NOT OFTEN do I judge vacation lodging by its andirons.

You know — I'm talking about those heavy metal, usually wrought iron, supports that cradle the wood in a fireplace.

While I rarely notice them elsewhere, distinctive andirons can make a classic Northwest lodge.

That the best old lodges in the Northwest are high on snow-blasted mountains or deep in a well-puddled rain forest helps draw guests to the hearth. Plus, in the early 20th century when these places were built, guest-room comfort seemed an afterthought. It was like social-engineering architects of the day wanted travelers to spend happy hours together — chatting, playing chess, knitting or sipping toddies, all by the lobby fireplace.

Like bookends for the blaze, andirons shaped like fir trees or little forest animals reflected the craft that gave the American Craftsman school of design its name.

The lodges, and their andirons, are still there. Here are three favorites around the Northwest:

Timberline Lodge

The lobby fireplace in this Oregon gem has andirons made from bent railroad rails. They curl like ram's horns, as if to remind you of the lodge's precarious 6,000-foot-high perch on snowcapped Mount Hood, an hour's drive east of Portland.

In addition, the andirons in eight guest rooms are shaped like rabbits, woodchucks and beavers. They're all original equipment by 1930s blacksmith O.B. Dawson and crew.

And the andirons aren't the only craftwork. Timberline, a 70-guest-room creation of the Works Progress Administration — FDR came for the 1937 dedication — is as much a museum as an inn. You'll practically trip over old-world handiwork, such as the carved owls and fawns in newel posts and table legs.

"I've been here over 30 years, and I'm still finding intriguing things," says lodge curator Linny Adamson.

The soaring roofline mimics the mountain. The rustic design reflects the influence of famed National Parks architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, known for Grand Canyon Lodge and Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel. While he did the initial drawings, Northwest architects finished Timberline, in keeping with the project's use of local talent — builders, weavers, smiths — and local materials, from Ponderosa pine for roof beams to Oregon andesite for the fireplaces.

• Timberline Lodge is six miles off U.S. Highway 26, near Government Camp, Ore. Open year-round, with nine-lift ski area, restaurant, two bars, heated year-round outdoor pool. 800-547-1406 or www.timberlinelodge.com.

Paradise Inn

Andirons shaped like the trees from which the lodge was built make the fireplaces fancy at Mount Rainier National Park's Paradise Inn, built in 1916.

In fact, gazing past the tree silhouettes into crackling embers kind of reminds you of a forest fire — oddly appropriate in that cedars used in the 5,400-foot-elevation lodge came from a nearby grove killed by an 1885 fire. The trees weathered over years to become barkless logs known as the Silver Forest.

While this isn't quite the craftsman's paradise of Timberline, the 121-room inn's peaked roof and overall look are just as yodel-worthy. Highlights include original carvings by German carpenter Hans Fraehnke, such as a peeled-log-based grandfather clock — 14 feet tall — and even a rustic piano, whose ivories President Harry Truman tickled during a 1945 visit. Hand-paintings of fir boughs and wildflowers on period lampshades make them artwork you can read by.

Just outside the door is Washington's trademark 14,411-foot peak. Book in August to see meadows bursting with glacier lilies and lupine.

• Paradise Inn is about 87 miles from Seattle in Mount Rainier National Park; open late May to early October. Restaurant. 360-569-2275 or www.mtrainierguestservices.com.

Lake Quinault Lodge

OK, there's nothing really special about the andirons here, but sometimes size matters: Innkeepers stoke the lobby's brick fireplace with yard-long logs, and it takes a plus-sized andiron to handle the resulting conflagration. Decades-worth of cinnamony wood smoke perfume the room.

The lodge, built in 1926 and styled after Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone, has plenty of Craftsman touches, though. In the lobby, vintage stencil paintings of Native American figures and wildlife such as wolves and ducks decorate rafters. Toddle down the broad lawn to the fog-wisped lake and look back at shake-sided walls, shutter-framed windows and the rooftop weather vane: an Indian twanging an arrow at a charging bear. It's pure 1920s Americana.

Franklin Roosevelt lunched here during the same 1937 tour when he dedicated Timberline Lodge. He ended up endorsing the creation of Olympic National Park, which Lake Quinault borders. (The lodge's Roosevelt Dining Room commemorates the visit.)

Outside, rain forest is the attraction, with 140 inches of deluge a year — almost quadrupling Seattle's moisture. Within a few miles grow the world's largest-known Sitka spruce, Western red cedar, Alaska cedar, Douglas fir and Western hemlock.

After you've sloshed along a trail to pay respects to a mighty tree, head for the fireplace. Hunker down. Listen to rain patter like raccoon feet on the windows. And, hey, a toddy never hurts.

• Lake Quinault Lodge is off U.S. Highway 101 on the Olympic Peninsula, about 156 miles from Seattle; open year-round. Accommodations in original 31-room lodge or several annexes, some more contemporary in look and feel. Restaurant, indoor pool, sauna and game room. 888-896-3818 or www.olympicnationalparks.com.

Brian J. Cantwell is Outdoors editor for The Seattle Times. He can be reached at 206-748-5724 or bcantwell@seattletimes.com.