Crater Lake Lodge

The lodge itself is great. It is exactly what you would want out of a lodge at a National park. Rooms were expensive, but the location was prime. When we booked the room, we asked about differences among the rooms, and they suggested a great one--large with amazing views of the lake (221, if I remember right). They had all of the amenities that you would need and none that would detract from the park experience (no TV, radio, but did have free WiFi). The view from the lodge is quite nice and it looked like there were trails and other viewing points nearby.

The reason for the slightly low (3-star) rating relates to the restaurant within the lodge. The food there was subpar and did not taste fresh at all, though the cost was very high. The entrees that we tried (bison meatloaf and a fish special of snapper that were both around $30) were relatively bland and unremarkable. I couldn't tell that the meat used in the meatloaf was bison, and the fish, a Snapper dish, tasted primarily of the seasoning used on it. Also, there was a steep corking fee of $15 per bottle and a fee to share an entree ($5, I believe). The dessert we had was a three-layer chocolate cake that tasted like it had been frozen. It was dry and unappealing. The problem is that there are really no other dining alternatives nearby. With a monopoly, they will continue to make subpar food at high costs.

I say all this not to rant, but just to recommend that anyone staying at the lodge try hard to bring their own cooler and bags of food to avoid having to eat at the restaurant. You will save money and won't be disappointed.

As an aside, the boating and Wizard Island tours were great. Everyone should visit this park and stay at the lodge at least 1 night (but not eat at the restaurant until they shape up).

After making our reservation one year ago, we were stoked to make a quick visit to Crater Lake Lodge!

Our drive from Portland was about 5 hours.  That was 2 hours down I-5 to Eugene, then 3 hours of lots of up -and-down along the mostly lonely mountain highways.  I suggest getting gasoline and food near Eugene, before you leave the I-5 area.

Check-in was excellent and warm!  Our room was larger than I expected, and very nice.  The room cost $223.99 + tax $20.16.  We had room 301.

The views of Crater Lake are just fantastic!  The lake is such an amazing spectacle, it makes you just stare at it constantly!  Simply walking along the walkways along the edge of the lake is really something.  Bring binoculars if you have 'em.

We only had one meal during our brief overnight visit, dinner.  The prices are somewhat high, but we thought the vegetarian items were very good, I also had an excellent shrimp cocktail that was perfect.  The service was friendly and had it together!  Our total for dinner for 2... $80 plus tip.

Don't forget that it can get really cool up here.  Temps were down to the 30's at night, this was on July 10!  We also found many mosquitoes when the sun went down, so many that we went inside, to watch the stars out our windows!

We thought we'd enjoy the veranda area, which is rocking chairs that overlook the lake, but this area seemed much like a bar to us.   Which is cool if you like bars...

Checkout was also uneventful.  

This is a great experience!

Here's a live photo of the lake:
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Fwebcams-crla%2Fcamerasinnott.jpg&s=c935b82e6160eba6886e1dd060edd73fdd9a519d9f68222a829a265b9cdc2761" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.nps.gov/webca…</a>

I had a lovely time exploring the Lodge on my first visit to Crater Lake.  My family and I enjoyed the view from the back porch as we sipped lovely local beers and wines.  I am looking forward to my next visit and this time I will stay here at the Lodge!