What We Offer: Facilities, Services, Activities, and Opportunities

The Niles Cabin is a three bedroom house with all the utilities available for overnight stays or daytime use. There are three guest beds (that sleep four) among two bedrooms. Our General Manager uses one of the three bedrooms. Meetings during the day are available for groups up to 15 people in the cabin. Outside, we can handle up to 30 people. Meals prepared by Sheila  are an option for day or overnight users. Our roofed tree house can hold 25 and offers an 360 degree forested vista and horizon. There are many acres to wander for individual or silent retreats. There are miles of trails for hiking. Camping is available at primitive campsites (privy, picnic table, & firepit); or in the open-air treehouse, or in a waterproof wooden and carpeted yurt (sleeps six). We offer events, usually one to two a month, on a range of topics. Please also see our web page on this web site: "Essential Information" for helpful information.

Our General Manager, Sheila Bach, lives here and manages the use, reservations, meals and related matters. The Cabin offers a "Great Room" or living room with 12 chairs, carpeted floor and pillows, a woodburing stove, electrical baseboard heat, and a small reading library on nature, spirituality, and Quakers. There is also one full bathroom, a kitchen, a screened porch seating ten, views of the ponds and forest, visits by deer, hummingbirds, bluebirds and other animals, the viewable Milky Way overhead, and other natural wonders on the land. One can drive right up to the Cabin (except during the annual Open House when, with so many visiting, we ask you to park in the meadow). Though no air conditioning, many ventilating screened doors and ceiling fans and a surrounding forest assure the Cabin is comfortably cool 364 days a year. Be sure to read the "Essential Information" section on this web site, before coming out to the Center, for very helpful information.

Day use: Individuals, families or groups of 20 or less may use the cabin for daytime meetings or retreats. Silent retreats are an option. Larger groups can meet in the roofed, but open-air tree house that seats 25. Meals may be brought in by you or provided for a modest fee ($3-5) by the Resident Manager. Latter is best if arranged a few days in advance. The fee for day use of the Cabin should be arranged with the Resident Manager.

Overnight use: The Cabin offers two bedrooms to guests. One has a "full" size bed that can sleep two. The other bedroom has two twin beds. Additional guests in the same party can ^rough it^ in sleeping bags on the carpeted Great Room floor. On occasion, some have also camped right outside with or without their own tent. Thus a party of one to about 10 could use the cabin and environs overnight. A larger group could use the tree house (a 15 minute walk away by trail) and adjoining yurt for camping. Meals: If provided by Sheila, they will be healthy and hearty. Arrange for any dietary needs or food you wish to bring, see cooked, in advance. Moderate use of wine or beer at dinner is possible. Visits can be for one night or have been as long as a week.

Events: See the "Upcoming Events" section on this web site for activities we host. Or propose one of your own liking. Small groups are welcome at Friends Wilderness - just contact us ahead of time to discuss a visit.

Retreats: We offer occasional planned retreat events open to the public. Or groups or families use our place for their own retreats. Or you can craft a retreat for one or 20. Silent retreats are an option. Members or visitors known to us can request use of the cabin without the Resident Manager present for the day or overnight. We can also recommend retreat facilitators from a variety of backgrounds and practices.

Hiking: From the Cabin and elsewhere there are miles of trails. Some are relatively flat, some very steep, and many range up and down gently. Maps of trails are available from Sheila. Some trails are remote so we recommend you notify someone if striking out on new trails alone. Carry much water, good shoes for trails, layers of clothing as needed. During hunting seasons wear bright colors, stay within marked hiking areas, and wear a bright orange vest. Be sure to read "Essential Information" section on this web site before visiting Friends Wilderness. On our trails you^ll see ponds, streams, valley overlooks, rock outcroppings, the Devils Racecourse, a variety of flora, waterfall, springs, streams, and the Shenandoah River. Some of our trails do feed into the Appalachian Trail, so be careful you don^t wind up by accident in Maine or Georgia!

Camping: Available in the yurt, in the tree house or just outside the Niles Cabin. Bring your own gear. We are visited by solo campers up to groups as large as 20 (the latter on special arrangement). See "Essential Information" section on this web site.  

Reflecting/Meditating/Dwelling/Praying/Creating/Relaxing: A great place to get away, steep yourself in nature, enjoy the peaceful quiet. Read, reflect, meditate, seek the light, laugh or hum.... Relaxed, casual, and homey. Some have had entirely silent day visits or retreats.