Timberline Lodge is still used as it was meant to be: a ski lodge and mountain retreat for everyone. Close to two million visitors a year come for skiing, lodging, the bike park, interpretive exhibits and the scenery. It sits in the Zigzag Ranger District at the end of a 6-mile road off US Highway 26, and the Mt. Hood Express bus runs up from Sandy.
The building is also a National Historic Landmark. It was a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression that put craftsmen and artists to work, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated it in 1937. The interior decorator insisted that everything be handmade, and no two guest rooms were decorated alike.
Things to do
- Interpretive sites
- Viewing
Getting there
- From Portland, OR
- Take I-84 E to Exit 16, Wood Village
- Turn onto NE 242nd Dr. to US-26 E in Gresham
- Follow 242nd to Burnside (3.5 mi.)
- Turn left on Burnside/US-26 E.
- Follow US-26 E to the Timberline Road turn-off (about 40 mi.)
- Turn left on the the Timberline access road; follow the road to Timberline (6 mi.)
- From Hood River, OR
- Take OR-35 South then US-26 (toward Portland).
- Then turn right on Timberline Highway.
- PUBLIC TRANSIT
- Timberline Resort Shuttle
- The Timberline Resort Shuttle operates from December 9 - April 2, with service between Summit Pass in Government Camp and Timberline's Wy'East Day Lodge.
- Riding the shuttle is free for Timberline and Fusion season pass holders and Timberline online lift ticket holders.
- Mt. Hood Express
- The Mt. Hood Express transit is a public bus service administered by Clackamas County and serves the communities along Highway 26, running from the city of Sandy east to Government Camp and Timberline.
Road notes
Oregon Department of Transportation requires chains or traction tires during winter months.
From the Forest Service
Good to know
History
Timberline Lodge was opened on February 4, 1938 following a construction which boasted a great deal of public attention and excitement. When the project was announced publicly in 1935, bonds were sold by the three sponsors of the project which were the State of Oregon, Mount Hood Recreation Association of Portland, and the Regional office of the Forest Service.
The project was sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. Craftsmen and artists were commissioned to work on the Lodge. This project greatly helped the local economy by employing men who were unable to find work elsewhere due to the Great Depression. Marjory Hoffman Smith was hired as the interior decorator and she required that everything be made by hand and fall into the three main themes. Throughout the Lodge, these themes were expressed in many different ways and each guest room was decorated so that no two were the same.
On September 28, 1937 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Lodge. The Lodge was closed due to World War II in 1942, and finally reopened in 1945 as well as being able to draw its first profits in 1947. In 1955, the Lodge was closed due to mismanagement and an inability to be run properly. RLK & Co. picked up management of the Lodge leading to a renewed management strategy.
In 1975 the Friends of Timberline formed with a mission to restore Timberline Lodge to its original splendor. In 1978 Timberline Lodge became Oregon’s tenth National Landmark formally acknowledging by its importance to the history of Oregon and the United States as whole.
Reservations
Lodge info & reservations at Timberline Lodge's website.
Passes and permits
Oregon Sno-Park permit is required in designated sno-parks from November 1 through April 30. Permits are sold online and at various local vendors like winter resorts, sporting goods stores, and other retail outlets.
Recreation passes are not required to use Timberline Lodge parking lot in the summer; it's free to park. (Sno-park permits are required in the winter.)
Contact
Contact Name: Timberline Lodge
Contact Phone: 503-272-3311
Ranger office
Zigzag Ranger District
Address: 70220 E Highway 26 Zigzag, OR 97049
Phone: 503-622-3191
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed 12 to 1 for lunch. (Closed on federal holidays)
