Breitenbush Hot Springs

Prior to COVID-19, Breitenbush hosted around 150 workshops each year.[4] The retreat & conference center serves as the venue; workshops are independently facilitated and range in content, but most are bridged by humanistic values and/or ecology. Examples of workshop content include yoga teacher training; mushroom, herbal, and farmers conferences; singing, dancing, & art; learning conscientious business practices; tantric couples' work; nutrition & wellness, etc. Workshops are typically conducted in one of three subvenues: the North Wing (of the Lodge), River Yurt, or Forest Shelter.

Soaking options are dispersed across two general areas. The Sacred Meadow overlooks the Breitenbush River and an opposing forested ridgeline. The meadow contains three rock-lined pools that can comfortably accommodate up to 10 people each. These pools receive water from natural hot springs aquifers in the hillside. Adjacent to the meadow is a cedar sauna. The building can seat up to 12 people and has a slatted floor, allowing hot vapor to rise up from mineral water below. . Several smaller claw-foot bathtubs have been installed in this area, allowing for single-use soaking.

Spiral Tubs

Behind the Lodge and closer to the river are four hot tubs which lie in a concrete patio, each comfortably seating four people. These are known as the Spiral Tubs and they receive their mineral water supply from a nearby geothermal well. The Spiral Tubs also include a mineral water cold plunge: the mineral water is cooled by means of copper pipes submerged in river water. Temperatures for all the hot tubs are regulated and range from 100 to 110 °F (38 to 43 °C). In 2020 the co-op installed a series of semi-private claw-foot tubs beyond the spirals, allowing for sanitary, single-use soaking in response to COVID-19.

The geothermal hot springs result from precipitation onto the surrounding Cascade Range. Analysis of the mineral and chemical content indicates an average subsurface temperature of 356 °F (180 °C) and a migration time of several thousand years.[5] The water's long contact with aquifer rock at such temperatures saturates it with dissolved minerals such as sulfate, calcite, analcime, anhydrite, chalcedony, microcline, muscovite, quartz, wairakite, and the elements potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and lithium. The surface temperature of the springs is about 180 °F (82 °C)—the lower temperature due to heat transfer to cooler rock near the Earth's surface.

The community-run retreat & conference center has been managing the location since 1977. It has followed on the heels of successive business ventures dating back to the early 1900s, several of which struggled in the face of harsh winters and other natural challenges stemming from the remote and forested location. The previous resort closed in 1972 following a series of floods.[6]) This set the stage for the co-op's founding visionary, Alex Beamer, to purchase the land and defunct facilities, many of which had fallen into a state of disrepair. Beamer had a vision for an intentional community and began recruiting others to join him in restoring the property. The early community labored for little more than their values, lodging, and a meager stipend; through their efforts the property's hydroelectric plant was restored, geothermal wells were dug and heat circulated; a dam and footbridge crossing the river were constructed; workshop spaces and improved hot springs soaking facilities were developed to facilitate the community's vision of a health-centered retreat center. The community was largely egalitarian, with resident performing a variety of tasks, ranging from skilled to domestic.

The desire of logging interests to harvest Breitenbush timber posed a threat to the site that continued until the Clinton Forest Plan of 1993 designated it a late successional reserve.[7] Community members routinely lobbied to stop logging interests in the area and many became activists practicing "radical direct action" such as chaining themselves to trees and obstructing equipment. After discovering a roosting pair of spotted owls (a then protected species) in the neighboring forest, Breitenbush activists were successful in curbing logging operations, saving much of the surrounding forests.[8]

Worker-residents went without pay early on and it was common for residents to have side-jobs for the sake of subsistence. Historian James J. Kopp reflects that the operation's early years fits within a landscape of utopian and counter-cultural movements that saw increasing popularity in the 1960s & 1970s.[9]

Having recruited a core group of dedicated community members and seeing operations starting to take off, Beamer sold the property to members of the community in 1985 (the operation was incorporated in 1981). The corporation officially converted to a worker-owned cooperative in 1989.[10] Management and structure throughout the 1980s and early 1990s continued to reflect the co-op's early values, with decisions being made by consensus among the member-owners.

Workers and their families continue to live in the community village year-round on the 154-acre (0.62 km²) site. The permanent community has 50 to 70 individuals. New members are approved by the co-op's Board of Directors after a year of work and purchasing an equity share.;[11] members of the cooperative have the ultimate authority when voting on issues in semi-annual stakeholder meetings, however day-to-day operations are delegated to the Board and managing directions. Members of the Board are elected from the resident stakeholders. The community is supported entirely by revenue from its retreat center operations and adult members are expected to contribute by participating in day-to-day operations of the business. Pay is minimum wage but workers enjoy many benefits, including housing, utilities, food, vacation time, and health care.