The BulleTin • Sunday, June 13, 2021 A5
SILVER FALLS
Lodge reopens under
new management
BY JAMIE HALE
The Oregonian
More lodging at Silver Falls
State Park is reopening follow-
ing a six-month closure, and its
aiming to serve a wider group
of visitors than ever before.
The former Silver Falls
Lodge and Conference Center
will now be known as Smith
Creek Village, the Oregon
Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment announced Friday, and
under new management, the
group of cabins, cottages, lodge
rooms and ranches is taking
reservations for this summer
and beyond.
Silver Falls Hospitality will be
the new concessionaire at the
lodge, taking over for Califor-
nia-based Urban Park Conces-
sionaires, which had managed
the state park’s venues for six
years before ending its contract
nearly four years early in 2020,
as state parks and hotels shut
down across the state amid the
coronavirus pandemic.
Brooke Gerken, co-owner of
Silver Falls Hospitality, said her
company aims to transform
what used to be primarily a
wedding venue and conference
center into more of a hotel ex-
perience, offering lodging for
individual families and guests
alongside larger groups.
“What we’re hoping to do
here while we’re here is to treat it
more like a boutique hotel space
and offer outdoor experiences,”
Gerken said, like workshops and
outdoor activities. “Our goal is
to introduce people to the out-
doors in a way that makes them
comfortable, and provide vary-
ing levels of accommodations to
allow for that.”
Guests can book any num-
ber of accommodations at
Smith Creek Village, from tiny
cabins to family lodges and a
pair of “ranches” that can host
up to 75 people overnight.
Silver Falls Hospitality is
Boulder’s Hideaway, LLC
Cabins at Smith Creek Village, formerly known as the Silver Falls Lodge
and Conference Center, are found in Silver Falls State Park in Silverton.
inheriting not only the old
contract to manage the lodge,
but also the cabins and lodge
rooms themselves. Gerken
said those familiar with the old
conference center won’t see
drastic changes overnight —
aside from upgraded amenities
in all the rooms — but noted
her company plans on rede-
signing and redecorating the
spaces over time.
Aside from upgraded rooms,
Smith Creek Village plans to
offer “signature experiences”
like photography workshops
and outdoor painting classes
by 2022. Gerken said the ulti-
mate goal is “to get more of the
community up here and treat it
more like a community hub.”
Her company is also operat-
ing the Big Leaf Coffeehouse,
a cafe that primarily serves
guests but is open to the gen-
eral public. The South Falls
Cafe at the main day-use area
in the park will now be run by
the Oregon Commission for
the Blind’s Business Enterprise
Program, the state parks de-
partment said.
On the south side of the state
park near the campground,
Smith Creek Village was origi-
nally built by the Works Prog-
ress Administration as a youth
camp before it was turned
into a conference center in
the 1970s. Management has
changed hands several times
over the years, operating under
contract with the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department.
Gerken said because the
previous managers typically
rented out the entire property
for large events, casual visi-
tors had fewer opportunities
to stay there. In operating the
property as more of a boutique
hotel, she said she hopes more
people will discover the beau-
tiful cabins and lodge rooms
inside what is considered the
crown jewel of Oregon’s state
park system.
“We’re very happy that park
visitors now have these over-
night options and services once
again,” park manager Guy Ro-
drigue said in a news release
Friday. “Silver Falls Hospitality
has hit the ground running and
we’re eager to help them suc-
ceed in this new partnership.”
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