Bear Mountain is a little weird. Nobody wants to park there, but everyone wants to ski there.

Location

Bear Mountain Lodge is (kind of obviously) located at the base of Bear Mountain. You can reach it by turning up East Mountain Road by the Skyeship Lodge on Rt. 4/Rt 100, then make a left at the sign. (This is a steep, winding road. Snowstorms will make it interesting on the way up, and scary on the way down.) Bear Mountain is the warm-and-sunny side of Killington, and it has some of the more challenging terrain.

Parking

There is a large flat lot. With the exception of special events (such as the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, held in the spring), you can almost always find a space. If the lot starts to fill up, drive to the front of the lot (near the lodge) and bear left to a smaller auxiliary lot. I've been hearing a few horror stories about disorganized parking (including people getting "parked in") due to a lack of parking attendants.

Services

  • Lift tickets
  • Rentals
  • Cafeteria
  • Bar
  • Retail shop (pre-pandemic...maybe it will come back)

There are no lessons from the Bear Mountain Lodge.

Lifts

The Bear Mountain Quad (often called the Outer Limits chair, because of the trail it follows) is an older fixed-grip. The Skye Peak Express is a detachable chair that goes higher -- to the top of Skye Peak. Lines at the Skye Peak quad can get long on crowded days.

Terrain

You can't help but notice the Outer Limits trail at Bear. It's steep, it's long, and it's bumpy. And once you start -- there's no bail-out. But there are easier trails off the Bear Mountain Quad. Bear Cub (nee Falls Brook Trail) is a nice wander through the woods, although snowboarders should be aware of some long flat sections. Snowshed Crossover to Great Eastern to Bearly is a nice green route to bring you back to the same location.

The Skye Peak Express serves a lot of nice intermediate stuff. For advanced skiers, the top of Dream Maker is nice and challenging

Tips

This is a great place for lunch. It just doesn't get crowded. But be warned that on cold days, everyone goes to Bear for warmer weather, so the lines can get very long.

Getting out of Bear (on skis) requires a bit of knowledge. From the Skye Peak Express, it's easy -- turn right off the lift and follow Great Eastern to the top of Bittersweet. From there you can get to Needle's Eye or the Superstar area. From the top of the Bear Mountain Quad, turn right and follow Snowshed Crossover to Cruise Control, which will take you to Needle's Eye. On weekends, go straight off the lift and take Ridgeview over to the South Ridge Quad (which only runs on weekends...you might end up heading back to Bear Mountain via Bear Trax).