Crater Lake, OR route

138 is straight as an arrow and is a long moderate broken grade. The problem is the top of it is 5,900+ ft. and can be dicey much of the year. Go to tripcheck.com and they have road cameras in the vicinity which show realtime road conditions. Hope this is a summer trip planning and not now. The rim is 7,000+ feet and will definitely be snowed in now. I hear there are fun snowmobile trips to tour Crater Lake which originate from nearby Diamond Lake Lodge.

Roads in and around Crater Lake are just great but like Durb said watch the weather. Stop at Junipers Reservoir RV Park, 10 miles east of Lakeview, OR, if you can.

KCFDCapt wrote:
We will be heading south on Hwy 97 and are thinking of detouring to see Crater Lake. The direct route seems to be go west on 138 and then south on 62, From 62 to 140 and then on to 395. How is that route with a 40' DP with toad? Thanks for your input.

When???

There is room to take your rig in there in the summer, but it won't be enjoyable. Find a campground or RV park nearby and take the toad would be a better way to see Crater Lake.

Last April. This year there is way more snow.



Current Snow Depth 141" today at park headquarters ( which is almost a 1000 ft lower then the rim)

Right now the snow at Crater Lake NP. is 8 to 10 foot deep and the way the weather is going the north end entrance off 138 may not open until mid June. The south end off 62 is open most of the year but will close when a big snow hits. My son just did a 6 mile snow shoe hike last week to do winter photos and said that it's so beautiful with all the snow.

KCFDCapt wrote:
We will be heading south on Hwy 97 and are thinking of detouring to see Crater Lake. The direct route seems to be go west on 138 and then south on 62, From 62 to 140 and then on to 395. How is that route with a 40' DP with toad? Thanks for your input.

Head down 97 to 138 and head to the park. No reason to drive down to 140 and then 395.....that takes you totally away from the park.

Making first trip to Oregon next month, suggestions for other things to see? Looks like Crater Lake may still be iffy due to weather.
Thinking about driving up the coast to Olympic NP then down to Portland and east along Columbia River Gorge.

archie18 wrote:
Making first trip to Oregon next month, suggestions for other things to see? Looks like Crater Lake may still be iffy due to weather.
Thinking about driving up the coast to Olympic NP then down to Portland and east along Columbia River Gorge.

Crater Lake is accessible 99 % of the time. Until the snow melts or is plowed, the north entrance is closed. The south entrance is almost always open, because people live and work in the park. The mail must go through type of thing.

Oregon Caves is pretty cool, even in the summer. The south Oregon Coast is different then the north Oregon Coast. The coastal mountains are low, but the Cascades Mountains are not. There is just about every type of environment in Oregon, including wet to desert.

The scenery in there to enjoy. What do you want to see and do?