A yurt or a treehouse above the Gorge
If there are four of you and you want the Columbia River Gorge out your windshield in the morning and nobody else's porch light in view at night, The Yurt at Rivendell and the Tranquil-A-Tree Tree House at Lothlorien Woods Hide-A-Way perfectly meet those criteria. Both sit in the woods near White Salmon, both are one-bedroom and sleep four, and both come with your own private hot tub to ease the loess of the trail at end of day. Neither is a hotel room with a river view. They're quiet, serene forest hideaways apart from the near 24-hour bustle of the village. On clear days (most of the year) views of snow-capped Mt. Adams greet you through your kitchen window while you plan the day's short jaunt to other treats of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
Why the woods beat the bluff for a group of four
White Salmon sits on a bluff above the Columbia, ten minutes from Hood River once you've crossed the bridge, with a walkable main street along East Jewett Boulevard. That's where the hotels are, and if you want to walk to dinner at Henni's Kitchen & Bar, grab a beer at Everybody's Brewing, or rub elbows with locals at the Tar Bar, a room in town makes sense.
The trade works differently in the trees. Out here you hear the woods at night instead of the street, and four people split between a yurt or a treehouse pay for a whole small building rather than two hotel rooms. Nightly rates across these stays generally run in the modest double digits to just under two hundred before taxes and fees, so a Gorge weekend doesn't have to be an expensive one.
The sightseeing is close enough that staying out of town costs you little. It's a leisurely, scenic 20 minute drive into White Salmon where the White Salmon Bakery or Nativ Cafe offer up scrumptious breakfast offerings. Catherine Creek is about ten minutes from the middle of White Salmon, and the Arch Loop there is an easy walk of under two miles, the kind of thing you can do before breakfast or after a late start. The Weldon Wagon Wheel Trail is another ten-minute run up WA-141 into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Husum Falls is on the same road, about ten minutes out. Spirit Falls lies roughly twenty minutes west, though the trail down to it is short and steep rather than a stroll. Head the other way along Route 14 and you reach the Coyote Wall and Syncline trails, where the Coyote Wall Loop runs about eight and a half miles with real climbing in it and views down the Gorge the whole way. Further west, Hamilton Mountain in Beacon Rock State Park is a little over thirty miles off, which makes it a day rather than an afternoon.
Bring your Mountain Bikes! Spectacular mountain biking on remote country roads is available right out your front door when staying at Lothlorien Woods! Difficulty ranges from moderate to challenging, extremely challenging!
The yurt, for anyone who wants heat and air conditioning in the forest
The Yurt at Rivendell is the one to book if you prefer copious furnishings of the built world -- Gourmet quality kitchen, full size French Door Fridge with bottom freezer, wheelchair friendly bathroom (roll-in shower, roll-under lavatory, toilet transfer bars, etc), and classic round Western Red Cedar Hot Tub! The Yurt at Rivendell is a Four Season, Year-Round delight! It has a fireplace and air conditioning, which is an unusual pairing to find under a round canvas roof and the reason the yurt works year-round while a lot of glamping shuts down in October. The Gorge runs hot and bright in July and cold and wet in January, and this place handles both.
As the owners put it, it's "glamping at its finest, proffering essential amenities of the built world in a completely natural and stunningly beautiful environment." That translates to a kitchen you can actually cook in, a natural cedar hot tub, a roll-in shower, and a fridge for the leftovers. There's a BBQ area outside, which earns its keep after a day on Coyote Wall when nobody wants to drive back into town. Feast Market on East Jewett is where you'd stop for what goes on the grill.
Four people sleep here, across two beds in one bedroom. For two couples who like each other, or a family of four, that's a sanctuary. For four near-strangers, it's close quarters, and you should know that going in.
The treehouse, for the trip where the lodging is the point
Some people book the Gorge for the hiking and sleep wherever. Others want the night to be as memorable as the day. The Tranquil-A-Tree Tree House is for the second group. "Does a little rustic romance tickle your fancy?" is how the owners describe it, and the word doing the work is rustic. This is a handcrafted structure in the trees, with a sign-off that tells you most of what you need: slow down and watch the moss grow.
It sleeps four in one bedroom - actually a second story en-suite bedroom and a fold-out full-size futon on the first floor -- with your very own private hot tub, a shower, fresh bath and bed linens, and a kitchen with a stove and oven. What it doesn't have is the yurt's Parlor Stove but it makes up for that with a classic wood stove (firewood provided) providing warmth and glow which only a wood stove can. If you're coming in the shoulder months and the forecast looks damp, that's the detail I'd weigh - be prepared to know how to light a fire the old-fashioned way! Come in late spring, summer, or September and it's beside the point.
Treehouses ask something of you that hotels don't. There are stairs. Bring a headlamp for the walk back after dark and expect to hear things moving in the woods around three in the morning. Guests who love this place love it specifically because of that.
Picking between them
Rustic vs Elements of the Built World: the yurt for the brilliantly executed design of the owner, for the Western Red Cedar hot tub, waking in the pre-dawn darkness in the magical diffusion of a rosy dawn through the skylight and burgundy canvas top
A milestone weekend where the stay is half the trip: Afterall, has our inner child ever let go of the dream of having a treehouse -- the treehouse for a Swiss Family Robinson style adventure, for the woodstove, and private hot tub tucked in the towering trees of Lothlorien where the magic of childhood dreams are reborn!
Cooking most nights: either one. Both have a stove, oven, microwave and a BBQ area outside.
Four adults: both sleep four. Sort out who's sharing before you book, not at check-in.
Bringing the dog: pet-friendly stays are part of what we do here, but confirm the terms for the specific place and your specific dates.
Three or four days, built around the driveway
A weekend from either place has a natural shape. Day one, arrive late, cook, and sit outside. The sky out here is dark enough that stargazing is a legitimate plan rather than a brochure line, and the deer and the birds go about their business within view and earshot of the deck.
Day two is the big one: Coyote Wall if you want distance and the Gorge laid out below you, or Hamilton Mountain over at Beacon Rock if you don't mind the drive west. Eat in town afterwards. Pizza Leona and Gander & Goose are both on East Jewett, within a few doors of each other.
Day three, go small. Catherine Creek's Arch Loop in the morning, Husum Falls on the way back, and the rest of the afternoon reading on the deck. The Hood River Bridge, a dollar toll, puts Oregon within ten minutes if you want a change of state. From Portland, incidentally, downtown White Salmon is about an hour by I-84 and the bridge.
Two night minimum stays are the norm. But the owners discount stays of 3 nights or more and guests who have stayed an extra night or two revel in the added peace and serenity with which they return to the real world.
Booking, and the parts worth a phone call
Everything here is run by people rather than a kiosk. We handle directions, check-in and the logistics of your stay, and there's a local caretaker on hand if something needs sorting out. That matters more on forest roads than it does on a city block: you want someone who can tell you where to turn when the GPS gives up.
Before you commit, check live availability and the full cost for your dates, taxes and fees included, and confirm the current booking, cancellation and check-in details along with the pet terms if you're travelling with one. Message us with your dates. The answer comes from someone who's been up the driveway that morning.