An overview of our trip to Crater Lake, N.P. in Oregon

 We were visiting family in Portland, OR, so our trip began in Lake Oswego, OR - a pretty town just south of Portland.  We drove a little over an hour to Albany to see the beautiful carousel and have a delicious lunch at Brick and Mortar.  Albany is a cute town along the Williamette River.  The downtown has many buildings from the early 19th C. that are restored and in use.  We could have spent another hour or two exploring.

We continued down I-5.  We hit some traffic around Eugene.  After about two hours, we stopped at Cascades coffee shop in Roseburg.  Cascades is open later than many other coffee shops in the area.  It is a little hard to find, because it is across the parking lot from a State goverment building which is what you notice first.

Full of coffee, we drove another hour along Hwy. 138.  It quickly becomes forest with only a few towns, such as Glide.  The road is two-lanes and very well maintained and fairly straight and level.  It was an easy drive.  The Steamboat Inn is several miles past the town of Idleyld Park.

I wrote reviews of the Albany Carousel and The Steamboat Inn.  I highly recommend both.

We stayed the night and drove about an hour to Crater Lake.  This was a more remote drive with the only town being at Diamond Lake.  It was an easy drive over good roads with little traffic.  We entered the north entrance of the Park with minimal traffic into the Park.

I wrote a review of Crater Lake - a fascinating place.  

After another night at the Steamboat Inn, we started our drive back to Portland.  We stopped again at Cascades and then again in the town of Cottage Grove, which is another of many historic towns with interesting downtowns.  We drove onto Salem to see the Capitol, eat lunch at Wild Pear and visit the Hallie Ford museum.  There are posts about each.

My only regret was not spending more time at the Steamboat Inn.  There are so waterfalls and hikes in the Umpqua National Forest!  We could have also spent more time in Crater Lake, N.P.  The Inn is really a treat with wonderful food.