7 Adventure Hostels for Outdoor Travelers

Whether you’re skiing or riding groomers, navigating singletrack on your mountain bike, or learning how to surf, here are a handful of the nation’s best hostels tailored to nature-loving globetrotters.

With a growing collection of thoughtfully designed, high-end hostels, adventure travelers don’t need to break the bank to recover in simple comfort — if not luxury.

Here are a handful of outdoor-centric hostels nationwide. All of these lodging options bill at an average of $50 or less per night in the most incredible outdoor hubs in the country.

Editor’s note: Check with each hostel and destination regarding the most recent COVID-19 requirements.

Adventure Hostels for Outdoor Travelers

The Pad Silverthorne

Launched in November 2021, The Pad Silverthorne is a high-end hostel based in Silverthorne, Colo., and tailored to outdoor adventurers.

And it’s not alone. Six major resorts encircle the hybrid boutique hotel: Keystone Resort, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Vail Ski Resort, and Loveland Ski Area. All await within a 15- to 34-minute drive from The Pad.

Dorm-style bunks start at $45 per night (up to $350 per night for private suites). Folks can also book micro-rooms and traditional hotel rooms.

Guests have access to a co-working space, gear storage, a rooftop bar and hot tub, community lounges, and a shared kitchen. An onsite restaurant, Graze and Torreys, will open in early 2022.

Plus, the eco-friendly design also features 18 upcycled shipping containers and has a pending B Corp Certification for sustainability.

The Pad also offers a popping events calendar, chockfull of educational sessions like free backcountry skiing and splitboarding 101 as well as donation-based yoga classes.

House of Trestles

A surfer’s paradise and art-infused digs, the House of Trestles is a boutique hotel and hostel in San Clemente, Calif. As the name suggests, it borders nearly 20 local breaks.

San Clemente State Beach, a haven for beginners and experienced surfers alike, offers beachfront access a mere 1.2 miles away. The beach also hosts picnic areas, restrooms, and showers. Four miles south is San Onofre State Beach, another top-notch hub to enjoy the surf.

Book a simple no-frills bunk for $29 per night, plus gear rentals including surfboards ($25-40 per day), wetsuits ($25 per day), and e-bikes with surf racks ($45 per day). And the hostel can connect you with surf lessons.

Ready to indulge? Reserve the newly renovated (and snazzy) penthouse suite for $150 per night. The menu of accommodations also includes apartments, hip hotel rooms, and bunk rooms. Guests have access to the lounge, a communal kitchen, and an outdoor barbecue.

Mulberry Gap

Known as the mountain biker getaway, The Mulberry Gap is a hive of 10 rustic cabins nestled next to Holly Creek in the Appalachian foothills northwest of Ellijay, Ga.

The property sits at the heart of routes for all skillsets from singletrack to gravel and road. The Mulberry Gap team offers a shuttle service and can help plan your route. Don’t ride? Outdoorsy folks can also enjoy hiking, running, swimming holes, fishing, and overlooks.

For shuteye, the Fox Den and Pinhoti Way cabins sleep up to two guests in bunk beds starting at $50 per night, plus a microwave and mini-fridge. Quaint bridges and trout- and koi-stocked ponds speckle the property, engulfed by rhododendrons as well as hardwood and hemlock trees.

There’s also a dining hall full of board games and wood stoves, a deck, a camp kitchen, and a bathhouse.

A hot tub and bike wash area can soothe the goods after a big day outdoors. Filling homestyle meals at community tables is part of the picture (at an additional cost) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Hostel

If you’re on a budget and heading out to explore the scenic splendor of the Grand Tetons and Jackson, Wyo., look no further than The Hostel. This happens to be where I had the pleasure of staying on my first weeklong ski trip to Jackson circa 2010. The plain, pet-friendly pad sits at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort — what more can you ask for?!

The front yard includes picnic tables plus an indoor recreation room with pool and ping pong tables, shuffleboard, and foosball. A ski waxing area and gear storage help keep your tools ready to go. And there’s a refrigerator, a microwave, hotplates, and a toaster to keep and warm up food. A public bus runs from Teton Village to Jackson.

In the low season, you can snag a private king room for as low as $49 per night (they’ll even let you squeeze three guests in there). Otherwise, the shared bunk room starts at $32 per night. (At the time of writing, shared bunk rooms are suspended due to COVID-19.)

A-Lodge Boulder

Tucked into Fourmile Canyon sits A-Lodge Boulder, a hostel and hotel a few miles west of Boulder, Colo. Eldora Mountain Ski Resort is a 30-minute commute west, and Rocky Mountain National Park lies 60 minutes to the north.

Built for outdoor-focused travelers, the property features a cozy four-person hostel — starting at $55 per night — and a range of simple hotel rooms with queen-size beds.

All guests can enjoy the upscale renovated saloon and lobby, a historic stone landmark of Boulder County known as the original Wagon Wheel Lodge. The upscale space features a meeting room and seating areas for eating, working, socializing, enjoying libations, and warming by the fireplace.

The A-Lodge also offers a hot tub, a pool, a creekside pavilion, a slackline park, and a shuttle service to Eldora. (Note: At the time of writing, shuttle service is on pause.)

Park City Hostel

Utah is one of the best places in the world for blower powder. And it’s requisite for any resort athlete to venture and see one of the state’s many ski areas. For travelers on a budget, head to the Park City Hostel, where dorm-style bunks start at $58 per night during the winter’s high tide (the price drops during the low season).

The space includes one large common area with a group kitchen, a pool table, a complimentary coffee and tea bar, and a rooftop patio.

A free bus runs every 20 minutes to take folks from the hostel to Park City Mountain Resort, less than 10 minutes away. Deer Valley Resort is an additional 10-minute bus ride further. Visitors could also take turns at Solitude Mountain Resort, Brighton Resort, Alta Ski Area, or Snowbird.

The Bivvi Hostel

The boutique mountain lodge and hostel, dubbed The Bivvi Hostel, is tucked near the box canyon of Telluride in Southwest Colorado. The 10-minute commute down valley from Telluride Ski Resort winds through a jaw-dropping gorge pierced by the San Miguel River.

A six-person dorm books at $65 per night — the priciest option on our list. And with such limited space in this quaint mountain town, the price is for good reason. The bunk reservation includes a personal locker and group-suite bathroom plus a complimentary hot breakfast.

There are ski and bike racks and boot-drying stations. Guests can relax in the outdoor hot tub or play rounds of pool (BYOB until the onsite liquor license is secured).

A public bus (with limited run times) and a tip-based shuttle service operate Thursday through Sunday all ski season long.