A Remote Mountain Lodge Reopens in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness

1The Minam River Lodge, Eagle Cap Wilderness

The Wild and Scenic Minam River flows past this newly renovated—and magnificently isolated—wilderness lodge. Onsite lodging options include three lodge rooms, one suite, nine cabins, two wall tents, and four teepees.

2Main room

Food will be front and center at the new Minam River Lodge, which opens May 27. Owner Barnes Ellis says guests will enjoy family-style “wilderness gourmet” fare enhanced by locally harvested produce.

3Main room

Food will be front and center at the new Minam River Lodge, which opens May 27. Owner Barnes Ellis says guests will enjoy family-style “wilderness gourmet” fare enhanced by locally harvested produce.

4Kitchen

Carl Krause, a former chef at Portland restaurants Biwa and Noraneko, will man the lodge’s food program.

5Kitchen

Carl Krause, a former chef at Portland restaurants Biwa and Noraneko, will man the lodge’s food program.

6Lounge

All furniture at the lodge was handmade by Oregonians Liz and Alan Holoubek.

7Lounge

All furniture at the lodge was handmade by Oregonians Liz and Alan Holoubek.

8Beertaps

Enterprise brewery Terminal Gravity is partnering with the lodge for custom beers utilizing locally grown and foraged ingredients—like huckleberries.

9Beertaps

Enterprise brewery Terminal Gravity is partnering with the lodge for custom beers utilizing locally grown and foraged ingredients—like huckleberries.

10Chimney room

Upstairs lodge rooms start at $245/night plus tax, wth a minimum three-night stay. But if you’re going to hike 8.5 miles to get here, we’re betting you’ll probably want to stay a while, right?

11Chimney room

Upstairs lodge rooms start at $245/night plus tax, wth a minimum three-night stay. But if you’re going to hike 8.5 miles to get here, we’re betting you’ll probably want to stay a while, right?

12An upstairs bedroom in the lodge

13An upstairs bedroom in the lodge

14Library chairs in the lodge upstairs

15Library chairs in the lodge upstairs

16Rocking chairs with a view of the lodge deck

For drowsing, rather than screen browsing. There’s no cell service here, natch.

17Rocking chairs with a view of the lodge deck

For drowsing, rather than screen browsing. There’s no cell service here, natch.

18Alfresco dining on the lodge deck

19Alfresco dining on the lodge deck

20The lodge kitchen garden

Ellis says the lodge’s two full-time gardeners will aim to produce much of the food consumed on the property.

21The lodge kitchen garden

Ellis says the lodge’s two full-time gardeners will aim to produce much of the food consumed on the property.

22Spring starts in the lodge greenhouse

23Spring starts in the lodge greenhouse

24Trail to the hot tub

25Trail to the hot tub

26Oh yeah

A wood-fired hot tub and rustic sauna sit within view of the river.

27Oh yeah

A wood-fired hot tub and rustic sauna sit within view of the river.

28A cabin porch

29A cabin porch

30Cabin veranda detail

31Cabin veranda detail

32Cabin interior

33Cabin interior

34Inside the Boulder Cabin

One of the lodge’s two grand cabins, lit by a wagon wheel chandelier with room for up to four. The other grand cabin, Sabai, is located a short walk from the lodge on a private bluff.

35Inside the Boulder Cabin

One of the lodge’s two grand cabins, lit by a wagon wheel chandelier with room for up to four. The other grand cabin, Sabai, is located a short walk from the lodge on a private bluff.

36Boulder Cabin shower detail

37Boulder Cabin shower detail

38Inside a wall tent

39Wall tent

Tents in forest clearings offer simple furnishings and access to the wood-fired hot tub. Tents start at $195 plus tax, with a minimum one-night stay.

40Teepees offer a third lodging option

A futon in the woods starts at $95 per night.

41Inside a wall tent

42Activities: enjoy the Wild and Scenic Minam River

One of two larger Oregon rivers considered truly pristine, the Minam is home to fall spawning salmon. Beyond the property lies 534 miles of trail and more than 100 lakes of the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Ellis hopes that in addition to serving as a nature retreat, the lodge will also prove a comfortable basecamp for grand adventures across Oregon’s “Alps.”

43Teepees offer a third lodging option

A futon in the woods starts at $95 per night.

44Also, there's cornhole

45Activities: enjoy the Wild and Scenic Minam River

One of two larger Oregon rivers considered truly pristine, the Minam is home to fall spawning salmon. Beyond the property lies 534 miles of trail and more than 100 lakes of the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Ellis hopes that in addition to serving as a nature retreat, the lodge will also prove a comfortable basecamp for grand adventures across Oregon’s “Alps.”

46Another route in: via the lodge Cessna

For about the same price ($120 per person), guests can arrange to fly from the trailhead to the property on the lodge Cessna.

47Also, there's cornhole

48The lodge in twilight

Once here, embrace the solitude. You’re ensconced in one of the world’s most remote retreats.

49Pack yourself in on horseback, then tour the grounds

Getting to the lodge requires parking at the Moss Creek Trailhead near Cove, Oregon. From there, it’s an 8.5-mile trek—on foot, or for about $120 per person, on horseback.

50Nightfall in the Eagle Cap Wilderness

And with so few traces of civilization around you, there’s little in between you and the undiluted night sky.

51Another route in: via the lodge Cessna

For about the same price ($120 per person), guests can arrange to fly from the trailhead to the property on the lodge Cessna.

52Pack yourself in on horseback, then tour the grounds

Getting to the lodge requires parking at the Moss Creek Trailhead near Cove, Oregon. From there, it’s an 8.5-mile trek—on foot, or for about $120 per person, on horseback.

53The lodge in twilight

Once here, embrace the solitude. You’re ensconced in one of the world’s most remote retreats.

54Wall tent

Tents in forest clearings offer simple furnishings and access to the wood-fired hot tub. Tents start at $195 plus tax, with a minimum one-night stay.

55Nightfall in the Eagle Cap Wilderness

And with so few traces of civilization around you, there’s little in between you and the undiluted night sky.

56The Minam River Lodge, Eagle Cap Wilderness

The Wild and Scenic Minam River flows past this newly renovated—and magnificently isolated—wilderness lodge. Onsite lodging options include three lodge rooms, one suite, nine cabins, two wall tents, and four teepees.

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One of Barnes Ellis’s strongest childhood memories is of a family reunion deep in northeastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains. The clan gathered at a one-time hunter’s lodge accessed only by an 8.5-mile foot and horseback trail. Years later, Ellis—who went on to cover City Hall for the Oregonian and later helped launch Portland asset management firm Baker Ellis—discovered that the lodge he remembered had fallen into complete disrepair.

“I loved what it was: a place you could hike into, eat great food, stand on the banks of a Wild and Scenic river,” says Ellis. “I wanted to revive it. A place like this—there aren’t that many like it left in the world.”

Six years ago, Ellis bought the 126-acre property with dreams of building a sweet life—and sustainable business—here in Oregon’s “Alps.” It wasn’t easy. First, Ellis and his team needed to clear the neglected property of decades-long accumulation of junk—a haul-out that required pricey air transport. (“We were using helicopters like some people use Uber,” he says.) There was an outhouse to dismantle, and then, the discovery that the lodge’s old kitchen had for years channeled graywater to a nearby wetland. The state mandated ADA access, a kitchen hood, and a sprinkler system installation—the latter hard to do, Ellis says, when your water source is a gravity-fed wilderness spring.

Time passed and difficulties mounted. But so did the personal investment of Ellis’s crew, which grew to include Portlanders like architects Ben Gates and Jeffrey Maas, alongside Wallowans like sixth-generation resident Kelsey Juve, whose father also handcrafted much of the lodge’s ceramic plateware. (Juve’s great-grandfather is the photographer behind many of the historic shots that grace the lodge.) The care taken during the lodge’s lengthy renovation process shows in everything from its furniture, custom-made from wood milled on-site, to the lodge’s hot water system, which is entirely heated by a central wood stove. 

“Three of the people from the construction team fell in love with the place and wanted to stay,” says Ellis. That team—which includes two full-time gardeners, a massage therapist, and chef Carl Krause (formerly of Portland restaurant Biwa)—is now ready to showcase its effort to the public. The Minam River Lodge reopened on May 27. Will it take a place alongside the West’s great luxury wilderness lodges—Alaska’s Ultima Thule, Colorado’s Dunton Hot Springs? Ellis hopes so. At the very least, he’s made good on a lifelong dream.

“It’s a crazy thing to do,” says Ellis. “But life is short. It’s a labor of love.”