Diamond Lake & Crater Lake, OR

Thursday, September 6, 2018
Diamond Lake, Oregon
Day Trip: Crater Lake

Our plan was to spend most of the day exploring Crater Lake. I've never been and it's been many years since Rod has seen it, so we were both looking forward to our day trip.

This part of the forest looks pretty sad.

The north entrance is only about 14 miles from Diamond Lake, but with the hills and curves, it took us about half an hour to reach the first parking lot (North Junction). The sky was filled with smoke, but I wasn't prepared for the lack of visibility. The lake was completely invisible! We commiserated with the half-dozen or so people standing around, all of whom were looking very glum. One older couple was traveling from Iowa and another young pair were from Belgium and France. They were heartbroken. We're lucky enough that we live fairly close and can plan a return trip at a later date. These folks probably won't get a chance to come back. What a shame.

I wish that were fog behind our RV, but it's thick smoke from the fire just west of us.

You can almost make out Wizard Island. Almost.

We drove to Rim Village along West Rim Drive and took a final peek before calling it a day. 

We were hungry, so we decided to drive to Beckie's Cafe (at Union Creek Resort) which is about 30 minutes west of the park on Highway 62 in Prospect. It was a pretty drive and although the cafe is small (about a dozen tables & booths), we didn't have to wait to be seated. Great cheeseburger and a decent slice of apple pie.

We walked across the street to check out the little store and admire the stream that was flowing behind the Union Creek cabins. We also discovered a very nice campground that we'd love to visit someday. Farewell Bend Campground on the Rogue is in a beautifully wooded setting right on the river! Much nicer than the Diamond Lake RV Park, although that lake was pretty nice and I still want to bike that 11-mile loop. There's no reason we can't go back and do both!

Click on photos for a larger view.