After nearly 30 years, Lost Lake Resort has new owners.
Earlier this month Derek DeBorde and Jason Taylor took over the concession permit for the resort from longtime owners Roy and Barb Hillmick.
“We both turned 66; we still feel good and we want to do something for ourselves,” Roy Hillmick said of the reasoning for the sale.
In addition to Lost Lake, the new owners also gain the U.S. Forest Service Concession permit for numerous campgrounds around Mount Hood, including Wahtum Lake, Cloud Cap, Nottingham and Sherwood, among others.
DeBorde said when the opportunity came up to purchase the concession permit they had to do it.
“We have roots in Hood River, both of us,” DeBorde said. “We’ve always loved Lost Lake.”
DeBorde added that the resort concession also gave the two, who own numerous properties throughout the area, a chance to diversify their investments and to “enjoy all the beauty of Hood River while we’re working” at the same time.
The Mount Hood institution and summer getaway favorite includes more than 120 camping spots, several rustic cabins, a lodge with six furnished apartments, a general store and boat docks for boat rentals.
According to the resort, it also includes a large day use picnic area, public boat launch, handicapped accessible fishing dock and numerous trails, including one which makes a full loop around the lake.
The permit officially changed hands on Aug. 2, but DeBorde said that anyone heading up to the lake should not be expecting many changes in the short term.
“At this point our thoughts are to continue what Roy and Barb were doing,” DeBorde said. “We’d like to continue with how they were operating, we have a lot of ideas.
“It’s a partnership with the Forest Service and we’re working with them on these ideas to maintain the lake and all the other campgrounds and make improvements along the way.”
The Hillmicks became interested in purchasing Lost Lake three decades ago when they took a family trip there from their old home in Estacada. At the time they were considering moving to Alaska where Barbara was going to work as a postal worker, but then the opportunity to buy Lost Lake changed their life direction.
“It’s been a great ride,” Roy Hillmick said.
DeBorde and Taylor have brought on Trent Weseman of Parkdale to manage the resort, and Weseman started on the job a few months before the closing to learn the ropes from Roy.
With the resort in different hands for the first time in nearly three decades, the new owners are excited about the opportunity to own a part of their childhood.
“I was raised in Dee and spent a lot of time up at the lake as a kid and never thought I’d have an opportunity like this — and I’m really excited,” DeBorde said. “It should be a lot of fun.”
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Look for reflections by the Hillmicks on their almost three decades running the resort in an upcoming issue.
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