Museums of Mt. Hood

The Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum is roughly six miles from Timberline Lodge. That is farther than it sounds. You just keep winding up.

However, as we were going to visit the former -- a stop on Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory Heritage Trail -- it made sense to also visit the museum at the latter. It is still the general neighborhood.

To be fair, the former is a much better museum.

Timberline Lodge does have some interesting history, and it makes sense to honor it, but it is a small space with a narrow focus.

The Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum just kept having more to see.

There was information on the geology and wildlife, ski club history, roads and plowing, search and rescue, and more, including vintage souvenirs.

With Timberline Lodge, it is more the layout of the rooms and items from a few connected people.

Generally if you are going to Timberline, you are going for skiing or hiking or some sort of physical activity. Maybe for a wedding. 

Because of that, if you then essentially walk through an extended hallway with some displays, that is a reasonable commitment.

The Cultural Center is right at the start of Government Camp. While that is often visited by people heading out for a day of physical activities, but possibly more leisurely ones.

Also, there is camping and lodging nearby, so if you are going to be staying in the area then a visit to the Cultural Center is a very reasonable activity.

In our case, it was a commitment driving out there -- it's hard to believe we did it every year when we were kids -- but it was not an unreasonable destination, especially combining it with three other things.

Obviously, there will be another post about the other two places we went. I will say that it was helpful to be able to talk to the staff at the Cultural (and Information!) Center as we planned the rest of our route.

Neither museum had an admission fee, so the primary expense is the trip.

COVID: Obviously both are indoors. I appreciated that the staff at the Cultural Center had masks available. That was not the case at the lodge.

Accessibility: The first thing I must point out is that both of these areas are subject to heavy snowfall. Designated parking areas near the Cultural Center had signs for areas that needed to be left clear during winter, presumably for snow plows.

Then the main parking lot for Timberline is quite steep. While there is an entrance marked as accessible, and once inside seeing the museum itself should not be an issue, it is easy to feel like the lodge is truly only for the extremely mobile and fit.

The Cultural Center does have multiple levels and an impressive staircase, but there is also an elevator. Some of the navigation might be tricky, but it is ultimately a better setup for mobility devices.

At least comparatively.

So visiting the Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum is my primary recommendation. It can be a good time.

https://mthoodmuseum.org/

https://www.timberlinelodge.com/