Appalachian Mountain Club — Local services in Cambridge

My family and I paid over half a grand for a reservation at Lake of the Clouds hut in the Fall of 2022. A large storm came through and with 90mi per hours winds we were unable to safely reach the hut. They kindly credit us for the next year since it was the last weekend the hut was open. The following year we rebooked for Madison Springs and a hurricane hit new england. AMC forced me to pay ~$60 (%10 of booking amount) to roll over my $600 credit to 2024. This year unfortunately, a child died in car cash on the football team and a varsity game was rescheduled to the weekend of our reservation. AMC refused to credit us even for a fee, refused to refund the amount. There was only one hut we could possibly make work and were told we could forfeit the almost $700 we have now paid FOR A ONE NIGHT STAY IN A HUT FOR 2 KIDS AND 2 ADULTS. We will never stay at an AMC hut again, both because of the cost and their policies which are not accommodative to families and extenuating circumstances like deaths and resulting schedule changes. AMC is not the organization I knew growing up as a kid and will never...

To be fair, I never went on any of their hikes or visited their facilities because at the time I lived in Northern Maine and although they say they cover Maine, their activities are mostly in the southern part of the state. What I didn't like was that on more than one occasion several years ago I got phone calls soliciting donations and the last person calling was almost shaming me for not donating. It was a waste of money for me to have the membership and not be able to use it up there and the last phone call from them was the icing on the cake and the reason I stopped...

I love this group! They host great trips and it's nice for carpooling to really great hikes (for example) that are not easily accessible without a car. They also prepare educational programs such as the spring hiking program. I've had a wonderful experience with them so far. Great way to meet people that are passionate about similar...