Family Ski Report: Stratton Mountain Resort

It’s amazing what a difference two years makes. When I look back at the report on our first trip to Stratton in 2018 I think about how different it was to not have Violet all-in on skiing. I mean, it was fine and age appropriate that she was uncertain about the whole thing, but now that she loves skiing, we’re able to explore so much more. And in our recent trip to Stratton Mountain Resort—on a weekend where the temperatures were in the mid-50s!—we were really able to experience the flexibility the property affords, and flexibility was the name of the game given the weather! Here are some of my key observations from our recent trip, to help you plan yours.

1. The Mountain

Stratton offers 99 trails, 670+ acres (160+ acres of glades), including 25% advanced, 35% intermediate, and 40% novice trails. The result is a variety of terrain with plenty to tackle depending on your skill level. Given that my family’s terrain appetite now officially spans green trails (easiest) to double black diamond (hardest…OMG WHAT?!), it was awesome that there was so much flexibility in routes from the peak. We spent most of our time skiing on the Upper Mountain (the Snow Bowl Express side being our favorite), riding the lift up together as a family, then choosing our own adventures on the way down and meeting again at the lifts! Oh my goodness, it was just SO FUN.

Rainbow spotted at Stratton Mountain Resort!

2. The Drive

Stratton clocks in at about 2 hours, 45 minutes (if there’s no traffic) from Boston, which is pretty awesome and totally doable for my kids (though if you’re looking for car entertainment, for sure check out this roundup of compact travel toys). However, be warned that the section of Route 2 leading up to the Concord rotary is a major pinch point so I recommend traveling as off-peak as possible. We have developed a very efficient routine of picking up the girls right from schools on Fridays so we leave town before 3pm and that helps enormously. Leaving a half hour later would make that stretch of Route 2 miserable.

3. Deals

Deals are important and you can check out Stratton’s latest deals here! Given that I love flexibility, check out their Flex 4 deal, which gives you 4 days for less than the price of 3 (this includes weekends and holidays with no blackout days!) as well as a discount rate on additional visits and direct to lift access.

4. Lodging

Though not surprisingly lodging with slopeside access is my very favorite, it’s also more expensive and the great thing is that Stratton has other affordable options with easy shuttle access. We stayed at the Black Bear Lodge, which is just a quick (as in, maybe 2 minute) shuttle ride to the slopes. Though part of me wished I had thought in advance to book an extra room (so we could do adjoining rooms and have more space to spread out), Black Bear Lodge has its own restaurant/bar and lounge lobby (where Jon and I enjoyed playing backgammon by the fire!), as well as an indoor hot tub and sauna and a game room complete with Laurel and Violet’s favorite—the claw machine (from which they actually retrieved two toys!). Added bonus: continental breakfast is included in the room rate!

Relaxing at Stratton’s Black Bear Lodge; photo by Nicole Feliciano

5. Shuttles

I mentioned the shuttle a moment ago but wanted to call it out separately because thanks to the frequent (every 10 minute) shuttle service, we did not need to move our car all weekend, which is seriously my favorite thing ever. Even the day we were leaving, we had already cleared our room and thought about driving to the slopes so we could leave direct from there, but it was definitely easier to just shuttle to and from because then there’s less hoofing around in your boots carrying all your gear.

6. Food

Stratton has a very lovely village that includes lots of food options, and on our first night we returned to the Fire Tower Restaurant & Tavern. The food was delicious, and we pretty much sampled the range of options with Violet ordering off the kids menu, Jon and Laurel partaking in more mid-range salads and flatbreads, and I went for a proper salmon entree. This visit was also notable in that Violet tried and enjoyed calamari for the first time! WOO HOO!

Fire Tower Restaurant & Tavern at Stratton Mountain Resort

Also, speaking of food, the Mid Mountain Lodge is a saving grace. As I mentioned, we spent most of our first day on the Upper Mountain and since we had been skiing since 8:30am, Violet was ravenous by 10:45am. It was awesome to pop in there to refuel and enjoy the beautiful view. We even ate outside because it was so warm out!

7. Other Activities

There’s much more to Stratton that we have yet to explore (snow tubing, ice skating, the spa, OMG TENNIS CAMP), and you can also toggle your trip to special events. but if you’re looking to downhill ski and have a family that varies in abilities Stratton offers plenty of terrain and all the amenities you could ask for!

Disclosure: Stratton kindly hosted my family as part of the Momtrends Family Ski Weekend while I explored the property for editorial consideration. All opinions and experiences are, of course, my own.