Journeys End 2nd underwent two years of site selection and approval processes before its design was finalized in 2003, with the shelter’s design concept based on similar structures on the Appalachian Trail built by the Nantahala Hiking Club, and Marge Fish working with veteran shelter builders Erik and Laurel Tobiason through the winter to develop plans for a post-and-beam structure.
The shelter features a cooking and seating area protected from the elements while retaining lean-to characteristics, with three tent platforms and an accessible composting privy at the overnight site.
The completed shelter is a four-sided structure with an actual latching door. Journeys End Camp is an enclosed wood plank shelter nestled in the trees next to the trail. The shelter is built of cedar in the architectural tradition of earlier Long Trail shelters. The design was inspired by shelters from the Thirties and Forties era, such as a framed camp from 1931 and a framed cabin built by the Long Trail Patrol in 1933.
Roy Buchanan, who led the Long Trail Patrol from 1931 until 1967, was in charge of building 37 shelters and laid out the trail in the area north of Jay Peak.
The shelter is located about a mile south of the Canadian-US border. The construction was completed in time for its opening in 2003, marking a new facility for hikers completing or beginning their Long Trail journeys.
Sources
- Day 25: Journey’s End Camp | Long Trail, 2017 – Longstride. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://longstride.net/longtrail/2017/08/10/journeys-end-camp.
- Trail Talk (Montpelier) 2003 (2003). Montpelier Section, Green Mountain Club. 4.
- The Trail Talk (Connecticut) 2004 (2004). Connecticut Section, Green Mountain Club. 4.
- "Long Trail News." , no. Fall (2004).
