Berkshire East Mountain Resort — Attraction in Charlemont

So, if we had only done our Zipline Valley Jump Tour this review would be a 5 star review. That being said we also did the Mountain Coaster and that's what dropped it.

The Valley Jump Tour was absolutely phenomenal. My husband and I went. Though we were nervous at first our guides were amazing and did a wonderful job at putting us at ease. The views were spectacular and made the minnie hikes through the forest all that much better. Its not for thr faint of heart as the last 2 lines are very high up, but they are some of the best views Ive ever seen. Definity worth doing.

That being said, we were planning on taking a ride on the Mountain Coaster after we finished. We were disappointed to find out that it was sold out. We ended up coming back the next day because we had extra time on our trip and even bought the tickets online to ensure we could ride. I'd originally bought 4 tickets so we could ride twice, but had the second ones refunded because, unfortunately, an online purchase of tickets does not mean a reserved line spot. If you want to ride a second time you need to start at the back of the line all over again. Despite having bought the tickets online, we still had to wait in the general ticket que as if we were buying the tickets in the park which was a 30m wait on it's own. This was for us to be given wrist bands and 2 tokens and be told that the secondary que for the ride would be another 1.5 hours and handed a ticket number like the ones you get at a deli counter. You're then supposed to wait in the area so you can keep an eye on the tiny sign at the front of the line to show your number. I'm not sure how these ride operators calculate wait times, but their estimate was COMPLETELY OFF. I don't mean by like 5-10 minutes. I mean off by nearly double their original estimate. We got to the resort around 12 with pre-ordered tickets, on a rainy day (so less people than normal) and still did not get on the ride until 3pm for a 5m ride. If you are planning to do literally ANYTHING else after the Mountain Coaster ensure that it is several hours after when you expect to ride, because this experience has no regard for your time or plans. If you miss your number to ride then you have to start at the back of the que again. They won't even let you jump in. The ride itself is wonderful and definitely worth a $10 per ride, but the wait time is completely unreasonable and not worth it for a 5m...

We visited the Berkshire East Mountain Resort yesterday and had a wonderful time. Long story short- the employees are so kind and educated, and the resort itself is gorgeous and doesn’t fall short on things to do! My husband and I took our three sons there. They are 10, 9, and 4. My oldest son loved the chair lift. The views were spectacular at this time of the year with the fall foliage all throughout the surrounding mountains. My middle son loved the aerial ropes course. He’s adventurous and whizzed right through it. My oldest son was very prideful at first, and even wanted to be first to go, ahead of his younger brother and their dad. When he got to the third part, which is a swing, he froze. He was on the platform with my husband trying to talk to him for about 30 minutes. The guides were seriously so sweet, kind, and understanding. One woman came up to help him turn around and go back the way he had come, and she was just the sweetest, even after we were late for our reservations and my son froze up for 30 minutes. I can’t say enough about the staff on that course. My youngest son loved the tree house, which is so reminiscent of the Swiss Family Robinson’s house lol. It was fun for all ages! My 6’4” husband even went in and had fun. My favorite part was the Mountain Coaster. It really couldn’t have been any better. I had a smile on my face and nervous/excited giggles the entire way down and around it lol. The best part was hearing my youngest son going through with my husband and I could hear his excited screeches from my cart which was 3 behind his. The line for the coaster was long, and I imagine it was that long due to the holiday weekend and fellow leaf-peepers. They have a ton of mountain bikers on site and a lot of trails for them to ride, if you’re into that. We aren’t, but it was fun to watch them all zip around. It reminded me of my cousin, Scotty Huntley, who just passed away at a National Bike Championship in North Carolina- RIP. It was nice to see the other bikers- young, old, man, woman, etc all riding and being passionate about the sport.

Thank you, Berkshire East Mountain Resort for this wonderful visit and the...

First off - this is worth a family visit - a great destination for all ages if you love the great outdoors.

We were very excited for a day of adventure including the mountain coaster and aerial treetop course. After purchasing the tickets online for both, and signing the waivers, we set out on the reserved day. We planned on riding the mountain coaster upon arrival and then doing the treetop ropes course which was scheduled for 12:00. We arrived at the site at around 10:45, got our tokens to ride the coaster, but were told that there was a 3 hour wait. We knew we would miss the timed tickets for the rope course, if we waited in the line, and so we went straight to ropes course. We were told that we should check back afterwards at the coaster.

The ropes course was great! Challenging for beginners, but it had a nice variety of elements including a mini zipline, air boards and all sorts of swings and chains. The two young women who did the into tutorial seemed knowledgeable about the course. However, after the tutorial, they pretty much left the kids on their own. I had to ask them several times for guidance. I would have felt more comfortable if they had been standing, eyes on the participants, rather than sitting and scrolling on their phones. This was a bit unsettling.

After the ropes course, we went back to the coaster to see if the line had gone down.. It had not. We were refunded out money, but I would have much preferred to have been able to take advantage of the tickets and experienced the coaster as we had meant to.

I was very pleased that Grace, manager of customer experiences, has since replied to my review above with honesty and yes, grace. She reported that not only have they added picnic tables, but have also reviewed safety policy with the staff at the aerial adventure area. She kindly reimbursed the entire visit, and offered us passes to the coaster in the future. This confirmed to me the seriousness with which she took the review, as well as the commitment the resort feels towards its customers - I will definitely return to Berkshire East Mountain Resort and am looking forward to our next...