Darion Inn Ski Touring Center

East Burke, Caledonia County, Vermont

“Darion Inn, East Burke, Vermont 05832. 802-626-5641. The Inn's 40 miles of trails snak through one of the largest and most famous old Vermont farms. A complete ski touring facility is housed in the many farm buildings. Including private rooms with bath, ski dorm, dining rooms, bar, ski touring shop, instructors and guides. Machine set tracks make excllent skiing regardless of conditions." -Vermont Ski Guide, 1975

vintage postcard from the Darion Inn and Darling Farm

Reverse reads: "DARION INN 370 acres of the famous Darling Mountain View Farm located in the fabled North East Kingdom of Vermont. A year round Inn with something for every member of the family. P.O. Box 12, East Burke, Vermont 05832. Tel. 802-626-5641. Photography by Howard Ruthkowski"

from cardcow.com

Location: 3383 Darling Hill Rd, East Burke, VT 05832

Alternate names: Ski Touring Center at Burklyn

Directory listings: 1974-1984

Known operators: Richard and Marian Yerkes; Stanley Swaim

Today: Renamed the Inn at Mountain View Farm; trails are now part of the Kingdom Trails network

History

Richard and Marion Yerkes moved to East Burke and opened the Darion Inn on the Darling Farm in 1968. According to Richard Yerkes' obituary (he passed away in 2011) in The Caledonian Record: "many traveled, often long distances, to congregate [at the Darion Inn] for good food, conversation and revelry. Dick and his family ran the Darion Inn for over a decade. In its heyday, the inn had its own summer stock theater and cross-country ski touring center which drew in artists and outdoor enthusiasts from far and wide, many of whom would come to settle in Burke." After selling the Darion Inn, Dick made a living resoring old houses throughout the Northeast Kingdom.

Harriet F. Fisher recalls this era at the Darling Farm in her book The Darlings of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom:

"In 1970 the property, under owners Richard and Marian Yerkes, was named Darion Inn and before long a headline in the local papers read, 'Skiers Enjoy Packed Trails Where Jersey Cows once Roamed.' The Darion Inn portion of Mountain View Farm comprised the 350-head cow barn, the Morgan horse barn, the workhorse barn, the piggery, the creamery, an icehouse, a paint barn, a threshing barn and the twenty-five-room house. All this was on 370 acres of the famous Mountain View Farm. The use may have changed from its original intent, but the Yerkes recognized the fine work and detail of these buildings. Here were offered hiking, horseback riding, hunting, badminton, bowling on the green, croquet, tennis and cross-country ski trails.

The present owners, Dr. John and Marilyn Pastore, renamed the property the Inn at Mountain View Farm and made the creamery into a fine restaurant for special event dining. The second-floor guest rooms are furnished with antiques and handmade quilts. Cross-country skiing, snowshoe hiking and mountain biking trails are easily accessible."

The Darion Inn Ski Touring Center was listed in directories for a decade between 1974 and 1984 and downsided from 40 mi of trails in its early listings to 25 mi in its latter. The last listed operator of the Darion Inn Ski Touring Center was Stanley Swaim in 1984. After the Darion Inn dropped of cross country directories, beginning in 1985, Stanley Swaim was listed as the contact for Burke Mountain Nordic Center.

Today, the Darion Inn operates as the Inn at Mountain View Farm. The 20 km of cross country trails are operated and maintained on the Darling Farm as the second location of Kingdom Trails (in addition to Dashney Farms, formerly Burke Mountain Nordic Center).

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See the full listing of directory entries for Darion Inn Ski Touring Center here.

View a 2011-2012 map of the Darling Hill trail section of Kingdom Trails here.