huntington Ravine, Mount Washington, is only open in winter, but provides good access to the ice climbing in the ravine
- At least eight of the shelters along the northern parts of the Long Trail (miles 140 to 260) and Vermont Appalachian Trail (east of the split with the Long Trail) are actually fully enclosed cabins. These include: Skylight Lodge, Montclair Glen Lodge, Butler Lodge, Corliss Camp, Hazen’s Notch Camp, Jay Camp, Happy Hill Shelter (Vermont AT, not Long Trail), and The Lookout (Vermont AT, not Long Trail).
When Should You Take Your New England Backcountry Hut Trip?
When you schedule your backcountry hut trip will depend on both the availability of the hut, your comfort in different seasons, and what you can afford. We have found that shoulder-season or off-season trips work better for us for hut trips because they are less crowded and often a lot cheaper. Although we enjoy the full-service model, it is much more affordable for us to go to huts when they aren’t so busy and we can get the discounted self-serve rates. Fall full-service rates are often cheaper as well.
Winter huts trips can be an excellent way to explore winter camping without so much fear of extreme weather or such an investment in gear. This backcountry ski post and winter hut post have some good tips and tricks.
If you want to go to a popular hut (e.g., one of the AMC High Huts in July or August), you’ll need to book way in advance and may have fewer choices about when to go. You’ll also have to go even if the weather is bad, unless it’s going to be dangerous. In contrast, for mid-week off-season trips, you don’t need to plan far in advance because huts will rarely be full. We recently went to Hermit Lake Shelters on a Monday night in late March. We showed up to buy our ticket to stay for the night at 3 pm the day we were staying. Only 4 other people had purchased tickets for that evening, and with 84 spots, there was plenty of space for us.
What to Pack for a Family Hut Trip in New England?
Mostly you will be taking the same stuff you have for any outings in that season. If you are going in the winter and exploring winter camping for the first time, check out this TMM post. The Harvard Cabin has a good list for winter equipment as well.
Be sure to know in advance if you need a sleeping bag (or just a liner), a pillow (or just a pillowcase), a stove, and water treatment supplies.
Also, it’s a good idea to test all your gear systems before you go. We had a lot of trouble with our daughter falling out of her sled that we were pulling in her in for our first winter backcountry hut trip as a family. We ended up pulling her standing on her skis for big chunks of the way, but that got really tiring for her and wasn’t possible once we were off the forest roads and onto trails.
Packs for New England Hut Trips with Kids
Everyone going on a hut trip will need appropriate clothing and a pack to carry it in. Remember that kids can’t carry a whole lot in their packs, so plan appropriately for adults to carry some of their stuff. I found it useful to assume that children will carry only a little but to also expect them to carry it. You don’t want to get into the habit of letting them give you their packs when they get bored or tired. On the other hand, often I will reduce a child’s pack weight on the 2nd day so that they feel competent and strong and don’t whine.
Check out this post on packs for kids.
Clothes for Your New England Hut Trip
Everyone will need seasonally appropriate clothing. I try to carry clothes for the hut and clothes for wearing while hiking. You don’t need much since you can wear the same clothes every day during the day. But if it might be cold, remember to take layers for at night. And always remember, cotton kills, so avoid cotton, at least for daytime clothing. If you are going to be totally indoors overnight, cotton comfort clothing might be a good choice for wearing at the hut. My father always took flannel shirts and khaki pants to wear around huts. This made him more comfortable than the sweats or long underwear the rest of us took.
If it is going to be cold, we really like the Lands End fleece PJs for our kids. They are great in summer at higher elevations and anywhere in the winter.
Check out posts on Hiking Clothes for Kids, Best Hiking Pants for Kids, and Best Kids Base Layers from our team on how to dress kids appropriately for outdoor outings.
Sleeping Bags for a New England Hut Trip
Some huts will provide blankets while others will not. The AMC High Mountain Huts provide blankets and pillows. I went through a period of time when I slept in them but only with my own sheet (we had sheets sewn together into little sleeping bags), then I was ok sleeping in them in my long underwear, and more recently I have just opted to take my own lightweight sleeping bag. All are pretty common options. A pillowcase is nice to have for pillows.
Remember that even indoors, huts can be quite cold in the winter, so plan accordingly with sleeping bags. We spent a few nights at the AMC Carter Notch Hut in January one year and the bunk rooms never got above freezing.
Check out TMM posts on Best Sleeping Bags for Kids and Sleeping Pads for Families.
Toiletries for a Family New England Hut Trip
Take all the toiletries you need for a camping trip. Be sure to include eye masks and ear plugs, though, because you might be in a big communal bunkroom. I recently switched from disposable ear plugs to Loop Quiet 2 ear plugs and love them.
For more details on feminine hygiene in the backcountry, check out the TMM post Hiking on Your Period Hacks.
Food for Your Family New England Hut Trip
Depending on the hut you are going to, you will need only snacks, lunch and snacks, or all your meals. Food is heavy, so don’t carry more than you need, but be sure to take enough food relative to what the hut will be providing. We once carried 2.5 pounds of cookies and didn’t discover the extra 2 pounds until we were nearly done with the trip!
TMM posts on Backpacking Food Ideas for Families, Best Kid-Friendly Snacks for Your Adventures, and Camping Lunch Ideas have great ideas for this!
If you will have to cook for yourselves, be sure you know if you have access to a kitchen and cooking supplies or if you need to provide your own stove and mess kits.
Regardless of how much food will be provided, treats are always nice for hiking with kids. We carry small chocolates (or M&Ms) in the hip pockets of our packs so that we can provide snacks really easily.
Travel Time on a New England Hut Trip
Remember that kids move slower than adults do, especially once you put packs on them. Our first few hut trips, our daughter moved at about ½ mile per hour, so we couldn’t go far. A 3 mile hike could take most of the day. This is fine, as long as you are prepared. On our first winter hut trip, we were pulling her in a sled/on skis (see this post on Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast), but it still took us nearly 8 hours to go 7 miles. This was ok because it was in the spring and the day was longer, but we didn’t start until around noon and arrived at the hut at about sunset after a very long day.
New England Hut Trips with a Family
I grew up visiting and then working at the Appalachian Mountain Club High Huts and highly recommend them as a way to get your family some backcountry experience without needing to hassle with tents, cooking, and carrying all that gear. You can easily step up the adventure-level by starting with full-service huts, moving to self-serve, and then moving towards backpacking. We used this progression with our kids and now they are great backpackers. We are working on the progression for their winter camping skills, and see the same enthusiasm and growth that we saw while they were learning to backpack.
Related Articles
- Adventure Packing Lists for Families
- Winter Backcountry Cabins with Kids
- Backpacking for Beginners
- Hiking Clothes for Kids
- Best Hiking Backpacks for Kids
New England Backcountry Huts
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