Tyee Lodge
For lodge use guidelines and policies please, go to the Lodge Information page.
Tyee Lodge is our “Home on Mt. Hood”. The lodge is situated on Forest Service land near Government Camp, 60 miles from Portland. It is close to Summit Ski Area and the Alpine Ski Trail. Other ski areas are readily accessible. The terrain surrounding the lodge has a gentle slope, making it an attractive area for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The lodge serves as overnight headquarters for many hikers in the warmer season and winter sports in the snow season.
Facilities include a full kitchen, large dining area, lots of fireplace seating, drying room, and winter equipment storage. Sleeping accommodations for 22 women and 22 men are provided in bunk style dormitories.
In the winter Tyee is reached by a short quarter-mile trail starting at a point four-tenths of a mile up Timberline Road. In the summer the lodge is reached by driving about one mile up West Leg Road.
Tyee Lodge was officially dedicated on September 28, 1952, with the kitchen and dining room addition being built in 1958. Most of the work was done by club members. A minor remodel was done in the 1970’s to get the lodge to meet health and safety requirements when the basement shower was added. The shake roof was replaced with a metal roof in 2004.
Trails Club of Oregon Tyee Lodge details
Welcome! The Trails Club of Oregon (TCO) would love to have you visit Tyee Lodge! As a space that hosts events and provides meals and overnight accommodations, we have procedures and practices to make sure everything runs smoothly.
While the club owns and operates Tyee Lodge, each weekend/event is hosted by a specific TCO member. If you have a question or would like to attend a specific weekend/event, please contact that TCO member in the method proscribed in the writeup.
RSVPing – Just RSVPing on meetup.com is not enough
Each Meetup.com Tyee event will have an email address or phone number for RSVPs.
Lodge reservations require contacting the host directly so that they can keep you informed about any changes in the event.
Event meals or opening/closing times may change. You may need to provide your own meals.
Second, Meetup is not the only platform for Tyee events.
The email/phone RSVP system guarantees you have a space.
Using the meetup.com platform to send messages to event participants has not worked well.
You may have forgotten to pay for TCO provided meals. We want to be able to remind you.
Last, please do not RSVP on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/other. Please remember that each event/weekend is hosted by a specific TCO member. They are not looking at each social media platform looking for your RSVP, they are checking the phone number or email that they provided and asked you to use.
Please refer to the Lodge Information page for Lodge and Meal Fees
Staying at the lodge – Meals
Some events are advertised as bring your own food. We have a full kitchen with two stoves, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and basic staples. During the host only events you are welcome to cook and eat with the community.
At other events, particularly at popular events, the club will provide a cook. Except for very special diets, we ask that you participate with the club’s meal, as there is limited kitchen space and too many cooks in the kitchen is not practical.
TCO provided meal prices are set by the club. Hosts are expected to spend about that much on food for meals, per person. Please check which meals on each day are provided. It is common even on TCO cook weekends that Friday dinner and Saturday breakfast to be “bring your own”.
We ask that you prepay for TCO provided meals. You can pay on the TrailsClub.org Payments page. You do not need a paypal account to make a payment.
Lodge events will have a reservation cut-off date, usually several days before the start of the event. If you have made a reservation, you are expected to pay the meal fees. If you have reservations and do not attend, you must pay the meal fees as the food has been purchased for the reservations at the cut-off date. You don’t need to pay the overnight lodge fees, but you may be keeping others from attending on full events.
Spending the night
The lodge sleeps 22 in the men’s dorm and 22 in the women’s dorm. There is flexibility, just inform the host. The lodge is family oriented. Bring a warm sleeping bag and a pillow. The dorms have hostel style mattresses. Some people prefer to bring a camping pad. If you use a CPAP, please bring it – your dorm mates will appreciate it. We have electricity/full kitchen/flush toilets.
Community feel
The TCO is a community – not a hotel. The host is there to maintain order and be a manager – we, the people enjoying the space together, also clean up together and do dishes together and restock the fire word together and play board games together and meals generally are a community event. If there is one rule above all others at the lodge, it is: Please play well with others. Reasonable people can generally sort things out and come to good solutions.
How to get to the lodge (winter directions)
1. Head to Government Camp.
2. Take the left up to Timberline Lodge.
a. There might be line of cars stopped right at the turn from Highway 26. As soon as you can speak to a flagger, tell them you are going to Tyee Lodge and not to Timberline. Some flaggers don’t know there is a Tyee Lodge, tell them it is next to the boy scout lodge.
b. They might allow you to skip the line.
c. About 0.25 miles up the road, there is a parking area on the right. Park there avoiding the Do Not Park section.
d. There is only the one place to park in the first few miles from Highway 26, so there should be no confusion.
3. The lodge is across the road, about a quarter mile walk uphill.
a. Walk to the bottom of the parking area (towards Government Camp) and then cross the road when it is clear.
b. You will see a little trail and rope going up the bank.
c. At the top of the bank you will see a trail to the left – take it. The trail right goes to the boy scout lodge.
d. Follow the ropes to your left up to the lodge’s basement entrance.
4. It is generally a trip you only want to make 1-2 times so pack accordingly.