A yurt or a treehouse: one-bedroom stays in White Salmon
We keep two one-bedroom places in the woods above White Salmon, and the choice between them is simpler than it looks: the Yurt at Rivendell or the Tree House Tranquil-A-Tree. Both sleep four, both have a hot tub and a fire pit, both sit in forest rather than in town. Neither is a cottage with a street address and a neighbor mowing on Saturday. If that's what you came for, say so now and save yourself the drive up the hill.
Two buildings, one bedroom each, and four people is the ceiling
Each is a single-family stay with one bedroom, one bathroom and room for four. In practice that means a couple with all the space they want, or two couples who like each other, or a small family. Four is the number, not a suggestion.
The shared ground between them is worth stating plainly, because it covers most of what people ask before booking:
Hot tub and fire pit at both
A real kitchen, not a kettle and a microwave pretending to be one, plus a BBQ area outside
Forest view and mountain view from each
Free parking, which in this part of the Gorge is not nothing in summer
Pets welcome, subject to the current policy for your dates
What separates them is heat, bathroom, and the kind of quiet each one produces.
The yurt is round, warm, and open all year
Rivendell is glamping done with plumbing, a parlor stove, a mini-gourmand's kitchen with virtually all needed utensils (except a blender), a wheel-chair- friendly shower (roll-in, bench, transfer bars), bathroom heater, extra blankets and pillows, and a round cedar hot tub perfect for soaking those well-used muscles at the end of a satisfying day. It's why the yurt works in February, when the Gorge wind comes down the river and the forest goes dark at four.
Our own description of it calls it a sanctuary of peace and serenity, which sounds like brochure language until you've sat inside a canvas roof in a rainstorm. The acoustics are different in a round room. Rain lands on the whole thing at once.
My favorite time of the day is awakening in the pre-dawn darkness to witness the burgundy glow of the dream-catcher-like yurt ceiling; Each feature seen in relief hearkening the promise of a new day.
Rivendell stays open year-round, which matters more than people expect in a town that empties out between the autumn colour and the spring wildflowers. There's an outdoor dining area and outdoor seating, so in July the inside of the yurt becomes somewhere you sleep and the forest becomes the house.
The treehouse is the rustic one, and it means it
Tranquil-A-Tree is built for people who want the storybook version: up among the trunks, handcrafted, a little primitive by design. There's air conditioning and heating, a coffee maker, a sound system, a patio, and wine glasses in the cupboard, which tells you what most guests do with their evenings here. The hot tub is a short walk from a fire pit.
Our line about it is that it's a place to live and love, not admire and be afraid to touch. Guests repeat it back to us. The invitation on the door, more or less, is to slow down and watch the moss grow, and just west of the crest of the Cascade Mountains the Gorge the moss cooperate.
Both the yurt and the tree house have air conditioning for those few hot summer days. The yurt has a classic propane parlor stove (no wood necessary!) and the tree house, in keeping with its rustic charm, is heated principally by wood stove. Summer and winter don't make the same argument, but both are equipped to answer the seasons' call.
So which one, for a couple
For a romantic anniversary in January, book the yurt or the tree house depending on which most appeals to your sense of romance and adventure. Pleasing heat, a deep hot tub, and a hot shower in the morning says it all. For long August weekends touring wineries or midwinter stays making snow-angels face-down, both earn their keep and greet guests on their return, each with its innate charm!
Travelling with a dog changes the conversation less than you'd think, because both places accept pets. Confirm the current policy with us for your dates, and tell us the dog's size when you ask.
What's actually around you
White Salmon sits on the Washington bench above the Columbia, about ten minutes from Hood River across the toll bridge, and roughly an hour and a quarter from Portland. Mount Hood Meadows is an hour or so away, through the Hood River Valley and up Highway 35.
The town itself punches well above its size for eating and drinking. Everybody's Brewing does burgers and its own beer. Henni's Kitchen and Bar takes no reservations, so weekend nights involve waiting, and the farm-to-table food justifies it. Nativ Cafe pours fair-trade coffee and cooks with ethically-sourced ingredients. White Salmon Baking Co. turns out artisan loaves and tasty pastries alongside scrumptious breakfast and lunch fare, Feast Market and Delicatessen is a natural food deli, restaurant and bar in the original Everybody's space with either dine-in or grab-and-go fare.
If rubbing elbows with uptown regulars is your thing, by all means stop in at the Tar Bar (drinks only) to hear what the buzz is among locals. Don't be surprised if you're invited to confab with the denizens of the bar.
For wine, you don't have to go far: four tasting rooms downtown, with Cor Cellars, Syncline and Domaine Pouillon east of town and a run of producers up on Underwood Mountain to the west, including Aniche Cellars, Hawkins Cellars and Savage Grace. In downtown White Salmon are three tasting rooms: Soča Wine Shop & Bar on East Main, Clizm Wines and Le Doubblé Troubblé Wine Co -- both on East Jewett.
For walking, Coyote Wall is the one people drive in for, reached off Highway 14 past Bingen and up Courtney Road. Routes run from a short loop of a couple of hours to a full day on the longer circuit. Catherine Creek, next door, is where the spring wildflowers come out and where mountain bikers link across to Coyote Wall. Dog Mountain, over in Carson, is the hard one, half a day and famously windy at the top. Closer to home, we'll point you at the quiet walks and the places wildlife actually turns up, which are not the trailheads with the full parking lots.
For a day-long adventure later in the year (Late July - Mid August) there is no more beautiful wild-flower meadow in the Western United States than Bird Creek Meadows located on the SW side of Mt. Adams on Tract D of the Yakama Tribal lands. Be sure to ask the caretakers for directions to this mecca of alpen wildflowers!
Before you book
Dates move fast here in wildflower season and again in high summer, so check availability with us early. Rates, taxes, fees, minimum stays and the current pet policy all need confirming for your specific dates. Nightly rates across both properties generally sit in the range of roughly $145 to $195 before taxes and fees, but the number that matters is the one on your booking, not the one in an article.
Ask us the question you'd ask a neighbour. Which one's warmer in December, where the trail is empty on a Saturday, whether your dog will be happy here. We answer those ourselves.