We recently travelled to Vermont to the Jay Peak Resort – what an amazing summer trip!!

Our trip started out in Cambridge, Ontario and we decided that with an 8+ hour drive ahead of us we would spilt the drive over two days, so we left right after work on a Wednesday and drove as far as Brockville that evening. The resort is very close to the Quebec/Vermont border, however we opted to cross at Cornwall, ON so we had more opportunity for shopping on the way. This was by far the smallest and fastest border crossing I’ve ever been to! What a nice change from the busy ones we would normally cross around Niagara! The drive from the border to the resort was mostly along secondary highways with very little traffic. As we crossed from New York State into Vermont you could start to see the mountains, it was beautiful!

We had a reservation in one of the Timberline Condos. Check-in at the main hotel was a breeze and the front desk staff was very friendly and helpful. We received our room keys, resort map, attraction/restaurant schedules and waterpark passes (plastic wristbands). We found our condo easily with the map provided - they are in row style houses with some units on the main floor, some on the second level and some in the basement (walkout units). The accommodations were amazing!! Our condo included

·       Two bedrooms, each with a King bed that could be converted to 2 twins on request.
·       Lots of drawers and closet space for our stuff.
·       A large ensuite bathroom plus a second full bath in the hall gave everyone lots of room (and no waiting for the shower!)
·       A large family room with seating for 6 around the fireplace and tv – a perfect place to relax at the end of each day!·       A huge kitchen with a breakfast bar and a dining table with 6 chairs. Tons of cupboard space. Dishes, cutlery, cups, pots and pans. Plus a fridge/freezer, toaster, coffee maker, microwave and stove/oven. And yes, there was a dishwasher, because who wants to do dishes when they are on vacation?!
·       A private deck off the dining room, with 2 chairs and a little table, perfect for your morning coffee.
·       The in-suite laundry was a nice bonus.
·       There was also a mudroom at the entry with tons of hooks for hats, jackets etc. With the door I imagine this would be ideal for the winter vacations where you don’t want to let too much cold air inside.
·       Plus great views from all the windows!

When we checked in they gave us a schedule that included the hours of operations for all their food and beverage locations. The schedule was nicely laid out with each location and the hours by day, as some change depending on the day of the week.

We checked the resort schedule for dining options and found the Clubhouse Grille was our only option the first evening. We took the quick drive over to the restaurant and were helped right away. Thursday night at the Clubhouse Grille had a beanbag toss game and wings on special, we has missed the tournament but the boards were still out so the kids played with that while we waited for our food.

The food was great - we opted for some wings, a salad, and Lobster roll (so good and worth the market price!!) and the kids had chicken fingers.

We noticed Friday nights they had Wood-Fired Pizza so we made sure to go back the following evening for that, however we opted to do takeout this time and eat in the room. The pizza was delicious!

I ate at the Foundry one night as well, along with the other moms in our group, it was quite a busy place, but the service was good and food was tasty, and company was great!

We did have a full kitchen in the condo so we had stopped for a few groceries before we arrived, but we definitely missed some things (butter, salt and pepper, foil/parchment paper) luckily the Provisions General Store had these things (and more) available for purchase. The store was fully stocked with fresh and frozen food, sundries, snacks, drinks and prepared foods. Our condo seemed to be missing cereal bowls, so we improvised with a small mixing bowl, and there were not any ‘dish cloth and towels’ so we just face cloths, but otherwise we had what we needed.

We rode the Tram up the mountain a couple times to enjoy the views from the top of Jay Peak – what a view!

The tram leaves every 30 minutes and takes just under 10 minutes. The kid’s favourite part was when we passed by the towers and the tram got a bit of a swing LOL.

Once at the top you can just enjoy the view from the windowed area outside the loading area, do little climbing to see the views from the very top, or even hike back down (or up and catch the tram down). We didn’t brave the hike, but some friends did, said it took them around 2 hours with their kids in tow. We took the tram a second time at the end of the day with the other families we came with and the driver even gave us a peek into the Ski Patrol’s room!

We spent most of our time at the Pumphouse Water Park. Wow! There was so much to do here, the kids were in heaven!

Our group has use of a cabana so we were able to keep our bags and things in there while we played. It had a stock of towels, with more available at the surf shop if needed. It also had a small fridge that included several bottles of water. There were 6 or 7 cabanas around the waterpark, ours was a bit of a walk from “action” but was just beside the bottom of the tube slides so perfect viewing of the kids going up and down the slides. Our cabana was just down from the snack bar so we did grab lunch there one day, standards like burgers, hot dogs, fries, nachos and salads were available, plus ice cream.

There were 4 slides – 2 tube slides (blue and green) with single and double tubes, and 2 body slides (orange and red – the red had a weight requirement, and went straight down, so the kids didn’t get on that one, but dad thought it was fun – and fast!). The waterpark was big and even though there were lots of people there it didn’t feel crowded and there were virtually no lines for the slides (which meant lots and lots of trips up and down). The kids raced on the blue and green so many times! When I asked them which was their favourite, they just couldn’t decide, they said they were all so fun!

The slides end in a 3ish foot deep pool that connects to a lazy river. The river wasn’t open when we were there as summer is their ‘off season’ and they don’t have the staff for it, but it would be great to just come off the slides and then float around the river before going back up.

While we did spend most of our time on the slides there was another pool with a climbing wall on one side and basketball net on the other (we spent a lot of time here as well), plus a little kids area (think splash pad with a tipping bucket), hot tubs and a wave rider (I couldn’t work up the courage to try it, but everyone who tried it looked like they were having a blast!).

When we came back the next day we also checked out the outdoor pool and outdoor hot tub. There is definitely enough pool space for everyone!

There are mountain bike trails at the resort as well, with bikes available for rental through The Mountain Shop. My hubby brought his bike from home and took a ride one morning while we went to the waterpark.  He was given a map with a number of mountain bike trails marked out.  Unfortunately early in the season much of the trails are too wet to ride.  Around the base of the resort there are a number of kilometers of gravel based double track, and the service road up the mountain offers a challenging climb with great views and a fun ride down.  Overall he was able to get in a good 10km ride.

One morning we all went on a short hike, there were 3 different trails to pick from, but we just went on the shortest loop as we didn’t come prepared with water. It wasn’t too long and we passed through some trees, saw a little creek, the snow making pond, as well as a wedding ceremony set up – what a beautiful place to get married!

   

The resort has many other attractions like that unfortunately were not open during our stay, but would be open during their peak winter season – indoor rock climbing for kids, movie theatre, as well as some that were available but we didn’t make use of this time – golf, disc golf, a spa, indoor ice rink. I am not a skier, but I would definitely come back to Jay Peak in the winter just for all the other activities they offer!

#LWABVermont