VISIT TO CRATER LAKE, IN OREGÓN

We had it well marked in red on our map: the Crater lake It is one of the essential visits to make on a trip through Oregon, and could not miss in our roadtrip. We tell you more details about this spectacular lake in a volcanic crater, how to make the visit and our personal experience.

This is the map of the route through the Oregon Crater Lake:

We started the day in Chiloquin, where we had arrived after touring the Umpqua National Forest the day before. We did it this way because Crater Lake can be visited by several entries, and in the period in which we traveled (end of May) only the south.

In the national 62 there were still traces of snow on the sides, which began to give us an idea of ​​what we were going to find above. And more when we made the first stop, just before taking the detour, to contemplate a beautiful canyon, surrounded by forest and background, the snowy mountains protruding from all that green thickness. And that's where we go!

Just after the turn to the right, we stop at the booth of entry from the park, where you have to pay the $ 25 per car. This is the southern entrance, there is another entrance in the north of the park, via Highway 138, but it only opens during the summer months.

From here the road begins to rise, and the level of snow accumulated around us becomes larger (even several meters!). But the asphalt is clean and not dangerous, for these things there is no one who wins the Yankees. Halfway there is a Visitor Center (Steel Visitor Center), where they inform you about the state of the roads, if there are any closed viewpoints, etc. On our visit, there was only one section of the road surrounding the 1-mile crater, to the Discovery Point.

And a little higher, already in the highest part of the crater, you will reach the Rim Village Visitor Center. This is the center from where the visit of Crater Lake itself begins. There is a large parking lot, a souvenir shop, a cafeteria and even an accommodation (the Crater Lake Lodge). It is time to leave the car and freak out with the first viewpoints, at the edge of the crater. You can walk to explore this whole area, we recommend you spend a little while to see several panoramic points, such as the Sinnott Memorial Overlook.

Then ride again in the car and travel the Rim Drive, the road of some 50 km that surrounds the crater by its edge, and where there are several viewpoints. The first of them is him Discovery Point, which was the end of the section that remained open during our trip. Then you would arrive at Watchman Overlook, which they told us is the best panoramic point of the whole Crater Lake. It is located just in front of the famous islet of the lake (Wizard Island), that if, to reach the top of this viewpoint you have to do a 4km trekking, so you will need to be a little fit.

About halfway there is the Cleetwood Cove Trail, a fairly steep path of 1.7 km that descends to the same waters of the lake, and where if you want you can take a dip (it is allowed!). As you know, we could not move to this area, but some friends went down and told us that the effort was not really worth it ... Down here there is a small dock from which in summer they leave boats to go around the lake. There are two types of tour: one of 2 hours by the lake ($ 44), and another of 3 hours that includes a visit to the Wizard Island, where a trek is made to reach the top ($ 55). It can be a beautiful experience, more info.

In the eastern part of the circular route, we have two other stops at the viewpoints of Cloudcap Overlook Y Phantom Ship Overlook. Before arriving again at the Rim Village Visitor Center and finish the visit to Crater Lake. Before finishing the tour, there is a detour of about 10 km to the Pinnacles Overlook, from which you can see some formations of eroded needle-shaped rock quite cool.

This tour of the Rim Drive is easy to do with your own car, there is parking at each viewpoint and the road is in perfect condition, but keep in mind that it is only open during the summer months. However, in winter the road that reaches the Rim Village Visitor Center is also usually open and prepared for tourism, and although you can not visit other viewpoints, the views from here are spectacular and worth the visit.

There is an alternative to the car itself: the trolley car! In summer there is a tram that leaves from the information center of the Rim Village and makes the whole journey around the crater, with several stops at viewpoints and points of interest, lasting 2 hours. It costs $ 29 and it is recommended to book early, more info.

To check the current state of the roads, maps, recommendations, etc., it is best to study the NPS website of Crater Lake.

The Crater Lake one of the most impressive places on our roadtrip through Oregon, but the journey continues, and the route took us back west, towards the coast. Although it would no longer be Oregon but California. And along the way we take the opportunity to continue exploring new places.

If we traced the North Umpqua River the previous day, today we will continue to stick well to the Rogue River during this first part of the tour. We would stop at Rogue Gorge to contemplate how the river makes its way in a lava plate, forming canyons of capricious forms. It's about a short path which passes through 4 different viewpoints over the canyon. And a little later in the Natural bridge where the river disappears and appears again through a very surprising natural tunnel. This however is a 2.6 km trail (round trip), which reaches the place where the natural bridge is located.

The river widens a few miles below forming the Lost creek lake, the ideal place to take advantage and take out the bag with everything left over from breakfast and replenish energy. There is a recreational area very well assembled, with bathrooms, electric barbecues, drinking water and a small store where you can buy everything.

We say goodbye to the highlands and lakes, and enter a harsher and drier territory, where it seems that flowers don't grow. Well, you're going to get a surprise (another!). There is a curious place just a mile from the main road 199: Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Wayside, a wooden walkway that crosses a pine grove and reaches a platform, from where you can see a field full of a carnivorous plant super curious snake-shaped! The Califoric Darlingtonia, quite difficult to see. At the end of May almost all seemed already marches, but it was certainly a different stop.

Before leaving Oregon behind, there is an interesting place to include on the route if you have time: Oregon Caves. They are marble caves that can be visited with the explanations of a ranger in a 90-minute tour ($ 10). Before going, check out their website for the latest hours.

We cross then the Oregon-California border, on Highway 199, also called "Redwood Highway", and this road will take us directly to the first huge redwoods centenarians in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. And here happened one of these things that happen in travel and have no explanation: we entered the forest with a radiant sun, which disappeared as soon as we were surrounded by these huge trees. All normal until there, however when we saw the light again at the end of the forest, what was once an unpolluted blue sky had turned into a gray and dark day ... it is as if we had entered a time tunnel ... of weather . And the strangest thing is that it was on its way to the California coast! The weather in the United States is completely crazy ...

We finished the day in the coastal city of Crescent city, which lacks charm, but it is a strategic place to spend the night and continue exploring the coast of California on the way to San Francisco.

This was ours visit to Oregon Crater Lake, without a doubt one of the wonders of this incredible state of the United States ... We hope that now you can have much more information to plan your trip.