My girlfriend and I spent the weekend in one of the cabins at the Nordic Center. Overall, it was a great experience - but definitely overpriced.
We arrived around 5:30pm on Friday evening January 11th - taking advantage of the winter "Late check in" on Fridays. We checked in, and spent $55 to rent showshoes and get trail passes for the weekend. In addition to the $140 I spent online to book the cabin for Friday and Saturday night.
Ok, fine.
We took two trips from the car to the cabin to get our stuff in. Better than paying $20 for the gear shuttle, and it felt good to try out the snowshoes. It was both of our first time in showshoes.
The staff at the lodge was friendly and efficient in getting us moved in. A+ for them.
We got a little lost on the way from the lodge to the cabin - but found it eventually with advice from other people out on the trails.
The Nordic Center provides plenty of wood for the wood stove. They also provide newspaper and matches to get things started. Whoever had the place before us didn't leave us any kindling. Shame, but I was able to chop some fairly quickly with the hatchet that was provided. I brought my own just in case, but didn't have to use it. Got the fire started in about 5 minutes and fed it wood for about 2 hours until the cabin warmed up. Once it did - it got HOT! We ended up opening a window around midnight to moderate the temperature a bit.
Saturday morning I used the propane grill outside (provided) to warm up some water for coffee. I somehow missed that this was available on the website and hiked in my own stove. Don't bother. The grill that FNC provides is a big two-burner and will do fine for food (brats, etc) or heating up water. It's got auto-ignition, but if that fails you can use matches too.
We spent Saturday morning lounging around. Spent the afternoon showshoeing up Coyote trail, which was a great time. A blue run at about 2.5 miles round trip. Our first time in snowshoes and it took us an hour and 15 minutes. Not bad at all. A very enjoyable experience.
Saturday night we warmed chili on the wood stove in the cabin. Took about an hour to warm it up on top of the wood stove with a metal pot. No worries. We weren't in any hurry. It got to about -8 F Saturday night. We didn't keep as careful track of the fire that night. I woke up and restarted it at midnight then again at 5am. Plenty warm. We brought too many blankets- but it was comfortable and when I was reading reviews on Yelp!, I didn't see how well the wood stove worked in (really) cold outdoor temperatures. As long as you know how to start a fire, don't worry about being cold. Once that stove warms up, you're good to go.
The double bed was about as comfortable as the average hotel bed. Not great, but way better than sleeping on hard floor. We covered it with a thick summer sleeping bag for extra padding.
The staff request that you STIR the port-o-potty in order to prevent it from freezing. Not a big deal, if you've got a strong stomach. I stirred it after every use and had no issues with it. Neither (to my knowledge) did my girlfriend. Plenty of (cheap) TP, but I brought a backup roll just in case.
I took a few photos - Neglected to take pictures while the cabin was clean, so don't mind our mess.
If you're looking for a rustic experience away form civilization, I recommend it - but expect to spend a bit of money in the process. read more