Note: The lodge is now under new ownership but the atmosphere remains the same as described in this article.

By Dave Webb
    "My goal was to build a lodge which would become a destination," Mark Austin, owner of Boulder Mountain Lodge, told me when I stayed there recently. "I wanted a place which would set a style, which would offer a comfortable, friendly atmosphere where visitors would feel at home, a lodge which could work for the good of the community, and the surrounding area."
    From my viewpoint he and his partner, David Mock, have succeeded very well. They have created a lodge which offers comfort, convenience, style, and where there is a remarkable view in ever direction. It is a place where you are just minutes away from mountain lakes full of big fish, just minutes away from streams which cut through massive sandstone walls, offering great fly fishing, and just minutes away from the incredible Escalante Canyons area, where you will find some of the most exciting and challenging hikes on earth. The lodge is located at the junction of Highway 12 and the Burr Trail in the town of Boulder, just southeast of Boulder Mountain. It makes a wonderful base from which to explore the area.
    The lodge is new, it's been open for about a year-and-a-half. It offers 20 rooms in three buildings, plus a full-service restaurant (called the Hell's Backbone Grill) and a lounge (The Great House) where people can swap fishing and hiking stories in front of a cozy fire.
    One and two bedroom units are available, with various configurations of beds to accommodate every visitor, from a solitary fisherman to a large family group. The rooms are all spacious, with new, comfortable furnishings. Each upper level room opens to a balcony. Views from the upper rooms, again, are spectacular.
    TVs are not standard features in most rooms, but they are available upon request. Smoking is prohibited in all but two of the rooms.
    Mark is an architectural designer by profession, and he designed the lodge himself. "I was living in Seattle, and I got water-logged. Some friends introduced me to the Boulder area. It seemed like an idyllic, storybook hamlet - where your mere presence felt like an intrusion. I fell in love with the area."
    He designed the lodge to harmonize with the rural atmosphere of the community and with the surrounding caramel-colored cliffs. Over the years Mark has enjoyed studying the architecture of great lodges around the world, and he incorporated many of their best features into his buildings. Overall, the design is Western Eclectic, (selecting and using building materials natural to the area) with reddish stucco, rose sandstone blocks, massive timbers and dramatically pitched, rusted metal roofs.
    The buildings are grouped around a 15-acre pond Ğ the lodge's own wild sanctuary. Many rooms look out over the pond, home to a wide variety of birds and animals.
    As a newcomer to the community, Mark says, working with the locals has been challenging, rewarding and sometimes frustrating. He has tried to make the lodge a part of the community. He hires local people and buys local products, as much as possible.
    But Boulder is an old ranch and logging town that sometimes stubbornly resists change. Mark is often frustrated by the attitudes of some people, including town and county officials. Many people want to preserve what they have. They don't want growth or development, yet they don't want zoning or environmental laws that would protect the community and surrounding area.
"The lodge is really involved politically, working to retain the rural setting and remarkable beauty of the community," Mark said. "Boulder still has the opportunity to guide its growth, if the people will just do it."
    Tourism is steadily becoming more important to the local economy, but some residents strongly resent the influx of outsiders. When they paved roads in this area, it was an aggressive invitation to the outside world, and people started to come. But many local people seemed to think tourists would just drive by and throw money out their car windows. They never expected people to stay, to buy land, to want a voice in what happens to the area."
    Mark suggested some residents have negatively stereotyped hikers and fishermen who come to recreate in the area. One county commissioner has been quoted as saying, "Hikers come with one pair of shorts and $20, and they never change either while they are here."
    Mark said," The recreational value of the area is like a golden goose. Some people would just as soon shoot it dead."
    Political activism has won the lodge friends and created enemies. Either way, the lodge is out to make a difference in the community. But people staying at the lodge do not become aware of the controversy, unless they seek Mark out and bring up issues. Most people come and stay in quiet comfort. More and more people are making the lodge their destination, the base from which they enjoy this wonderful area. It's a great place to stay - I recommend it. Call the lodge at (800)556-3446 to reserve your room.