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Crater Lake is the only National Park in Oregon and the lake is known to be the purest and deepest lake in US. The water in Crater Lake is so pure because there is no inlet or outlet to the lake. All the water came from the rain and the melted snow from the winter. The Crater Lake National Park itself is not very large and it mostly covers the surrounding area of the lake. The drive time from Portland to Crater Lake is about 4.5 hours. During the winter season, majority of the road is closed at the National Park and only the road to Crater Lake Lodge is still accessible.
We were lucky to be able to make 2 nights reservation at Crater Lake Lodge. We left early on Friday morning around 6:30 AM and got to Crater Lake National Park around 11AM. We first stopped by Watchmans Peak to have an awesome view of Crater Lake. On Crater Lake National Park website, it indicated that the trail has been closed due to lingering snow, but we still did it any way and it was well worth it!
We then drove to Rim Village to check out the gift shop. However, the wait line at the gift ship was so long that we gave up. Thus we went driving along East Rim drive and went to Mount Scott. The Mount Scott Trail is another popular trail. We love to view things from the top, thus this was a must do for us to see Crater Lake from the top!
After coming back down from the mountain, we drove back to Crater Lake Lodge to check in. We got the room on the first floor. The furnace in the room was so noisy and we were unable to turn it off. That was a bummer.
At night, we drove to the East side of Crater Lake to find a good spot to view NEOWISE comet. We somehow spot a place where everyone was at and that turned out to be the best spot to view comet. We got to Pumic Castle view point where everyone was taking photos. The NEOWISE comet under the Big Dipper was amazing. We could even see the reflection of stars on the surface of the lake! Then we turned around and also saw extremely clear Milkyway right above us on the East side.
On the second day, we woke up early at 5AM to see the sunrise from Rim Village. It was so amazing. Then we went to climb Garfield Peak to have a panoramic view over the entire Crater Lake National Park.
We then drove towards West Rim drive and visited all the view points. Eventually we got to the North of Crater Lake and took Cleetwood Cove Trail to get down to the shore of Crater Lake. It felt good to feel the water of the purest lake in US.
At night, we went to Watchman Peak viewpoint again just to see the Milkyway. The Milkyway was right above the lake. The view was breathtaking! While we were taking photos, we saw a group of people there having hot pot. We were so shocked. Then the park ranger came and ask them to pack up the food so that bears don't get attracted. The park ranger also asked whether we heard of any firework due to some firework report to the rangers.
When we headed back Crater Lake Lodge, as we parked the car, a deer was right in front of us! That was a crazy surprise. As we got out of the car, the deer zoomed by us so fast and we were stunned!
Overall, this was a lovely trip to Crater Lake. Crater Lake was still so beautiful and pure with deep blue colour. We would definitely visit this place again!
Cleetwood Cove trail is the only trail that goes down to the shore of Crater Lake, and thus it is also the most popular trail within Crater Lake National Park. The Cleetwood Cove trail is located on the North side of Crater Lake. It is about 2.2 miles round trip with decent elevation gain. This trail typically gives hikers a work out when coming back up. This trail is also a must do if you want to go on a boat tour or go to Wizard Island because the boarding point is at the bottom of the trail.
We got to the trailhead around 11AM in the morning and there were not that many cars there. We also noticed that the parking lot has been expanded since 5 years ago to accommodate twice as many cars. Since there was not boat tour service during the pandemic time, the rest room at the cove was also closed, but this did not stop people from going down to enjoy the Crater Lake water.
The trail descends at a constant pace. We could see the lake on the side all the time as we hike down. One thing good about this trail is that it is covered by shades due to all the large trees on the side. This helped to keep our body cool and not exposed to the glaring sun.
As we hiked down, we saw a girl fell and crying. We felt really sorry but there was a nice guy providing first aid kit to bandaid the girl's wound.
We finally got to the bottom after 30 minutes and there were already so many people there enjoying the fun in the water. People were jumping off the cliff into the water and swimming. There were also people fishing there but just have to keep in mind to only use artificial lures.
We climbed down to get close to the water and the water was not as cold as we thought. We took off our shoes and dipped our feet in it. It felt so good. We stared right down into the water and it was so blue. The colour of the water was so blue that it was kind of scary. It was hard to tell how deep it really was.
After about an hour enjoy the water, we headed back up the trail. Climbing back up was more difficult with constant climb. However, we actually climbed back to the top without taking a rest in between.
This is definitely a must visit place when visiting Crater Lake. This is the only place to get your hands into the water and feel how pure the water really is.
Garfield Peak trail is one of the most popular trail located within Crater Lake National Park. The trail is only 3.4 miles roundtrip and the trailhead is right beside Crater Lake Lodge. Thus the trial itself is very accessible to visitors. The trail has some elevation gains but not difficult. However, for some reason, the trail is marked as strenuous. Most people do this hike in the early morning to see the beautiful sun rise over Crater Lake.
We woke up early in the morning around 6AM to do this trail. The early morning air was chill but was not as cold as we thought. As we walked towards the trailhead, we were joined by few other groups of people. Some hikers were alone by themselves and we figured that their family might still be sleeping.
The trail was not difficult at all. The climb was gradual and the trail itself was quite wide. The view along the trail was simply breathtaking. We spent so much time stopping by every viewpoints to take beautiful photos of Crater Lake.
As we hiked up, we also ran into a groundhog! The groundhog was quite chubby with a huge tail at its back. It was right in the middle of the trail staring at us for almost a minute before it ran off to the side. It was hilarious.
We got to the top after about 40 minutes of hiking. When we got up, no one was there and we figured it was because we spent too much time taking photos along the way. The top of the mountain has a large platform for people to rest. It also has a panoramic view over Crater Lake National Park. We could just see how round Crater Lake really is.
When we hiked back down, we started to see more and more people coming up. We really recommend to do this trail and preferably in the morning. The sun light that shine on the surface of Crater Lake was just so amazing.
Mount Scott is the highest point within Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Its peak has an altitude of 2723m and overlooks Crater Lake. The Mount Scott trail is located on the West side of Crater Lake. The trail itself is about 5 miles roundtrip with about 1000ft in elevation gain. Thus the trail itself is not difficult and quite popular among the visitors to Crater Lake National Park.
We go to Mount Scott trail head by around 1PM in the afternoon. There was about 10 cars parked there. The trail started quite flight through the prairie and the climb started short after. When we were there, the sun was very glaring and hot. However, whenever we go under the shade, the breeze felt really good, just like an AC.
As we make our climb, we also encountered many people coming back down. We were counting the group of people we see and figured that we were probably the last group of hikers on this trail.
After about an hour, we reached to the top of the ridge and we could see the hut at the far end of the ridge. The ridge of Mount Scott has a panoramic view on both sides. We could see Klamath Lake to the Southeast. The view was magnificent.
When we got to the hut, we found the area for sitting down was quite limited. There were many large rocks near the edge of the cliff. There were also bad odor coming from the side of the hut and we figured that someone probably peed here.
Nevertheless, the view over Crater Lake was just amazing. We enjoyed our time up there with cold breeze under a hot sunny day.
Overall, this is an amazing trail for people to do. This trail may be difficult for some people who do not hike on regular basis, but we still strongly recommend this trail. In addition, this trail was not busy at all on the Friday afternoon, but the parking lot was packed full when we drove by on Saturday.
Watchman Peak Trail is a popular trail with lot of traffic. The trail is located on the West side of Crater Lake with beautiful view point at the trail head. This is also one of the only trail with restroom at the trailhead. The trail itself is only 1.6 miles roundtrip with some elevation gain. Thus it is very family friendly and suitable for people with all ages.
We got to the trailhead around 10AM and there were still parking spot. When we got there, the trail was marked as closed due to lingering snow. However, when we hiked up a bit, we only see a very tiny section of trail covered in snow with nearly no risk of slipping. Thus continued to hike the trail like many other people.
The trail continuously climb upwards with consistent elevation gain. We saw many people wearing masks on the trail due to the pandemic. As we hiked further, we got to the intersection where the right side goes to Rim trail and left side goes to Watchman Peak. We continued on to Watchman Peak and got to the top within 30 minutes.
At the top Watchman Peak, the breeze of the wind felt so good. There was a hut at the top for rangers to overlook the entire Crater Lake National Park. At the time when were were there, there were no rangers stationed there.
From the Watchman Peak, we could see the entire Crater Lake. The view was simply amazing. We could see how round Crater Lake really is. The Wizard Island was just in front of us as well and we could see the crater at the top of Wizard Island.
When we came back here at night, we could also see people doing night hike to the top of Watchman Peak. The top of the peak offers a magnificent view of Milkyway.
Overall, Watchman Peak trail is a must do trail when visiting Crater Lake. It is quite an easy trail and offers one of the best view over Crater Lake.
Boca Cave is a large naturally formed cave near Detroit, Oregon. The cave faces Mount Jefferson, and thus the cave forms a perfect frame for Mount Jefferson. For people doing the Triangulation Peak trail hike, Boca Cave is a must visit place since it is just near by. The trail is only about 0.2 miles further off the main Triangulation trail.
We did the Triangulation Peak trail and enjoyed the view very much from the top. We then headed to look for the trail that leads to Boca Cave. However, it was not easy to find. We then came across a place where 2 people camped there and they told us that the way to Boca Cave is through here. Apparently their camp ground blocked our view of the trail. We were thinking that this would be a good strategy in ancient warfare, where the army could make settlement at the middle of the major intersection.
We went forward through the camp site and still had difficulty following the trail. We looked around to find any sign of the trail and then realized that there is a "CAVE" sign with an arrow made out of rocks. We were laughing so hard and feel grateful to people who created this sign. The trail leads to the bottom of the mountain and so we went. Then we lost the trail again because there seems to have been forest fire in this area. All the trees were burnt and thus tracking the trail became a bit more difficult.
Since we kind of knew where the cave should be by looking at the map on the phone and also knew that the cave must face Mount Jefferson, we eventually made our way down and got back on track onto the trail. The trail heading to the cave was a little steep heading down and slippery close to the cave due to all the water flowing through.
The cave was larger than what we expected. Since we were the only one in the cave ,we were making weird voices to hear the sound echoing within the cave. It was quite fun. The view of Mount Jefferson was also awesome of course.
On the way back, it was easy and did not have to follow the trail because we know we have to climb back up to the top of the cliff.
Overall, this was an amazing experience and highly recommend visiting Boca Cave. The only caution here is to take slower pace heading to the cave to avoid tripping over on slipper surface.
Triangulation Peak is located near Detroit, Oregon. It is a well known location to have a perfect view of Mount Jefferson. However, this trail is not as popular as many other trails due to being further South and takes about 2.5 hours to get to from Portland. The trail of Triangulation Peak is about 2.5 miles with little elevation gain. The only climb is only at the last 0.5 mile of the trail.
We left Portland around 7AM in the morning to drive to the trail head. Before we get to the trail head, we drove by Detroit Lake and the camp grounds were complete full. So despite of uprising of COVID-19 outbreak, it did not stop people to enjoy the July long weeend.
After driving by Detroit Lake, we made a left turn into the Forest Road. The first 5 miles of the Forest Road is well paved. The road is a bit narrow but not really a problem for 2 cars to pass by each other. The next 3 miles of the road is on gravel road. The gravel road is well maintained however.
We got to the trail head by 9:30AM in the morning. There were already 4 cars there and the parking space was limited. We were early so able to get a parking space ourselves. The trail itself was narrow but not difficult. However, there was a lot of uproot branches which could trip people over. There were also many bugs flying around in the morning with high moisture in the air.
After about 40 minutes, we got to an intersection. The trail on the right is to the peak and the left path goes further into the mountain. We took the right path and the trail started to climb gradually. After about 15 minutes, we got to the top of Triangulation Peak. From the peak, the view of Mount Jefferson was magnificent. We could also see Broken Top on the very far side. The forest down below also look so tiny and the breeze at the peak just made the morning feel so awesome!
By the time we got back down to the trail head, there was a lot more people coming in. There was not enough parking space for everyone and thus people had to park on the side of the road. Thus it is recommended to come early if possible.
