Accommodations

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Casitas

Each casita has a large window looking out to the woods, a bed, table and chair, as well as hooks to hang personal items. All casitas have a small propane heater. There are two to three casitas per casita structure, with shared walls in between. Casitas are single occupancy.

yurt-out-200 yurt-inside-200 Yurts

There are four yurts available. Yurts are round, with a skylight in the middle of the structure and canvas walls. Each yurt has a bed, table and chair, as well as hooks to hang personal items. All yurts have a small propane heater. The yurts are stand-alone structures. Yurts are single occupancy.

Tent Cabins

The tent cabins at Vallecitos offer a simple, yet comfortable, low-cost accommodation. The tent cabins are on wooden platforms with canvas walls. Each has a bed, a small table and chair. There are zipper windows in the tent cabins and the front opening can be spread wide to invite in sunlight. Some of the tent cabins have a propane heater. Unheated tent cabins are only available when the weather permits. Tent cabins are stand-alone structures. Tent cabins are single occupancy.

Hermitage

The Hermitage Cabin is a unique retreat participant space for our retreats, providing a more secluded experience in a beautiful cabin. By choosing this option and paying at a higher rate you are supporting Vallecitos to continue to care for the land and make retreat practice more accessible for all.

The Hermitage cabin is a premier accommodation providing a private and spacious wilderness experience. A secluded cabin with its own outhouse and south facing deck for beautiful sun exposure and views, the cabin features a queen size bed, night stand, desk, chair, plus a counter and sink (without running water). We provide hermitage guests with hot water to keep at the cabin. The hermitage is a stand-alone structure heated by propane. The hermitage is single occupancy.

Accommodation Logistics

Bedding: Bedding is not provided in retreat housing. Guests bring their own warm bedding/sleeping bag or may rent a Comfort Pack which includes sleeping bag, fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillow case, towel and wash cloth.

Bathrooms: There are outhouses located throughout the Vallecitos property and there is also a bathhouse with flush toilets and hot showers close to the lodge. Accommodations do not have water. Please see the map below, which shows the locations of outhouses and the bathhouse.

Electricity: Vallecitos is “off the grid” and uses only solar power. Each accommodation has a small solar powered or battery operated lamp. There are no electrical outlets for personal appliances or electronic devices in the accommodations. While we encourage guests to use as little power as necessary and to leave electronic devices at home, the bathhouse does have one electrical outlet that can be used on a very limited basis. It is a good idea to bring an adequate flashlight and other battery powered lighting for your accommodation (a reading light, for example).

Accessibility

As a wilderness retreat center located in a mountainous forest area, Vallecitos is not accessible to all temporarily able-bodied folks, regardless of their age or physical ability, and it does not accommodate wheelchairs, wheeled walkers or other walking aids that are designed for flat, even surfaces.

Other than the built structures, the ground throughout the property is unpaved, a mix of dirt and gravel. There is a rocky slope from the dining room and main lodge to guest lodging, and accommodations are spread across the land at various distances. Access to the Yurts, Tent Cabins and Hermitage require walking up a path on a gradual slope, while the Casitas are spread out on a steeper hill. Practitioners will need to navigate the inclines and walking paths several times throughout the day. There are 3-4 steps into the Dining Hall for three meals each day, and Casitas, Yurts and Tent Cabins require 3-4 steps to enter. Outhouses are located over well-trodden, but uneven paths, at various distances from housing. The Bathhouse is accessible by a wood platform path from the main lodge. The meadow paths are well-trodden and should be accessible if participants can manage the logistics above.

For anyone concerned about their ability to navigate our property, we welcome a conversation with you to discuss whether Vallecitos can support you during a retreat. Please reach out to us at refuge@vallecitos.org and the Registration Manager will contact you.

Accommodation and Facility Map

Khalil Hassan

...I cannot express in words alone how important the retreat was for me. One of the most valuable lessons I learned is the importance of listening to my inner self. Vallecitos provided the necessary environment that makes it impossible not to go inward. When I returned home, I hit the ground running, but with a more focused direction. I attribute that to my stay at Vallecitos.

Swati Prakash

...The time and the space to reflect and cultivate inner calm were so valuable. This was a very healing experience for me. It also started me on the practice of meditating. I meditate every day now, just for 10 minutes, but it makes a huge difference in my everyday life and with work.

...17 years ago, I received an invitation to sit for 10 days of silence at Vallecitos. I accepted the invitation with no idea of the lasting impact the retreat would have on me. Over the years, the annual pilgrimage has provided me with tools to sustain and deepen my ongoing mediation practice. Sweeping fields of wildflowers, star-dotted nights, and bubbling streams provide a unique opportunity to directly experience interconnectedness. This gentle, wild setting is a profound environment to recharge mind, spirit, and body.

Mushim Ikeda

...I was teaching at Vallecitos one year in August, during the meteor showers. Our sensitivity heightened by hours of silent meditation, we would stand outside at night and watch trails of light cross the vast dark sky, signs from what I call the Greater Reality. Unforgettable.

Mark Coleman

...Vallecitos has always been one of my spiritual homes. It is a place where I have learned so much about the refuge of wilderness. It is where I have discovered so much about my own nature, from the wildness of nature there. Not only is it exquisitely beautiful and pristine, it is also profoundly serene and a place of deep renewal. I feel so blessed to have been able to visit every year for the past twenty years. I am eternally grateful for that land.

Cristina Mormorunni

...I am so much more aware of the path I want to be on and the power of the sacred in my life.

...I came to Vallecitos for a retreat years ago and fell in love with it. Now as a volunteer and yogi I try to come back every summer to soak up the stunning landscapes as well as the rich dharma. This place truly calls me home.

Debra Susan Abbot

...I had a tremendous experience at Vallecitos, which is one of the most rewarding and positive things I’ve done within my lifetime. I have incorporated many of the things I learned into my daily life, and it has been very healthy for me. I had to experience loving kindness, sympathetic joy and generosity to understand the full power and grace of these profound feelings and actions.

Katie Gall

...Vallecitos has truly become a home to me. Working with such great teachers and mentors is an honor and being able to absorb all the knowledge and blessings that flow through the gorgeous land has shaped my soul and nourished my mind. It really is a magical place that I am forever grateful for.

Krys Kornmeier

...The view of the Aspen trees outside my casita, the cool silent mornings of meditation, the warmth of the lodge, and the exquisite majesty of the land created a gentle but powerful impression... in one short visit I have come to treasure Vallecitos.

Jane Cronlund

...Since the retreat, my pace of personal breakthroughs has quickened and old dynamics seem to be changing in positive ways. I am better able to deal with previously tense situations and successfully resolve them. I have increased feelings of peace. Thank you!

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