Hello and welcome back to Run The Atlas. Today i'm talking about the only national park in oregon
crater lake the top 10 things you need to know before visiting here i just returned from a trip
to crater lake and there's a number of things that i wished i'd known before visiting
so here it goes number one i was really shocked to find that snow was still on the ground they have
a very long winter here at crater lake in fact it's one of the snowiest places in the entire
united states the winter here sometimes even lasts until june so what does this mean for you it means
beware of road closures the national park services recommends that you visit somewhere between may
and october which is your best bet to have open roads and clear views of the lake also take note
of the fire season that typically happens in summertime and it's also something to be aware
of in the surrounding area as it's very forested number two is hotels the area of crater lake
is extremely remote as you'll see on a map it is about a two and a half hour drive from bend
or eugene and it's about a 45 minute or one hour drive from nearby klamath and we recommend staying
in klamath that's where we stayed we stayed at a fairfield by marriott it was very comfortable
but if you do want to stay in the park itself they do have a lodge and when i checked pricing
it was around 229 per day and the lodging is very limited be sure to reserve in advance
one of the things that surprised me the most about crater lake versus other national parks
is that there really is just one main attraction here and that is the lake the main activity here
is the rim road so there's 30 different overlooks that people stop off and park
and take photos i recommend getting there a little bit early to avoid some of the crowds
we ended up getting there around 10 a.m or so the lake itself isn't really a recreation
lake the water is simply too cold it averages about 38 degrees you can go swimming here and
some people do there's a hiking trail that hikes to an area called cleetwood cove trail
and from there you can swim if you are up for maybe you are a wim hof or something
but otherwise i didn't see any people in the water i didn't see any boats nothing like that
the park does operate a wizard island boat tour from early july to early september so check the
site if you're interested in that it does require a moderate one hour hike with a very steep drop
about a 700 foot climb in order to get to the launch point of this boat wizard island itself
is a camp free zone so there's not a lot going on there but it would be an interesting thing to
do if you have the opportunity other than that the recreation in the park is a little bit more
limited than other national parks that i've been to you can swim in designated areas as i mentioned
open fire is very restricted due to the fire danger of course there's hiking there's biking
and there's stargazing because it has one of the clearest skies above crater lake next is the
visitor center i visited the visitor center on the south entrance and i was surprised to find that it
was nothing more than a very basic cafeteria and a very basic gift shop there wasn't much of a museum
there wasn't much of an explanation of the geology or history of the area it was just very basic
so i would recommend bringing food into the park unless you are interested in a sad sandwich
sandwich saved by sriracha regarding other things to bring definitely fill
up on gas before entering the park there's not i didn't see any gas stations in the park at all
also you are definitely going to want to bring layers because you're climbing
about a 6 000 foot elevation and got to bring some hiking shoes i have kai boon boots here
in the video i featured salewa boots
definitely bring some nice sturdy hiking shoes
the park also does not have internet access with the exception of the
visitor center so that's something to note is be sure to bring your map
be sure to know where you're going and have a meet-up place with the other people in your group
in case you get lost and then there's some really interesting facts about the park some interesting
strange facts about the park it rarely freezes now you would look around at all the snow thinking
this lake must freeze but it rarely does due to its proximity to the pacific ocean
another interesting mystery of crater lake is that it has no outlets but it has double
the precipitation than evaporation so where does all that water go scientists are still exploring
they've also been said to have a number of bigfoot sightings you'll even see a giant statue of
bigfoot in the visitor center so be on the lookout for the big man so fish are actually not native to
crater lake which is also interesting and crater lake also is known for its intense blue color
it is the deepest blue i've ever seen and that's because this lady has no sediments no pollution
it's just pure water so last but not least definitely visit crater lake if you are in the
bend region Eugene or Klamath area here definitely take either a day trip or a weekend trip
get into crater lake enjoy those scenic views stop off at the panoramic vistas
so there you have it enjoy crater lake check out our series of Oregon i will link it up here
we visited so many different places in Oregon there are
so many things to do in the surrounding area of bend and Klamath so check it out and enjoy
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