Crater Lake National Park is about a 2.5 hr drive from Bend, OR. We decided to do a quick stop to Crater Lake National Park on our way back to the Bay Area to visit family. Plus, I wanted to get my passport sticker and park cancellation stamp. 😉
Driving to Crater Lake, we did not realize it had snowed recently. There were no chain requirements since it wasn’t currently snowing, but it had snowed within the week which left a perfect blanket of snow over the mountains.
Crater Lake is a deepest lake in the USA and was formed over 7,700 years ago. If you are planning to drive here, especially during the winter keep note of the road closures on the national park website. I usually check before we start driving, but for some reason I didn’t that day. Terence and I were trying to access the park via the North Entrance road which was closed for the “winter” (it was September) due to snow. Had I known, we would have saved about 30-40 minutes of driving, but it’s okay! We were able to access the lake via the South Entrance and hang out at the Rim Village. It was a quick sight seeing visit and then we were back on the road.
