Foresthill Basecamp is planning a new kind of stay in California’s Sierra foothills, one built around what happens before and after a long day on the trail.
Founded by YJ Tung and Tyler Mitchell, the project is taking shape in Foresthill near the Western States Trail. Plans call for 10 cabins spread across 37 wooded acres, with recovery spaces and room for the bikes, packs and other gear that tend to follow outdoor athletes through the door. Foresthill Basecamp describes the project as the first performance lodge designed specifically for athletes.
That claim is ambitious, but the idea behind it is easy to understand. Most lodging near a trail system is still designed around the assumption that guests mainly need somewhere to sleep. Tung and Mitchell are designing around the rest of the day too, including the part when someone comes back tired, dirty, and carrying equipment that does not fit neatly beside a hotel desk.
“‘Experiential’ hospitality has become a trendy buzzword recently,” Tung said. “We’re building performance hospitality in the sense that athletes visiting will have a start-to-finish opportunity to not only train, but experience the land and all amenities we provide on-site.”
The property sits near Mile 62 of the Western States 100 course, putting guests close to terrain that has become deeply familiar to ultrarunners. The Western States Endurance Run itself starts in Olympic Valley and ends 100.2 miles later in Auburn, passing through remote Sierra terrain and the canyons of California gold country along the way.
Foresthill Basecamp is being designed for more than race week. The Western States Trail and Foresthill Divide are close enough for training days, and the founders also see the property serving mountain bikers or climbers who want quick access to the surrounding foothills.
Onsite, there are plans for trails that can handle warmups, recovery laps or shorter sessions without leaving the property. The team has also discussed hosting its own Foresthill 100K backyard ultra and is exploring additional riding features.
That changes the relationship between lodging and destination. Guests are not expected to spend the morning figuring out where to go from a generic vacation rental. The reason for staying is already outside the door.
Tung puts it in terms that sound less like conventional development math. “Most real estate developers are looking to generate the highest ROI in dollars,” he said. “I’m looking to get the highest ROI in guest experience.”
Cabins designed in partnership with Nokken are expected to sit among the pines with private outdoor space, and access to saunas is part of the stay. Inside, storage is being treated as part of the architecture rather than an afterthought, with dedicated space for equipment instead of asking a guest to improvise with a bike against the wall.
The property plans also include communal areas where guests can cook and spend time together, plus a workshop and mobility space intended for the less glamorous end-of-day jobs of tuning equipment or stretching out. Foresthill Basecamp’s current site describes the cabins as being built around guests “coming back dirty and tired,” which may be a more useful design brief for this audience than thread counts or pillow menus.
Recovery culture is certainly part of the appeal, but Foresthill Basecamp is not being pitched as a spa with trails nearby. The land is doing most of the work. Tung and Mitchell are building the hospitality around the reason people came to Foresthill in the first place.
That approach extends to the social side of the property. The founders expect runners and riders to end up sharing space after separate days outside, giving the lodge some of the communal quality of a basecamp without asking guests to give up privacy when they finally want to disappear into a cabin.
Tung comes to the project from marketing and client experience, with previous work tied closely to outdoor and athletic audiences. His résumé includes early campaigns for Strava as well as work with REI and Puma.
Mitchell brings a different kind of familiarity. He has worked on land entitlements and construction in the Sierra region and has held the Foresthill property for years, giving the project a foundation that predates the hospitality concept itself.
That split is visible in the project: Tung is thinking about the guest and the community around the stay, while Mitchell is dealing with what it actually takes to build on the land.
Foresthill Basecamp is now in the crowdfunding stage. Its Indiegogo campaign is live, with early two-night stays among the rewards, while the project works through permitting and development. The current target is a 2027 opening.
IMAGE CREDIT: Nokken
