Friday, May 17, 2024 - Visit Crate Lake National Park

We drove for about an hour and half to Crater Lake National Park North Entrance.  On the way to the Rim Visitor Center, we drove through Highway 62 and Highway 230 and were impressed with the magnificent view of the forest.  When we got closer to the North Entrance, then we witness the amount of snow in the Crater Lake National Park.  The snow bank on both sides of the road were very impressive.  

The 1st stop was the Park Headquarter, we stopped for break and got the stamp for our National Park Passport. Over there, we learned that we visited the Crater Lake NP too early.  All trails were still under the snow, and the Rim Visitor Center was still closed and completely covered with snow.  The only thing we can do was to drive to the Rim Visitor Center parking lot, and admire the lake from the nearby area.  There was a small section of the Rim Drive can be walked on a little bit.  And that was exactly what we did along with hundreds of other visitors.

When we got to the Rim Visitor Center, we had to climb to the top of snow pile to see the lake.  However, the lake views were magnificent. Seeing the clear blue water in the lake surrounded by snow covered hills, it was a picture perfect postcard scenery. At that moment, we realized that we were glad that we came in this time of the year.  If we get there in August with most of trails are open, it might feel just like another national park with green scenery, then we would not be able to witness this snow covered hills surrounding the clear blue water lake. Nevertheless, we took many photos to cover every angle of the lake.

Then, we just wandered along the plowed Rim Drive trying to view more of the lake from different angles.  Most of the time, we need to climb up to the snow covered pile to be able to see the lake, and we did many times of the climbing on the snow.  

We were told when we see the giant snow plowing truck, then we should stop and turn around.  That was exactly what we did.  And also we were able to witness how big those Snowplows.

On our way back, we stopped by the ranger station and got some information regarding the Natural Bridge in Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest, we decided to pay a visit to see this natural bridge which is a point located along the upper reaches of the Rogue River, is where the magic happens. At this point, the Rogue River disappears underground into a 250-foot lava tube, with a small amount of water escaping from the tube, forming a pool under the bridge. All of the water, slowly but surely, re-appears at the surface further down the river.

The last stop was the Mill Creek Falls which is located just outside the town of Prospect. After seeing all waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge, this fall just can not be compared with any of other waterfalls.  However, it was just one more attraction in the area.