If you don’t think the government hasn’t done enough in providing things for America–then you should see Timberline Lodge up at Mount Hood, Oregon, which is still one of the most beautiful attractions and places to kick back when heading up to the mountains to ski. It’s almost hard to imagine today that we had a federal governmental agency (the Works Projects Administration) that provided work for people who really needed it in the 1930’s. While a “New Deal” type of Presidential policy today is more like a “No Deal” in today’s terms–at least we can still enjoy some of the projects that were built as the result of hired labor during the Great Depression starting in 1932. Timberline Lodge was a part of that plan under President Roosevelt’s accord. He had high hopes for Timberline Lodge, too–perhaps as a central meeting point should the Winter Olympics ever come to Oregon someday (which people here have been waiting to get for decades).
When construction started on the lodge in 1936, the intention was to make it a bit of a litmus test to see how governmental-produced recreational buildings such as this could function. The advantage of having a huge budget from the government was in providing the best building materials and creating a unique design that would make it attractive to tourists. Today, it might get the holler from taxpayers seeing hired labor forces constructing a giant lodge with large timbers, precious stones and other expensive accouterments that could only spell out “luxury.” The good news then was that building such a large and luxurious structure would supply steady work to people who needed it for close to two years.
In late September of 1937–President Roosevelt decided to give a formal dedication to the lodge before it was actually completed. The interior largely hadn’t even been built yet–and a lot of scrambling went on to make it look presentable once Roosevelt arrived. But trying to make Roosevelt’s government program look good was obviously a top priority straight from the White House…and miracles of illusion always occur…just as it is today. Nobody seemed to notice the difference when Roosevelt gave his speech and were allowed to go inside the lodge afterward. In his speech, Roosevelt recognized it as a possible central representation of everything great in the NW region of the United States. It was about as inspirational of a speech for Oregonians as any of his previous national-based ones were about not being afraid of fear itself.
Then the inopportune reality of having to run a business that’s owned by the government started once the lodge opened the following February of 1938 when the snow was up to the rooftops. While the lodge became more or less popular (though not as it was later)–trying to maintain the interior was a bit too much for various families who were hired to manage it for the first twenty years and who expected the government to pitch in dough to fix it. Probably because of WWII, a lot of people didn’t really get into the pastime of skiing and staying in a lodge. The comfort of the 50’s pretty much set in motion the true enjoyment of Timberline Lodge later. And it needed the business, because it almost closed in the mid-50’s due to interior neglect and only occasional heavy visitation.
That’s when the glamour of the place caught Hollywood’s eye…
The surroundings of Timberline plays up people’s imaginations as well as fears in movies…
Anybody familiar with the terrain of Mt. Hood knows it can be treacherous at times during the stormy winter season. More than a few people have been lost up there and still haven’t been found. When filming a movie about the early Northwest pioneers and their struggles during the winter–it’s likely a location scout would immediately think of Mt. Hood first on a local recreation list to film a scene in deep snow. That’s exactly what happened with the 1952 film “Bend in the River” starring Jimmy Stewart that was already filming around the valley of Oregon. No doubt the comforts of the lodge being nearby was part of that attraction, too, but a few scenes depicting a heavy snowstorm were filmed up at Magic Mile, which is where the chairlift for the skiing part of the lodge exists.
Apparently the 1973 ambitious and ill-conceived remake of “Lost Horizon” was filmed near the parking lot of the lodge to represent a blizzard…using the simple process of a helicopter to give the illusion of wind and blowing snow. Again, the lodge provided a bit of a sanctuary for the cast and crew when the cold became too much for many of those used to Southern California weather.
In the case of the classic “The Shining”–scouts found a mysterious vibe to the place that Stanley Kubrick agreed would work well for his vision. If you’ve ever seen the famous documentary done in 1980 showcasing the details of the filming of “The Shining”–you’ll notice one scene that has Kubrick trying to get a psychological rise out of Shelley Duvall as he instructs her to open the lodge’s main door from the inside in a pivotal scene. Acting peeved that she wasn’t executing the scene right–Kubrick remarks that he and the crew were “freezing their asses off out here” while she kept flubbing the scene. This gives an interesting examination of Kubrick’s OCD obsession for retakes–and would freeze his behind off up on Mt. Hood just to get one banal scene right. What the documentary doesn’t say, though, is that only the outside scenes were done at Timberline lodge–with only one interior shot in the lobby.
The rest of “The Shining” was done in a studio in England (sorry, that blows away the myth that Timberline Lodge has a hedge maze on its ground under all that snow)–yet it brings the curious from around the world thinking they’re going to be seeing the interior of what you see in the movie.
___
What you do see in the interior of Timberline is a lot more inviting and folksy if the outside part still gives you a creepy vibe from equating it to “The Shining.” As evidenced in one of my public domain photos of Timberline posted above–the lobby is one of the coziest places you’ll find in the NW Cascades. A lot of people who actually hate skiing enjoy coming here and just lounging around most of the day while their significant other or friends are out snow walking or skiing down nearby slopes. The Cascade Dining Room is a popular restaurant there that you can go into, have some coffee or have a complete meal. And they don’t shoo you out right away either like other high-class restaurants do so you can hang around and enjoy the atmosphere if you aren’t intending to spend the night at the lodge. The rooms, however, are just as comfortable.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of the interior is the large fireplace in the lobby and in most of the rooms. The main one in the lobby is quite famous–because it’s used annually during the local airing of the Yule Log on Oregon’s PBS stations Christmas Eve. Well, it was actually filmed a number of years ago, with a rerun of the same tape every year as it usually is with all those televised Yule Logs. For a time in the 1980’s, they used to have a live feed directly on the fireplace every year throughout Christmas Eve night while holiday music was played. No fake fireplace there–because you’d always see someone’s arm stoking the fireplace every half an hour or so.
___
Today, Timberline Lodge gets millions visiting each year–both non-famous and famous alike. It’s really one of the best places to stay for those enamored of winter sports and the Cascade Mountains with the entire area surrounding it for skiing also called Timberline Lodge as a titular title.
You can get there through the Mt. Hood Scene Byway–located on Hwy 26. But don’t necessarily expect to see the entire structure if it’s in the dead of winter and it’s covered in 21 feet of snow. Nonetheless, the lodge has a tunnel entryway designed just for when that happens…and no sinister Jack Torrance around to pester you…
