Tilly Jane Campground

The Tilly Jane Campground is a rather unassuming camping area tucked away on Mount Hood's northeastern slope.  Construction in the area began with David Rose Cooper, who founded the Mount Hood Trail and Wagon Road Company in 1885 and built a rustic but passable road up to an outlook with absolutely stunning views of the mountain.  Four years later, the wealthy Portland banker William Ladd and attorney C.E.S. Wood built a lodge on top of the outlook, and Wood's wife named it the Cloud Cap Inn.  Although operations at the inn were never very fruitful, water was available from the Tilly Jane Creek, named for Ladd's wife, ensuring continual interest in the possibility of further development.

The Hood River American Legion began to use the area as a base camp for guiding large groups up Mount Hood's formidable north face, and in 1924 they created their first imprint by building a large Cook Stove to support their congregations.  In the late 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) built out the camp to its present state, adding a Forest Service Guard Station, the amphitheater and the Tilly Jane A-Frame in 1939.

Today, the Tilly Jane Campground is one of the most visited non-commercial locations on the mountain, used year-round by climbers, hikers and skiers.  The campground's roughly 15 primitive sites cannot be reserved, but both the Tilly Jane A-Frame and Guard Station require reservations.

Note: The Cloud Cap Campground has potable water.