Enjoy cooking and hiking?!! Hiring now for Georgia’s only backcountry lodge

The Len Foote Hike Inn is a LEED certified Georgia State Park facility nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains of Chattahoochee National Forest, located 5-miles by trail north of Amicalola Falls State Park and 4.4-miles from Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. 

Len Foote Hike Inn, a unique backcountry lodge in Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia, is focused on providing guests with a high quality experience. We are seeking a dedicated and detail-oriented Cook to join our small team. This is a year round, full-time, live-on site position that provides a unique opportunity to live and work in a Southern Appalachian mountain wilderness setting. Housing and meals are available for staff.

The Hike Inn makes it easy for people to enjoy the peace and beauty of the outdoors in a natural, backpacking-inspired setting. We offer overnight guests home cooked, southern-influenced meals, served family-style. Sustainability is important to our operations and is part of our mission. We emphasize zero food waste with guests and plan meals to generate as little waste as possible and compost all food scraps. As a nonprofit, we seek to inspire a love of the outdoors in everyone who visits, and uphold our mission of “Protecting Georgia’s natural resources through education and recreation.”

From experienced Appalachian Trail “thru-hikers” to the novice first timer - whether families, couples, or individuals - our guests enjoy a unique getaway stay at the Hike Inn. Open year round, the Hike Inn offers distinctive guest experiences in a beautiful backcountry wilderness setting. All guests hike in on a rolling five-mile trail traversing forested ridges and clear mountain streams of Amicalola Falls State Park and Chattahoochee National Forest. After a few hours in nature, hikers are welcomed with a friendly smile and provided comfortable lodging in an enchanting environment. Simple bunk rooms with fresh linens, hot showers, delicious home-cooked meals, a fun community atmosphere, and engaging educational programs provide satisfying touches of comfort and inspiration. The Hike Inn is well-known for providing exceptional guest services and welcoming hospitality.

Guests are offered a relaxing atmosphere and an interesting facility tour focusing on the history and sustainability initiatives of the inn before being served a hearty dinner. After dinner evening programs offer a deeper exploration into various subjects from thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail to the flora, fauna and history of the region. The community room is a guest favorite, providing a fun place to play board games, do jigsaw puzzles, play music and connect with others. During clear weather, stargazing in the night sky and watching the sunrise over the mountains offer beautiful moments of quiet reflection. A nourishing, hot breakfast sets up our guests for another great day outside on the trail. Changes in weather and seasons offer adventure, diversity and beauty.

Serving as a beloved wilderness retreat and learning resource center for 28 years, a visit to the Hike Inn inspires a love for hiking, nature and environmental stewardship. It is a special opportunity for guests to slow down, unplug, connect with nature, family and friends, learn something new, and refresh their spirits.  We take great pride in providing this exceptional experience.

A hike on its own is a fine thing to do. A backcountry inn by itself is a special place to visit. Combine the two and something truly unique happens. Join the Hike Inn staff and experience the combination of hiking, living and working in the beautiful north Georgia Blue Ridge mountains - with a trail to the Appalachian Trail out your front door!

Job description

The Hike Inn has a long standing tradition of serving delicious, hearty dinners and breakfasts family-style for guests. Cooks are responsible for preparation and serving meals and the cleaning of the kitchen, including dishwashing.  Dinner is served at 6 PM, breakfast at 8 AM. Guest trail lunches are prepared in the morning; hot lunches are prepared for Hike Inn staff only at noon.

The kitchen is open to the dining hall and staff need to be hospitality orientated, feeling comfortable conversing with and assisting guests. We also have a great Friends of the Hike Inn volunteer program that assists the kitchen staff every night. Some Friends are first time volunteers and need direction from the staff, and others have been volunteering regularly for years and are genuine friends. They bring wonderful energy and conversations to our daily routine.

Shifts are based on 40 hours work weeks, usually a five consecutive day work week, with two consecutive days off per week. The shifts are eight consecutive hours 6:00 AM-2:30 PM or 11:00 AM-7:30 PM. The Cook is responsible for kitchen clean up and washing dishes.The majority of the shift, the Cook is working solo and independently. 

If you are conservation minded, enjoy people, and like working and living in an area surrounded by nature, this position may be for you. We are a small, close-knit staff who share a common interest in hiking and the outdoors. Over a dozen staff have thru-hiked the AT before or after their time at the Hike Inn, as well as few who also went onto thru-hike the PCT. A long trail right out the front door is a fine thing to have. There is a wide variety of outdoor and recreational opportunities in the area, such as mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking and trout fishing. Our great staff is the key to Hike Inn guests having a positive experience. We work hard, have a lot of fun, and love what we do. Join us!

Responsibilities and Duties

• Provide exceptional service and welcoming hospitality to guests. 

• Manage daily kitchen shift operations that adheres to all health codes, food safety regulations and sanitation standards when preparing and storing food as well as maintaining a clean and orderly kitchen.

• Set up and break down the kitchen, dish room and dining room.

• Prepare meals and manage a kitchen that provides a variety of high quality main dishes, sides and desserts for up to 45 guests.

• Ensure meals are prepared consistently and meet Hike Inn standards for portioning and presentation.

• Plan for menu rotations and prepare vegetarian/vegan meals as needed.

• Check guest incoming sheets daily for food allergies and special meal requests.

• Train and work with the Friends of the Hike Inn volunteers to serve meals and help with kitchen clean-up.

• Provide assistance for adequate inventory and stock rotation.

• Present and conduct behavior in a professional manner by being well groomed, well mannered, with a courteous, positive and helpful attitude at all times.

• Follow food waste reduction goals and ‘clean plate’ education program.

• Actively participate in recycling and composting programs.

• Perform additional functions that may be assigned at the discretion of the managers or executive director.

Skills and Qualifications

• Prior kitchen experience preferred, however, will train as necessary.

• Ability to follow menu, sanitation procedures and instructions as needed.

• Accountability, professionalism, organization, and a strong work ethic.

• Friendly, hospitality oriented,excellent communication skills and ability to work well with a team.

• Experience living in an isolated setting with shared housing and community living is a plus.

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Compensation:  Starting wages at $14-16 per hour based on experience + plus an equal share of the tip pool, which average an additional $3/hour. At your three month evaluation, up to a % 5 merit raise. 

Benefits: A comfortable private room in shared housing is provided for one individual. All utilities including wifi are included. Meals and shared staff kitchen are provided. Free on-site laundry facility. Enrollment in a telemedicine insurance plan. Paid vacation after one year.  We are unable to accommodate pets and dependents/non-employees.