Cheap place to stay in St. Johnsbury

Submitted by fergal-dude t3_123l3vm in vermont

We have a group of three teachers hoping to ride the length of the newly opened Lemoille Valley Rail Trail when school finishes this summer. We have used it to commute the past few years on the north end.

Looking for places to stay in St J is pretty bleak. Warmshowers would normally be my first choice, but St J has 0. There seem to be like one (very) expensive hotel, and a couple of B&B's. The other hotel in town doesn't seem to have availability, ever. We are not camping due to not everyone having the equipment.

Can anyone from the area let me know if I'm missing anything before I hit the AirBnB site as a last resort? Looking for a place for three guys to crash near the rail trail after riding 100 miles and before riding 100 miles home, basically collapse and then get up early and leave.

Thanks for any leads

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mcnut14 t1_jdv4hpb wrote

I'm guessing the Comfort Inn is the expensive hotel-this is the only place I would recommend...have stayed there many times. The Fairbanks Motor Inn is being used to house the homeless.

If you are not tied to St. J, try the Danville Inn in Danville.

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Davey503 t1_jdyoeiw wrote

Seconding Danville Inn, had a great stay there not too long ago

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JaimeGordonLannister t1_jdw1cyh wrote

I would suggest looking at HipCamp. While they do have a lot of camping spots (as the name suggests), a lot of hosts also have tiny houses, buses, cabins, yurts, etc. to stay in. Check out Danville and Craftsbury in particular -- I've stayed in those areas before and you can probably find something cute and farm-y that's not too far off the trail.

Since it sounds like the ride is flexible on time, you could consider taking it slow, doing two 50 mile days, and booking a cabin or something in the Morrisville area, too.

If you do end up doing this, I highly recommend hitting up Kingdom Table in St J for lunch or dinner, then heading out of town to lodging. If you like craft beer they always have a great selection from Northern VT, and they're owned and operated by a few locals.

I biked a lot of the LVRT last year, but at the end of the fall it wasn't quite finished yet -- a few bridges were still out of commission, and they were still surfacing a lot of the trail around Joe's Pond and Craftbury. Does anyone know if they've finished yet? The site is pretty light on updates.

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdw3rnt wrote

Hey u/JaimeGordonLannister, I'm a local who has been watching this trail being built for about 6 years. We ride about 8 miles of it to work every day but on the other end from St J.

It is indeed open all the way, the last stretch was opened in February. That's kinda what we are celebrating along with the longest days of the year, and the end to another school year.

This is all about the biking, one century ride to St J and one century ride home to Franklin Co. No hiking or side trips, just pedaling, chatting, and smiling.

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Azr431 t1_jdw8k9v wrote

Their progress is impressive. Last time I checked on the few gaps was early 2022 and it seemed like it would be several years out. I’m excited to finally ride the entire thing

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdw93wh wrote

Looks like on the state website they still list the last section as incomplete. It likely is as I'm sure they'd be shouting from the rooftops if it were finished.

Anyone from Wolcott, Porttersville or Hardwick know if the trail is open for that last 7 miles?

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Cyber_Punk_87 t1_je2y1ri wrote

I believe there's still some minor construction happening in the Hardwick area, but it has been open as a snowmobile trail this winter. I think they might just still be putting down the final surfacing in spots.

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JaimeGordonLannister t1_jdwnw03 wrote

Amazing, I was hoping to do a ride soon of the full length but I wasn't sure it was fully open. Now I can do that my next free weekend!

Have fun on the century, that sounds like a blast. You sound like someone I'd enjoy grabbing a beer with. If I lived in St. J I'd invite you to stay with us, but sadly I'm a couple towns away.

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdwvzgf wrote

Thanks,

Well, if you decide to, let DM me beforehand and I'll ride from Sheldon to the end with you, and I'll bring a beer or two :)

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bonanzapineapple t1_jdxrywq wrote

I thought there was one bridge in Wolcott or Hardwick that was yet to be opened? Is that no longer true

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdxzrkt wrote

Further up in the comments this is addressed. I’m hoping if it isn’t finished now that it will be by June.

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truckingon t1_jdv3vy1 wrote

The RV campgrounds usually have a few campers they rent. Getting anyplace for one night is going to be tough. Try Moose River or Sugar Ridge (in Danville).

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bibliophile222 t1_jdvu33i wrote

Not sure which Air B&Bs you're looking at, but one of them is probably my mom's! If you do end up going to hers, it's outrageously clean, lovely, and she's a great host. She always provides breakfast treats based on guest preferences and chocolate or some other goody.

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Dodie85 t1_jdw6ml3 wrote

Unless you’re willing to bike seven miles back to Danville (which is uphill the whole way from St J) I think you are probably going to have to get an Airbnb unfortunately.

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KITTYONFYRE t1_jdxj1be wrote

This looks like an awesome ride. Any idea what the elevation change is over the whole thing? I did a century last summer and it absolutely kicked my ass, tbf I had a 20mph headwind the entire damn time haha but I'd love to give another shot at one.

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdxptd1 wrote

I’m not rightly sure, but it’s a hell of a lot less than ANY other Vermont century you could try! Being on the rail trail guarantees small changes in elevation and it follows rivers for most of the way. Also, pretty protected from the wind. I just tried to build the route on Strava on my iPad and it wouldn’t let me as the trail likely isn’t a viable path in the program yet, but I’ll take another whack at it on my computer later tonight.

The ideas was for a solstice century, leave early evening and ride into the sunset, then drag our asses home slowly the next day along the same century. Due to to many snow days and an ill timed work trip, we’ve had to move it a week. I’d love to see it grow as a celebration of the trail and the beginning of summer/solstice. Be like, hey everyone, show up at either end trailhead and ride the length of the trail on the solstice and meet other like minded folks :)

But first we have to take the first step and ride the sucker end to end!

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KITTYONFYRE t1_jdxrmcu wrote

Sounds fun. Good point that the rails are gonna be minimal elecation by design. Adds a bit of difficulty given that it's gravel and not road, but I'll trade that over having cars any day of the week! Good luck!

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bonanzapineapple t1_jdxsnjh wrote

Yeah, might not be the lowest possible bike route in the state, but is definitely the longest flat distance, currently car free but open to the public, trail in the state!

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the_walking_guy2 t1_jdzphqk wrote

What about starting in the middle (Morrisville) and doing an out and back from there each day?

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PassionsBite t1_jdvef9m wrote

You can also check nearby towns like wells river or woodsville in NH. They are about 20 min south of st J but there are a couple of motels and lodges out there

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdveqnu wrote

Normally, you’d be correct. But I think you missed the part where we will have ridden our bikes 100 miles already…

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PassionsBite t1_jdvfuug wrote

My bad, I thought you guys were driving to the area and biking from there.

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdvkzh5 wrote

No worries, we live at the other end :) Just trying to celebrate the longest days of the year and a changing of the seasons without breaking the bank if possible.

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bonanzapineapple t1_jdxsgzj wrote

The comfort inn looks reseanobly nice but I haven't stayed there and it isn't especially cheap. I just moved to St J in January and don't know of any other ideas in St J itself (looking at Lyndonville, Danville, Barnet might expand your options but are all about 10 mi away)

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_jdw51m2 wrote

The rail trail has it’s own facebook page started with lodging options. It’s kind of new but might be helpful?

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ojhatsman t1_jdwxn2u wrote

VT is the third most expensive state to live in, prepare to adjust expectations.

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ejjsjejsj t1_je0hy6i wrote

Is it third most expensive compared to average income or in actual dollars? To me it seems there's plenty of states where stuff is more expensive, but there's also way higher paid jobs there

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FourteenthCylon t1_jdy9qjq wrote

I'm in Danville and I've got an RV that sleeps two and a tent that sleeps one if you're really looking for something cheap. It's 13 miles uphill from St. J though, and at the moment there's two feet of snow on the ground.

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fergal-dude OP t1_jdyhxqv wrote

That’s a really kind offer, thank you. Unfortunately we are looking to collapse in St J.

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Kristishere t1_jdwqzfc wrote

Why on earth wouldn’t airbnb or vrbo be your first choice?

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NUCLEAR_BLUMPKIN t1_jdxxqib wrote

I'm with you. This sub is viciously anti-Airbnb but almost nearing self-awareness with this post.

Sadly a recent post about a defunct college being converted into a hotel got just as much hate. In a state so dependent on tourism $'s.

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antisocialtranshuman t1_jdz5zis wrote

>In a state so dependent on tourism $'s.

That is a bug for many of us not a feature. If you know how anti ABnB we are then you prob. ought to know that too by now.

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ejjsjejsj t1_je0i8bo wrote

Same people who hate Airbnb want act 250 to make it impossible to build anything commercial and also hate high paid remote workers who live here. Everyone can't be a maple syrup maker

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_je15d61 wrote

We don't like the remote workers, no. Who likes the people who come to gentrify their home?

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ejjsjejsj t1_je4xy5i wrote

My point is you guys are irrational. Commercial development is ugly so you don't want that, you hate tourists and don't want people to rent out spaces to them to make money, and you don't want remote workers living here(and paying tax). Yet you also complain there are no good jobs to keep young people in the state and that housing is too expensive. You just want everything to stay the same but magical fairy dust to create good paying jobs and affordable housing, which is not going to happen

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