Where Skiers, Hikers, and Trail Legends All Sleep: The Inn at Long Trail

Drive along Route 4 in Killington just as the Green Mountains start to stack up around you, and you'll spot the Inn at Long Trail — a big, rustic lodge with old-time mountain character that has been run by the McGrath family since 1977. It's the kind of place where the fireplace is lit, the pub downstairs is humming, and nobody raises an eyebrow when you walk in wearing muddy hiking boots or stiff ski boots. For nearly fifty years it has been the inn skiers and hikers recommend to each other by name.

The location is one of the inn's great selling points. It sits on Route 4, minutes from Pico's base lodge and right in the thick of some of the Green Mountains' best trailheads. The Long Trail — Vermont's famous "footpath in the wilderness" — passes through this stretch of the mountains, and the popular Deer Leap Trail, a short hike up to a dramatic rocky overlook, is practically at the inn's doorstep. In summer, day hikers stage from here; in winter, it's a straight shot to the lifts.

What makes the inn special is that it has never tried to be anything but itself. The rooms are classic country-inn rooms: warm, comfortable, unpretentious, and quiet enough that you'll actually sleep well the night before a big hike or a powder day. Guests frequently describe the place as "authentic" and "charming," and those words come up because the McGraths have kept the building true to its roots rather than gutting it into something generic. This is Vermont hospitality the old way.

Every morning begins with a made-to-order breakfast served in the inn's dining room — and guests rave about it with unusual consistency. Rather than a steam table of lukewarm eggs, you order fresh, and it's cooked fresh. The breakfast room has the same rustic character as the rest of the inn, and it's the social heart of the morning: hikers swapping trail beta, skiers comparing snow reports, and inn staff who know the local mountains cold and will happily point you toward the right trailhead for the day's weather.

But let's be honest — for many visitors, the real draw is downstairs. McGrath's Irish Pub is about as close to a real Irish pub as you'll find stateside, and it has a devoted following that extends well beyond overnight guests. The pub pours Guinness the proper way, stocks a deep bench of Irish whiskeys, and serves classic pub fare — the kind of hearty food that tastes like a reward after a day on the trail or the slopes. On many evenings there's live Irish music, and the room has that low-lit, wood-beamed glow that makes you want to stay for one more.

The pub's hours follow a seasonal rhythm, so it's worth checking the current schedule before you plan your evening. In the summer season, McGrath's opens Thursday from 4 to 10, Friday and Saturday from 3 to 11, and Sunday from noon to 5, giving hikers and locals a reliable end-of-day gathering spot. The inn itself welcomes check-ins Thursday through Monday nights during the season, with breakfast served Friday through Sunday from 7:30 to 10. That rhythm gives the place a beloved-local feel rather than a churned-through tourist feel.

The inn's connection to the Long Trail runs deeper than its name. This stretch of the mountains is where the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail share miles of treadway, and through-hikers coming north on the AT — or Long Trail end-to-enders heading south — regularly roll into town right here. The McGraths know the thru-hiker drill, and the inn has long been a friendly, restorative stop: hot food, a real bed, a hot shower, and a pub full of people who want to hear your story. If you've ever hiked one of America's long trails, you know how rare and wonderful that is.

For skiers, the calculus is simple: you're on the main artery to both Killington and Pico, with rooms that cost far less than the slopeside resorts and a pub waiting when the lifts close. For everyone else — leaf peepers, wedding parties, families passing through central Vermont — the inn offers something the big resort hotels can't: genuine character, a host family with nearly five decades of local knowledge, and mornings that start with a proper cooked breakfast rather than a continental bar.

Part of the inn's magic is how completely it belongs to both of Killington's seasons. In winter, it's a skier's lodge in the truest sense — boots by the door, trail maps on the table, the pub glowing after last chair. In summer, the same building becomes a hiker's haven, with the Long Trail and Deer Leap practically out the back door and the whole Green Mountain summer — swimming holes, farmers' markets, foliage on the horizon — within easy reach. The McGraths have watched Killington grow from a scrappy ski hill into a four-season resort over their nearly five decades, and the inn has adapted without losing its soul. Few family-run inns survive that long in a resort town; the ones that do tend to be the ones guests return to year after year, and the Inn at Long Trail's repeat visitors are famously loyal.

If you're planning a trip, reservations are the way to go, especially for foliage season and ski weekends. The inn can be reached at (802) 775-7181, and the official site at innatlongtrail.com has the seasonal hours, room details, and what's on at the pub. Whether you're thru-hiking the Long Trail, carving Killington's slopes, or just looking for a real Vermont inn with a real Irish pub downstairs, the Inn at Long Trail has been getting it right since 1977 — and showing no signs of changing.