Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
We took a day trip with Sea to Summit Tours & Adventures along the Columbia River highway. The tour stopped at several waterfalls, a scenic vista point, a dam with a salmon ladder, and an orchard, along with other picturesque spots. The day ended with a visit to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.
Timberline Lodge was built during the Great Depression as a project of the Works Progress Administration. The lodge sits on the south side of Mount Hood within Mount Hood National Forest. Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the lodge in 1937.
Timberline Lodge is publicly owned but privately operated. We briefly explored the historic hotel and looked at a few small museum-style displays inside. The lodge also served as the exterior setting for the film The Shining. Visitors can ask at the concierge desk to see the axe supposedly wielded by Jack Nicholson.
We skipped that and used our short time before heading back to Portland to explore the outdoors. Mount Hood National Forest is one of the most visited national forests in the United States. It contains many developed recreation sites, including the area around Timberline Lodge.
We visited in August—and people were skiing! Mount Hood is Oregon’s highest point, rising to more than 11,000 feet. The mountain is also home to 12 glaciers. I believe the one we could see from behind Timberline Lodge was the Palmer Glacier.
Mount Hood is a potentially active volcano and is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt. Hearing that as we approached the mountain made us a little nervous. However, the odds of an explosive eruption in the next 30 years are relatively low. Scientists estimate the chance at about 3–7%.
Mount Hood is in the Cascade Range. From the patio of Timberline Lodge, we could see several other mountains in the distance.
Location: 27500 E Timberline Road, Government Camp, Oregon
Designation: National Forest, National Historic Landmark
Date designated/established: July 1, 1908
Date of my visit: August 2016
