We are Canadians who visit Portland on an annual basis in July. We have always stayed in Cannon Beach in one form of accommodation or another. We are not above doing the big drive from Saskatchewan, Canada and camping/hotelling it along the way. This year we want to visit Crater Lake because it looks stunningly beautiful. Does anyone have any ideas for driving the Park? How about accommodation? Any tips you can offer? So many web sites and still I don%26#39;t have a good feel for the area.
Driving from coast from Florence/Reedsport
Hi cherylsedgewick and welcome to TA and the forums.
Forgive me here for being a bit confused (it happens often, hehe!), but you%26#39;re asking mainly about Crater Lake?
Are you driving there from Reedsport?
As far as lodging in the park, there is one hotel (expensive), one motel (older), and two main campgrounds I believe. I don%26#39;t think they have hookups. Nearby is Diamond Lake with an RV park with full hookups, a no-hookup campground on the lake%26#39;s edge, and an old rather run down 1950%26#39;s style motel. The town of Prospect has lodging but I%26#39;m not familiar with it.
Inside Crater Lake Park, there is the rim drive and boat rides beginning around mid-July. It is a steep hike down and back up to the boat dock, about 2 miles round trip at high elevation.
Here is the official website that will give you a lot of information:
http://www.nps.gov/crla/
Driving from coast from Florence/Reedsport
From what I have managed to find online and from what I have read in this forum Crater Lake National Park%26#39;s accommodation seems to be less then ideal. Also, I had thought to spend several days in the park but the consensus seems to be that a day or two would be sufficient. This surprises me because the pictures look amazing. We would want to do some hiking in the park but don%26#39;t want to drive many miles every day just to do that. Do you have any other ideas for places to visit that would give us access to water/surf and sand? There are 5 of us in our family so rental accommodation is always a concern as it relates to cost. Any suggestions there? Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate it.
I%26#39;m still not quite getting a handle on just where you are thinking of visiting?
There is no access to water or sand at Crater Lake. There is the boat ride as I mentioned, but that is all. No swimming (brrrr!), or beach there.
For modern accommodations, you%26#39;ll probably need to stay in Medford where there is plenty of selection. Then I think it%26#39;s about two hours to Crater Lake.
Another idea would be to stay in the Bend area, maybe Sunriver, and drive down to Crater Lake for the day. It%26#39;s about 90 minutes one way. Sunriver has a river, mountains, hiking, all kinds of recreation, and lots of vacation rental houses available.
Were you thinking of also staying somewhere along the coast?
I think of Crater Lake as more of a drive through or, more accurately, a drive around the rim, National Park. Sure, there are hikes, it is beautiful, but after the Rim Drive, plus a few other scenic points, it%26#39;s more about the hiking or moving to another destination.
With re: another destination, as suggested by halfBrit, Bend is only 90 minutes away. this area provides plenty of hiking, mountain drives, lakes, etc. Plus, it offers several very interesting sights, noted in this website, following, including the High Desert Museum. Bend is a neat place for the entire family.
http://www.visitbend.com/
I agree, Crater Lake is good for a day, possibly two. The boat ride is really good, and if it is a hot day the water at the boat dock feels really good, lol. You do need to arrive for that early as tickets sell out for the day. So either stay there the night before, or arrive early and just plan on spending the day to do the boat ride and the drive.
Sunriver is fantastic for families. We stay there several times a year, our small family as well as for large extended family get togethers. We usually rent through Sunray and always get great service. You can use Sunriver to rent the homes as well, but I don%26#39;t care for their policy as much. We also use a place that lists on Craigslist, but they are already full for July. Which most places do book really early, but this year with the economy there is a lot more availability than in the past. But I would suggest booking as soon as you find a place that you like.
So I am hearing that except for the ride around the rim and the boat ride over to Lizard Island there really isn%26#39;t too much to do at Crater Lake and almost nowhere to stay? Crater Lake IS in Crater Lake National Park? and that%26#39;s it? Our annual pilgramage has been to Portland, Cannon Beach, Reedsport and then take the fastest way back to Portland. Our kids love to surf but besides Ecola State Park we have not explored any other surfing areas; but we are open to. Should we cut east at Reedsport to get to Crater National Park or go some other way where we can do more fun things along the coast before travelling more inland? We could wing it all but I don%26#39;t want to miss anything I should see when we are that far south.
thanks for the info. Do I google Craigslist? I sure do not care for the cleaning fee that is attached to all the vacation homes I have seen. $100.00 seems a little exorbitant to me; especially when we would only plan to stay in one place for two days. Do you have to pay cleaning fees through Craigslit?
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