Our time in Oregon kicks off at Crater Lake National Park. We spent the night before in Klamath Falls, about an hour south of the park. Stopping here was beneficial in two key ways. First, the hotels in town are much cheaper than the few places closer to, or in, the park. Second, and more importantly, there is a large grocery store in town.
The thought of eating meals at park concessions was not appealing, so we paid extra to rent a small cabin with a kitchen at Union Creek Resort. We needed to stock up on food for the next few days, particularly something simple to cook for dinners. A box of pasta, a large jar of sauce, and a jumbo can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew (which is actually pretty good if you only have it once every few decades) ultimately found their way into our grocery cart.
We woke up early on Sunday morning to drive into the park. The sky became hazier the closer we got to Crater Lake, accompanied by a faint whiff of smoke. The park ranger at the entrance station was wearing a mask. A sign warned that the air quality was unhealthy. Obviously this was not good. We knew there were a few small forest fires in the area, notably the Middle Fork Fire in the northwest corner of the park, which was largely suppressed at the time of our visit.
In 2020 we planned a vacation to Crater Lake, along with Redwood National and State Parks and Lassen Volcanic National Park, but cancelled at the last minute (less than 24 hours before our scheduled flight) because of rampant forest fires. This time around we weren’t going to cancel a six-week road trip because of a few small forest fires, even if one was technically in the park.
Once in Crater Lake we stopped at the visitor center to fill up our water bottles before heading to Plaikni Falls. The trail to the waterfalls, mostly packed gravel, is an easy two mile out and back walk. For the most part the trail is flat, except for a bit of elevation right at the end. It was half shade, half sun, and not too hot.
Our timing could not have been better. Walking to the falls we passed about ten people leaving them. On the return we passed another dozen or so folks heading to the falls. In between we had the falls to ourselves for about 15 minutes, which is good because there is not a lot of room at the falls to spread out. Ten people will overwhelm the viewing area.
After our hour long walk, we drove over to Phantom Ship Overlook for our first view of the lake, or what we could see of it. Visibility was so poor we could barely see an outline of Wizard Island, and nothing of the other side of the crater. No blue skies or fluffy white clouds. No blue water. Just haze. Lots of it.
From there it was off to Sun Notch and the 0.8 mile loop walk. Again, negligible visibility. At this point I told Stephanie that we would have to return in the spring and/or winter to enjoy Crater Lake. Coming here without being able to see much of the crater or lake doesn’t count in my book.
We ate lunch at the Vidae Falls picnic area. Soon after we started eating a bird landed on a tree branch less than ten feet from our picnic table. Stephanie picked up her phone to take a picture of it. Before she could even get her phone on, the bird flew down, landed next to her plate, grabbed two Pringles, and flew off. It was actually quite impressive on the bird’s part.
Stephanie later photographed the bird as it returned looking for more goodies.
After lunch we headed to Rim Village to check out the gift shop and café (nothing special), and then took West Rim Drive around the lake, stopping at many of the viewpoints.
There are a lot of small parking areas around Crater Lake, but only a handful are worth a stop: Lightening Springs, Watchman Overlook, Merriam Point, and Skell Head. It took us about 30 minutes to drive from Rim Village to Skell Head, going clockwise around the lake. Our stops were short and sweet because haze isn’t exactly beautiful.
The longer we were in the park the more disappointed we became, because we know what Crater Lake looks like in clear weather.
East Rim Drive from Skell Head to Phantom Ship Overlook was closed for road repairs. This meant we could not get to Cloudcap Overlook, the primary vantage point looking west. Disappointing for sure, but views of the haze from Skell Head were enough. Mount Scott was also off limits, but realistically that was never a hike we were doing even with blue skies.
That night, after a pasta dinner, we drove back into the park hoping to see a starry night sky and the Milky Way. Luckily the sky was fairly clear and the night sky views were good. On the flip side it was really windy and pretty cold, so we did not stay outside for long.
We planned to spend two days in Crater Lake, but it looked like a half day would suffice. The park is all about the views from the rim, and with no views because of haze, there isn’t a reason to stay.
Incredibly two days made all the difference in the world. We spent Monday exploring the surrounding forests, rivers, and waterfalls, not even bothering to go to Crater Lake to view haze. But on Tuesday afternoon, our last day in the area, the sky appeared to be blue and reasonably free from haze. Back to Crater Lake we went.
Our first stop was to hike the Annie Creek Canyon Trail. The trailhead is located in the Mazama Campground, where parking is basically non-existent. We parked at the Mazama Village store and walked over. The trail is a 1.7 mile loop. Essentially you hike down into a small canyon, follow the creek as it winds through the canyon, then hike back up to and along the rim. We weren’t sure what to expect, but it was a really nice one hour walk. Down to and up from the canyon floor was a bit steep but not too bad.
From there we again drove around West Rim Road, stopping at all of the same viewpoints as we did two days earlier. This time, however, the views were fantastic. Instead of hurrying through, we took our time and ended up staying a few hours for sunset.
Afterwards we had a thirty minute drive in the absolute, pitch black, darkness to our cabin at Union Creek Resort. A cabin there costs about the same amount as a standard hotel room at Crater Lake Lodge, the obvious difference being that you are not staying in the park.
The more important features of the cabins, for our purposes, were air conditioning, serviceable wi-fi, refrigerator with a freezer, oven, cooktop, microwave, coffee maker, kitchen pots, pans, and utensils for two, and a comfortable king size bed. No television.
Thankfully Stephanie’s first comment upon walking into the cabin was that it was much better than she expected. Many recent reviews of the cabins were not good and Stephanie was concerned quite a bit. To us it seemed that some people with lofty expectations, that will never meet reality, left some pretty harsh reviews. Of course, part of the problem is naming this place a “resort”. It’s not. But “expensive, old, small, dated yet clean cabins” isn’t going to generate business.
For us, Union Creek Resort was a great base for a few days as we explored Crater Lake National Park and the surrounding forests.
Total hiking in Crater Lake National Park, 4.5 miles:
Plaikni Falls Trail, 2.0 miles
Sun Notch Trail, 0.8 miles
Annie Creek Canyon Trail, 1.7 miles
Garfield Peak and Watchman Peak would have been great hikes if the weather and visibility were ideal; however, with pervasive haze in Crater Lake there was no reason to make a strenuous hike uphill to look at even more haze.
Boundary Springs Trail was also high on our list to hike, a five mile out and back trail to the large spring that is the headwaters of the Rogue River. Unfortunately this trail was closed because of the nearby Middle Fork Fire.
Garrett and Stephanie
The Travel Blog page contains collected links to all of our travel posts. Check it out if you have not already done so.
Want to subscribe (or unsubscribe) for email notification of new blog posts? It is only two to three emails a month. Send your name and email address to slowtravelchronicles@gmail.com, and note subscribe (or unsubscribe) in the subject line. All email addresses will be kept confidential and not sold to any third-party. You won’t get any marketing junk or sales pitches from us.
Such stunning photos!