once upon a time, in the deep dark woods a tired warrior met a beautiful elven maid at a magical spot next to a pond full of singing frogs, with mushroom forests lining the shaded banks and pathways ...

we travel north from our home in the mountains of North Carolina to the hills of Potter county twice or thrice a year to visit friends and family. My wife, puppers and I always stay at the Nine Mile as that's where we met and have wonderful memories there. Pam and Brian are old friends and they have a wonderful little hide away in the middle of nowhere that to us is perfect in everyway. Rustic, simple, and friendly atmosphere. we look forward to resting by the fire in the pavilion after the long drive north and love everything about the cottages and the beautiful woods that surround them. I look forward every trip, not just for the comradery, but to see the work and improvements that the Ruane's are putting into this venture. It's truely special and we look forward to many more years of staying here. like us, its not fancy( but I'm sure it will be, given the owners artistic bent.} cant say enough good things about this. Peace out and Y'all play nice.

We were greeted by nothing but kindness and hospitality. The owners were very accomodating and gave us homemade welcome bags. They were knowledgable about the surrounding areas and gave us a wonderful explaination of the history of the grounds, and always resopnded promptly to any questions or concerns long before we arrived. It was immediately obvious that this was a family run establishment that is run with love. The cabins were clean and well maintained. They were in the middle of some renovations to make them even more lovely and cozy. The maintainance man who was working on one of the vacant cabins was also very polite and welcoming. The grounds were rustic and gorgeous. That being said, yes there were spiders. Why? BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE WOODS!!!! There were also lovely bullfrogs, chipmunks, squirells, ducks, and other wild life. That is what is to be expected and enjoyed when being so close to nature. The firewood was prechopped, available for whenever we needed it, and most importantly.....FREE. The shop was open during convinient hours and the owners directed us where we could go locally if what we needed wasnt available. The coffee pot was always on and we were always greeted with smiles and a little chit chat. This is a historical location that was originally a logging camp in the 1800's and so of course it retained some of its rustic charm. That is part of the appeal. If we desired to stay at a Hilton with mints on the pillows we would have booked that. There was no mildew smell. The cabin had been freshly cleaned and the windows were open when we arrived. It smelled of clean mountain air and we loved it. These cabins were meant to be a comfortable reasting place while you get out and enjoy God's Country. Although, we did have better cell service than expected! They were never meant to be luxurious. The rustic feel and charm is exactly what the owners have worked so hard to successfully maintain. Firepits were available at every site along with a community pavillion that is perfect for watching the amazing thinderstorms, cooking or just getting to know your neighbors! On a clear night you could stare at the sky for hours seeing the incredible night sky (shootng stars and all!) Multiple sight seeing locations (National Parks, the Pa Grand Canyon, Cherry Spring's State Park and amazing Gift shops as well) within a short drive. There are also small stores and a great restaurant quite close. Our ONLY complaint is that we didn't decide to stay longer! We will definitely be returning and have already reccomended it to all of our friends and family. On another note, we fully disagree with laureld309 AKA The Camping Karen!!!!!

I wanted to LOVE this holdover from the 50's. I wanted the little cabin rustic feel. I wanted this to be charming. We had cabin 11&12..not sure why there were two numbers on the cabin as it had a bedroom with two twin beds and another bedroom with a double bed and the bathroom in between. Maybe in the 50's two couples could be in the cabin with seperate bedrooms but share the bathroom?? When we checked in, the owner said they had started painting the bathroom but had not finished.. I could live with that. What we got was a musty smell that hit us in the face the second we opened the #11 cottage door. What we got was a shower stall with so much peeling paint, there were bits of paint floating to the drain while we showered....the absolute worst shower I have ever been in. What we got was a floor tile missing near the toilet, along with a piece of beadboard pulling away from the wall. What we got was a daddy long legs camping out under the new roll of TP. What we got was another spider and her three egg sacs 15 inches from our headboard. Some of the window curtains were missing rings to keep them on the rods. One of the windowsills has cobwebs from not being dusted in who knows how long. The floor of the cabin was so sloped at the foot of the bed that the two "feet" of the bed were on pieces of wood. Then the outside...rutted parking areas, piles of "firewood" all around, piles of who knows what under tarps around the grounds. Yes, there were canoes along the pond which hadn't been used since they had been mowed around for possibly weeks considering the weeds around them. What this place needs is a huge and vigorous cleaning, painting, landscaping and outdoor clean up. How this stays in business is beyond me. If there was less than one star rating, I would give it that. I wanted to LOVE this place.