Tillamook State Forest Needs a Nonprofit Travelers Hostel

Tillamook State Forest Needs a Nonprofit Travelers Hostel

Please steal this idea. It doesn't have to involve me at all. And feel free to adapt it to anywhere else in the USA:

Tillamook State Forest needs a nonprofit traveler's hostel, one that is a part of the Hosteling International Network and that is within easy hiking or bicycling distance from the Salmonberry Trail, an 86-mile mixed-use, non-motorized path being built from the Banks-Vernonia trail to outside of Tillamook. The Tillamook State Forest hostel could be a full service hostel or a wilderness hostel.

The mission of the hostel would be something like this: to provide an affordable, welcoming, safe, comfortable space for travelers from different backgrounds, encouraging them to make friends, to appreciate and celebrate Oregon and to be continually inspired to travel to new places.

The successful launch and maintenance of a nonprofit hostel in association with the Salmonberry Trail in Tillamook State Forest could lead to creation of another hostel - or more - in the area, or in other places in Oregon. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Oregon had as many HI hostels as British Columbia, and people could easily hike, bicycle or otherwise travel between them?

A Tillamook Forest hostel, ideally, would have:

at least one bunk room for women only
at least one bunk room for men only
at least one co-ed bunk room
a small, private studio apartment for the on-call volunteer host
bedding for rent
a kitchen with an abundance of cookware and utensils, two refrigerators, a large sink (two would be better) and at least one stove with four burners
space for a large communal table, or two communal tables, where at least half of guests could eat at once
lockers
a lockable room for staff only, with a safe
a panic button that immediate calls 911 for an emergency at the hostel
a bicycle repair station
covered bicycle parking in the backyard with a permanent rack allowing bikes to be securely locked
a fenced backyard with a lockable gate
a grill
a communal space outdoors for a bonfire

Depending on whether or not it is a wilderness hostel or a full service hostel near a town, the hostel could also have

a room or two with a lockable door for couples or families
plenty of shared bathrooms and showers for all guests
Internet access for guests
washer and dryer
a large meeting room for presentations and events
bicycle parking in the front yard for community members participating in hostel events
surveillance cameras for the front and back doors and any other outside areas where appropriate
a covered area allowing for a movie screen and small stage in the back yard, with enough room around it for 50 people in an audience

A wilderness hostel is much more primitive than a regular, full-service hostel: it has a pit toilet rather than flush toilets, its water source is a well or nearby river or creek, the stove is gas, lights are powered by solar panels and a backup generator and the barracks are thickly insulated because there is no heat. The Rampart Wilderness Hostel in Banff, BC, Canada even has a wood-burning sauna! People go to a wilderness hostel because of immediate access to hiking/snow-shoeing trails, rock climbing and scenic views that cannot be reached by a car.

The NWConnector, a network of regional public bus lines that can get you between coastal towns and Portland or Salem or Albany, would be a good option for many patrons of such a hostel.

I'm so ready to help make this happen. If you have a solid interest and passion for this idea, and you want me to be involved please contact me. If enough people contact me, perhaps we can start plans to make this hostel a reality. Or, as I said before: steal this idea. I would be happy to wake up next year and find out someone else is doing this project - I don't want the glory, I just want this to happen!

Follow me on Twitter to see where I'm traveling currently: @coyotebroad

_______________________________________________

If you have read anything on coyotebroad.com and found it helpful, or want to criticize it, PLEASE let me know.
Comments are welcomed, and motivate me to keep writing -- without comments, I start to think I'm talking to cyberair. I would welcome your support for my work as well.

Quick Links

Index of resources for women travelers (how to get started, health & safety considerations, packing suggestions, transportation options, etc.

Advice for camping with your dogs in the USA

Saving Money with Park Passes in the USA

Advice for women motorcycle riders and travelers

transire benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good." advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping.

Suggestions for Women Aid Workers where the culture is more conservative/restrictive regarding women than most other countries.

Where I've been
A list of all of the states in the USA and all of the countries I have lived in or traveled in, the farthest North I've been by land, the nearest I've been to the equater, various other stats.
This includes all of the places I have traveled to and through via motorcycle.

Some of my favorite photos from my travels. Very hard to pick favorites.

Advice for Hotels, Hostels & Campgrounds in Transitional & Developing Countries: the Qualities of Great, Cheap Accommodations

how to support my writing

Disclaimer: Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.

This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty.

Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and is credited to Jayne Cravens

Please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).

The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.