Unplugged: A Quiet Summer Weekend at Nulhegan Hut

Summer used to be the season I waited for all year—the time of hammocks and bare feet, fireflies and long, slow days bleeding into the joys of running around barefoot with your friends after dark. But somewhere along the way, summer got as busy as the rest of the year. Work deadlines, travel plans, and shifting childcare schedules complicate our calendars and tax our already overloaded minds. Maybe I’m viewing summer through the tinted lenses of childhood nostalgia. Perhaps it was always this busy, and I was simply blind to the stress my parents were juggling behind the scenes. Either way, I know many of us crave a quiet escape, even from the season that’s supposed to be all about rest and leisure.

One of the unexpected perks of working at Vermont River Conservancy has been being introduced to Nulhegan Hut & Trails, a hidden gem in the Northeast Kingdom. Conserved by Vermont River Conservancy and available to rent year-round through Vermont Huts Association, the hut and surrounding landscape offer a rare invitation to truly slow down and reconnect: to land, to each other, and to ourselves.

Nulhegan Hut in the summer.

My family has made the trip in both summer and winter. Each season has its own kind of magic, but I am especially partial to the summer days we spent there last July. 

Getting there depends on where you’re coming from. For us, it’s about a 2.5-hour drive: just long enough to feel like an adventure, but still short enough to avoid too many “are we there yet?”s. We pack our car for a classic family road trip with pillows stacked in the backseat, audiobooks loaded onto phones, sandwiches and apple slices tucked in the cooler under our youngest’s feet, and a fishing pole threaded through the middle of it all. 

Packed into the car ready for an adventure.

Upon arrival, you might almost miss it: just off the road, a small parking area and kiosk. The hut itself is tucked down a path, hidden around the bend and beneath the trees. Built by Yestermorrow Design Build School students in 2016, the cabin is rustic and off-grid. 

The magic of this place is evident as soon as you open the door: tiny, cozy, and rich with the subtle scent of warm wood. Everything inside is simple: a small couch and chair cozy by the woodstove, a table and chairs, a well-organized camp stove kitchenette, and a ladder leading up to a sleeping loft with mattresses. 

We get to work making our home-away-from-home: unpack the car, set up our beds, and settle into the space together. We cook on the provided camp stove and eat outside on the covered porch. After dinner, we roast marshmallows, make s’mores, and watch the flames of the fire lick the night sky as it darkens.

Cooking on the camp stove.

The hut is strung with simple solar-powered fairy lights that come on at night – a touch I find especially hugge. Already, we are starting to unwind. There is no hum of electricity here, no urgency around what comes next. Just time and space to be together. We settled into our family slumber party. The kids are a bit rowdy with excitement at first, but eventually settle in with their books and reading lamps, charged at home the night before.

Settling in and reading.

Even during a short stay, the days feel slow and gentle. My husband and kids rise early to fish while I linger with my book and tea. Later, we’ll hike the mowed trails that loop around the property and gather tiny ripe blueberries as we go. When the day heats up, we put on our swimsuits and sit in the cool river together, chatting and laughing as we struggle along the slippery stones. 

Freshly picked blueberries.

As the day settles into evening, we play games or read side-by-side as the gentle breeze filters through the cabin. While we enjoy the silence, we will also bring our portable speaker to add some tunes. We choose our music carefully: jazz, classical, Irish folk, nothing that will disrupt the peace we are finding.  (If any of us were musically talented, we might opt for our instruments instead.)

There’s a kind of magic in these moments that’s easy to overlook in daily life, but impossible to miss here. This kind of stillness and presence seems fleeting and hard to catch in our normal daily lives: the chance to breathe and just be. (One of my favorite things to do while at the hut is to read the recent passages in the guest book. It’s clear we are not the only ones experiencing the enchantment of this place!) 

We tend to stay close to the hut during our visits, but for those eager to explore, the nearby Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge offers trails through wetlands and woods. The Nulhegan River is perfect for fishing or paddling. But honestly, you don’t have to do anything other than settle in. That’s part of the beauty!

Listening to the sounds of the Nulhegan River.

After a few days of this gentle rhythm, it’s time to go. We gather up the books and water bottles, sweep the floor, pack out our trash, and do one final check to make sure we haven’t left anything behind. We lock the door behind us and pack ourselves back into the car, knowing we are returning with something intangible. Even a short stay at Nulhegan resets something within. It softens the static, adds space, and makes room for a quiet re-centering. We leave grateful and with a vow to come back to this place soon.

If you’re looking for your own kind of reset—summer or winter—you can learn more and reserve your stay by clicking the button below.