A Weekend Road Trip To Crater Lake, OR
Published August 14, 2023
There’s no better time to visit the Pacific Northwest than in August or September! As someone who grew up in Seattle and now lives in Chicago, I can personally confirm this. I love going back home during the late summer months, especially when I have a local trip planned. This year, that excursion was a drive down to Crater Lake, Oregon!
My high school friend group has an annual tradition of getting together in late summer for an outdoorsy, PNW road trip. Dorian, Ismael, Matthew, and I have stayed in tents, rented cabins, and booked yurts. To learn more about where we’ve been the past few years, click or tap on one of the image links below!
Since we had already camped in Washington and Montana, Oregon seemed like a logical destination for 2023. My cousin, Kailyn (who is also a travel blogger), spent some time in Crater Lake National Park a few years ago. I think that’s what originally put the idea in my head. Click here to check out what she had to say about it!
A three-day weekend was enough time to go on a road trip from Seattle to Crater Lake and back. However, it was a pretty jam-packed schedule with long stretches of driving. This post will provide an overview of our itinerary, as well as my thoughts on this stunningly blue body of freshwater. To skip down to any particular section, click or tap on the corresponding link below!
Basic Information About Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park was established in 1902. Located in rural south-central Oregon, the lake was formed in a caldera. It’s the result of volcanic activity (not a meteor) that occurred approximately 7,700 years ago. Both the lake and its surroundings are strikingly pretty.
The most impressive thing about Crater Lake is the deep blue color of its water. It’s a shade of blue unlike any other body of water I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing this is because of its incredible depth. In fact, this is the deepest lake in the United States! From the surface, it goes down almost 2,000 feet!
No rivers or creeks feed into Crater Lake, and the steep walls of the caldera essentially shield the water from the wind. These factors cause the surface to be exceptionally still and glassy. It’s also very clear due to the lack of turbulence or flow.
Our Three-Day Weekend Itinerary
The following is a day-by-day breakdown of our road trip from Seattle to Crater Lake and back.
Day 1 (Friday): Drive From Seattle To Crater Lake
Early Friday morning, we departed Seattle and began our long drive towards Oregon. We took I-5 South until Portland, then drove along US-97 South through Bend. According to Google Maps, the journey is about 420 miles and takes 7.5 hours without stops. We left Seattle around 9:00 a.m. and arrived at Crater Lake around dinnertime. Our breaks included a stop for lunch and a stop for groceries in Bend.
Portland was an ideal place to get lunch; we passed through Oregon’s largest city right around noon. After some brief online searches, we decided to try the Portland Food Hall (website | location). They didn’t have a ton of vendors or seating, but it was sufficient for us. I ordered birria tacos from Mi Pueblito Magico and found them to be pretty tasty.
The Portland Food Hall is only a block or two away from the Willamette River, which runs through the center of the city. After eating, we stretched our legs for a few minutes in a park overlooking the urban waterway before getting back on the road.
Our next stop after Portland was Bend, a mid-sized city in Central Oregon with a population of about 100,000 people. Located about three hours south of Portland by car, Bend has become a popular destination in recent years, so I was excited to get a glimpse of it. However, our quick drive through (and stop at the local Fred Meyer for groceries) didn’t really reveal much about the city. I guess I’ll have to prioritize another trip to see what Bend has to offer!
The final stretch of driving from Bend to Crater Lake took about two hours. Cell service cut out for us along this rural section of US-97 South. A little before sunset, we arrived to our cabin in Fort Klamath.
Day 2 (Saturday): All Day In The National Park
This itinerary allowed us to spend an entire day at Crater Lake. This was enough time to enjoy the stunning views, do a few hikes, and drive around the rim of the caldera. A couple of attractions were closed during our visit (more on that below). If everything had been open, two days at Crater Lake might have made more sense.
We started off Day 2 with breakfast at the Crater Lake Lodge (website | location). From what I can tell, there are only three options for food in the park, and this hotel restaurant is probably the best of them. There’s also a sit-down restaurant at Annie Creek and fast food at the Rim Village Gift Shop.
At the lodge restaurant, we ordered breakfast combos with eggs, potatoes, sausage, and toast. We also shared some buckwheat pancakes. I’d say it was a pretty standard breakfast, comparable to your average diner. Those golden cubed potatoes were the best part of the meal! The menu here is not extremely extensive, but it worked for us.
After breakfast, we spent a few minutes looking around the Rim Village Visitor Center. Then, we got in our vehicle and began driving over to Cleetwood Cove. This is the only trail in the national park that will bring you to the water’s edge. I’ve written a little bit more about this moderately steep hike below.
By the time we were done exploring the lakefront at Cleetwood Cove, we were ready for a late lunch. We went back to the lodge (since there are basically no other sit-down restaurants). This time, I ordered fish and chips. It was good, but I think the breakfast here was a little better.
We were a little tired by this time, so we headed back to our cabin to rest for a few hours. In hindsight, I wish we had driven a little further counterclockwise along the lake to see the Phantom Ship Overlook or Plaikni Falls. We thought this portion of Rim Drive was closed, but that actually ended up not being the case. Nevertheless, it was probably good to rest and be out of the sun.
The final thing we did on Day 2 was return to the park for a sunset hike up Watchman Peak Trail. This was not excessively strenuous, but it was incredibly windy and chilly up there at dusk! Be sure to bring a jacket. It’s worth noting as well that the sun sets over the mountains to the west, not over Crater Lake.
Day 3 (Sunday): Drive Back To Seattle
On our third day, we cooked a quick breakfast in our cabin then checked out. The main difference between our drive to Crater Lake and our drive back was that we didn’t go through Bend on the way home. We could’ve, but the GPS was indicating that it would be a little quicker to take Oregon Route 58 to Eugene and then I-5 North.
We stopped for lunch again in Portland (this time at The Old Spaghetti Factory). After about four more hours of driving, we got back to Seattle just in time for dinner.
Highlights of Crater Lake
Below are some of the main attractions you should see during your time at Crater Lake National Park.
Rim Village Visitor Center
This quaint little shop next to the Crater Lake Lodge is a great place to orient yourself, ask a ranger for tips, or buy a souvenir. This is also a great place to get a first look at the water!
Cleetwood Cove Trail
If you’re only interested in doing one hike at Crater Lake, this is the one I recommend. Cleetwood Cove is the only place where you can approach the water’s edge or go for a swim. It’s a little steep, but not an especially grueling hike. The views on the way down are incredible!
If boat tours to Wizard Island were operating, Cleetwood Cove is where we would’ve boarded one. I still am not quite sure why they hadn’t been given the green light to operate during our visit. The weather was absolutely perfect!
Watchman Peak Trail
Unlike Cleetwood Cove, Watchman Peak Trail actually rises in elevation and offers views from a higher vantage point than Rim Drive. The hike is pretty short and not super strenuous. We heard that this hike was perfect for sunset, so we did it after dinner on Day 2.
At the top of Watchman Peak is a little house-like structure where you can rest and enjoy the view. Crater Lake was indeed pretty during golden hour, but I wish we had known just how cold it would be up here! The wind was fierce, and we really should’ve brought sweatshirts.
Wizard Island
One of Crater Lake’s most stunning attributes is Wizard Island. It’s not exactly at the center of the lake, but rather on the far west side. From the western half of Rim Drive, you’ll get amazing views of this landform that really does look like a (slightly flattened) wizard’s hat.
There is no land bridge or man-made bridge to get to Wizard Island, which means an organized boat tour is the only way to reach it. To board one of the tours, you would hike down to Cleetwood Cove, where the dock is. Unfortunately, these water taxis weren’t running during our visit. Which brings me to…
Things I Wish We Had Known
There are two main things I wish we had known before arriving. The first is something we could’ve looked up online; the second is something that was not clearly stated on the National Park Service website or the Crater Lake website.
First, the road that goes around the lake is not fully open right now (August 2023). The northeast quadrant of Rim Drive (also known as the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway) is closed for construction. This is clearly stated online, but it means that you can’t drive all the way around the lake until it reopens. According to the National Park Service website, hikers and bikers won’t be able to pass this way either. Hopefully construction will be done by this time next year!
Second, there were no boat tours operating when we went. This was a major disappointment because the official tour operator website says that they will run this season. However, we were told in person at the Crater Lake Lodge that the Coast Guard still hasn’t approved any boats on the water. Organized boat tours are the only way to get to Wizard Island in the middle of the lake.
We also called about a week before the trip, and the person who answered the phone implied that tours would be operating. I’m not sure if the park is intentionally being vague about it or what. The summer season is also almost over, so it’s not clear if the tours will be offered for only a few weeks in September or not at all this year. We still enjoyed our time at Crater Lake, but I feel like we missed out on the park’s most iconic offering.
Where We Stayed
The Crater Lake Lodge, which is within the boundaries of the national park, was fully booked by the time we were ready to reserve a place to stay (and we planned this trip well in advance). With this in mind, we instead booked a cabin at the Crater Lake Resort (website | location) near Fort Klamath, OR.
Driving from this campground to the south entrance of the national park took about half an hour, which was pretty reasonable. It was also a scenic drive. The cabin itself was absolutely amazing, with many more amenities than we were expecting. For example, the lodging came with a fully functional kitchen and a nice bathroom and shower in-room.
The Crater Lake Resort also had a little creek onsite and offered canoes. Unfortunately, we didn’t really have time to take advantage of them. They also have a convenience store, but prices did seem a little high there. Overall, this ended up being an ideal place to stay for us.
Enjoy the Marvels of Crater Lake!
Hopefully this blog post provides some helpful tips if you’re headed to Crater Lake soon! I loved that we were able to see much of the park in one day. However, I’d like to go back maybe in a few years to experience the boat tour and hike on Wizard Island. I hope the park is open in its entirety for your visit!
Have you been to Crater Lake? If you have, what was your favorite part of the park? Leave a comment below and let me know! Thanks for reading and see you next time!
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This post was published on Aug 14, 2023
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