Mt. Hood
Elevation 5,960
Built mid-1930s
Oregon's iconic
Timberline Lodge has quickly become one of my favorite places in the country. Having grown up in a family that worshiped old National Park lodges (especially those of Glacier and Yellowstone), I immediately fell in love with Timberline Lodge the moment I first laid eyes on it. Everything right down to the smell of the inside of the Timberline reminded me of being an excited young kid arriving at, say, Many Glacier Lodge for a weeks vacation. All throughout my youth I loved these old lodges so much that I wished to one day live and work in one- sort of like the legendary
Harry R. Truman of the now buried Spirit Lake Lodge in the Mt. St. Helens area. If I had walked into Timberline Lodge as a kid I probably would have moved to this area of the country long before I actually did.
One of the first things you'll very likely notice once you step inside the Timberline is how massive everything is. The stonework, the log beams, the front door, the solid wood furniture, the chandeliers- everything is here is solid and massive! The whole lodge feels as if it is carved out of solid granite. All of this only adds to the grandeur of the place. Considering the weight and size of the building materials, the steepness of the road leading to the lodge, and the quality/reliability of automobiles in the mid-1930s, the construction of the lodge really, to say the least, an engineering marvel.
And, of course, its not just the size and craftsmanship of the place that is marvelous, but also the way it is laid out and decorated. The Timberline is seriously one of the most beautifully decorated places I've ever seen. It has beautiful tapestries, wood carvings, wrought ironwork, light fixtures, antiques, furniture, even the curtains- everything flows together -the color scheme, the wood, the rock, the iron- to create that quintessential "lodge" experience. You'll love it.
Enough talk, time to let the photos themselves do the talking...
The first set of photos comes from early-August 2012, when my family and I spent the night in the Timberline. Though there was far less snow on the mountain, there was (and still is at time of writing in early-September) still a slope open to skiers and snowboarders. There is a square up on the mountain visible from Timberline which you can ski on almost year round. Below, you will see a photo of a snow-plow evening out the slope during sunset. Now
that's a job I wish I had...
The second set of photos are of Timberline Lodge's magnificent interior.
The third set of exterior photos comes from a couple months prior, in mid-June 2012. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. It was just a quick visit to the Timberline that day- a side trip we made with friends of ours while cruising along the
Mt. Hood Scenic Byway heading back home to Portland from Hood River.
Here is the first set of exterior photos taken in early-August 2012:
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| View of Mt. Jefferson to the South from Timberline Lodge |
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| Mt. Jefferson from Timberline Lodge at Sunset |
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| One of many Lupine fields you'll come across near Timberline Lodge |
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| A snow plow grooming the slope in August |
Here are shots of the interior:
Here is the batch of exterior photos from mid-June 2012:
My advice to you, Reader: Stay the night! Even if you only live an hour away in Portland, splurge at least once and spend the night here at the Timberline. Only then will you truly experience why this is arguably one of the greatest places to stay in the country. During the day the Timberline has a tendency to get crowded. Tourists jam the lobbies; skier and snowboarders jam the parking lots. During peak seasons Timberline can get very
very crowded, but once dinnertime hits, the crowds fade away. Around sunset it will feel as though you have the place all to yourself. And I have never watched a more brilliant sunset than I have from the Timberline Lodge. Night falls. The Ram's Head bar is open until 11 p.m., there is a ping pong table and shuttle board on the first floor, there is a heated swimming pool and hot tub, there are a handful of places to sit down, play a board game, read a book, talk with friends, crack open a bottle of wine, etc.
I was fortunate enough to stay here once with my wife and my family. We had such a great time that we hope to make it an annual thing. I hope you, too, Reader, can experience the Timberline Lodge the way it is supposed to be experienced: by spending the night. That is my recommendation.
Paradise Park really does live up to its name. Four out of your five senses will get a striking stimulation up here. Your eyes will encounter some outstanding beauty- the top 4,000+ feet of Mt. Hood, the Cascade range stretched as far as the eye can see and blanketed in dark green conifers, and a variety of wildflower colors, mainly purple from the Lupine. Your nose will encounter that foresty, rocky alpine odor that I grew to love on my trips into Glacier and Yellowstone, mixed with the aromatic natural “flower garden” that surrounds you. Imagine if Portland’s International Rose Test Garden was here, on the side of Mt. Hood at 6,000 ft. That’s what it smells like up here. Your ears will encounter the chatter of birds, the quiet trickle of creaks near their glacial source, the buzz of bees, and fellow hikers “ohh and ahh-ing” at the natural beauty all around them. Finally, you’ll feel that sharp alpine breeze that seems to carry with it a bite of cold from the glaciers nearby, as well as that alpine blast of sunshine warming you at your core. 
Which brings me to the bad news: a significant chunk of the return half of the hike is going to be uphill. The steepest part of the trail in particular, the uphill climb from the river crossing up to the viewpoint, is briefly going to be a leg-burner. The trip to Paradise Park won’t kill you but it will definitely start to wear you down. The trip fro Paradise Park will be the coup de grace on your body. My advice: do not drink all your water on the first half of the hike! Save most of it for the return!
