Fodorite018

Another vote for the Bend/Sisters area. Great hiking all around there as well. The South Sister is a great hike, but want to clarify a couple things about it. It is 11 miles r/t with over 5,000 elevation gain. In early July you normally would still have snow on the traul, but the way our winter is going it would most likely be clear. To get to it, you take the Cascade Lakes Hwy (south of Bend), so it is not close to the town of Sisters like it sounds.

Fodorite018

That should read "trail" not traul, lol!

sunbum1944

try staying at the Prospect Hotel in the town of Prospect- its a historic hotel - close to crater lake- some nice hiking close by-
the dune buggy riding at the coast Florence) is a blast!!
you might also want to consider driving down to Gold Beach and doing a day trip on the Rogue River Jet boats - or hiking the Rogue River Trail- you can hike from Inn to Inn - and take a jet boat out if you want

kimamom

philsbert1, www.craterlakelodges.com is a nice website. It might be nice to stay close to the lake if you can get a room. Try to make a decision on this soon, tho!

Grant's Pass also has the Hellgate Jet Boat excursions that are a lot of fun! I enjoy seeing the ospry, bald eagles (we just saw one yesterday at Bass Lake) and the deer walking through the trees on the shore. Very fun! ***kim***

sunbum1944

PS on the Rogue River Trail- this is a great hike- high above the Rogue River- I hiked about a 12-13 mile portion of it-
stayed at the Paradise Lodge 1 night- and took the jet boat out the next day-
the jet boats are really fun- see lots of wild life- get into water fights with the rafters coming down -

kimamom

philsbert1, if the Jet Boat thing sounds fun and you want to stay in Grant's Pass, The Riverside Inn is very nice and the boats leave from the dock there at the hotel. www.riverside-inn.com is the website.

If you have an Entertainment Book, we have booked rooms there Sun.-Thurs. for as low as $49/night and the rooms were very comfortable and nice. ***kim***

philsbert1

I do have an Entertainment Book, so I may look at the Riverside Inn. The idea of seeing all the wildlife is appealing, but I've always been more of a sailor (sail billowed silently in the breeze) than a motorboat person(noise/smell/rockin' and boppin'). I am heading in a few minutes to AAA to get some Oregon maps, and try to make some choices. I did see that the Crater Lake Lodge was booked (though if it's anything like Yosemite, they will often get last minute cancellations) so Mazama Village Motor Inn may be the choice; I just need to find out more about it.

kimamom

A tip on the Riverside: request a room in the section directly across from the second pool.

They also have the newly remodeled Lodge Rooms. We stayed in this section last summer and the rooms are very nice but you will not be able to book these rooms with your E-Book. ***kim***

sunbum1944

another place close to Crater Lake - is Diamond Lake Lodge- they have cabins and motel rooms/ restaurant/ camping/
wonderful trail around the lake for biking/ access to hiking Mt Thielson
I have stayed in the motel rooms - there were kind of worn - camping there was wonderful -it is a beautiful lake but they have algae problems the last couple of years so dont if better yet

sunbum1944

One more bit of FYI - just talked to some friends who stay at the Prospect Hotel every year/ they said the food is wonderful!! And they will pack a lunch for you for your days exploring!

kimamom

Prospect Hotel sounds very nice philsbert1, if you decide on this place please post a report on it!

I feel as if I'm in Oregon right now with all of this wonderful rain we've been having the past week! I just love it! It's wonderful to curl up by the fire with a nice warm cup of tea and a good book. We have lots of skylights in our home and I love the sound the rain makes on the glass! ***kim***

Scarlett

I hear Portland has had sunny warm days lately, beach days even.

Orcas

Absolutely, Scarlet. We are hearing of the floods and rain throughout the southwest and California, and we are enjoying beautiful sunshine and clear skies in the Pacific NW this winter. We're going to have a killer drought this summer, as the snowpack is 20% of normal, I've heard, and that is where a lot of our water comes from in summer.

karens

I have fond memories of our Portland-Columbia River Gorge-Crater Lake-Grants Pass-Redwood-Oregon Coast trip!!

We did a lot of hiking on this trip and saw so many amazing waterfalls. One of my favorites was Toketee Falls, which was on the way to Crater Lake.

In Grants Pass we white water rafted the Rogue through Hellgate Canyon. The water levels were realllly low that year, and I don't think had more than one or two Class II rapids. Beautiful scenery.

At Crater Lake, definitely do the boat ride of the lake.

kimamom

Excellent suggestion karens. It goes out to Wizard Island. Has anyone done this ride? How long is it out to the island and what is there to see once you're on Wizard Island? ***kim***

tracilee

My husband and I took the boat ride around the lake in 2001. We got off at Wizard Island and hiked up to the top. There is nothing to do on the island except hike and maybe fish. No facilities at all. When you get back to the boat dock, you wait in line for the next boat that has room for you. If you go on a busy summer day, you may have to wait for several boats until there is room. I think we only had to wait for 2 until we got on. It took about an hour at the most to walk to the top of the crater on the island and back to the boat dock. We were glad we did it.

kimamom

Thanks tracilee, it sounds like a lot of fun! ***kim***

sunbum1944

If you want to check out a place very upscale on the way to Crater Lake stop at SteamBoat Inn on the Umqua HWY 38-
famous flyfishing resort/ beautiful grounds/ great restaurant - you have to try marionberry cobbler - it would be a wonderful place to stay but very $$$$

kimamom

Sounds like a nice place, do they have a website? We've only visited Crater Lake once with all the kids, but would love to go back again in June! ***kim***

sunbum1944

They do have a website - just enter
steamboat inn rogue river into search
and you'll find it

Guess Zane Grey used to stay there - and its not far from Tokatee Falls which is a great hike and beautiful falls