Crater Lake Southern Oregon Road Trip

The Road Trip Less Traveled

Take your pick: a beautiful national park, wild and scenic rivers, hike-in hot springs, tent cabins in the mountains, panoramic peak hikes, wine tasting outdoors … oh, you pick it all?! Hit the road for beautiful, bountiful Southern Oregon, where outside is awesome! Here are a few highlights and recommendations from our recent road trip. Gone to Oregon!

Week: 07.29.2020
Regions: Northern & Southern CA

Peak-a-View!

Hike to Garfield Peak in Crater Lake National Park

Hike to Garfield Peak in Crater Lake National Park
Hikers heading up the trail to Garfield Peak in Crater Lake National Park Oregon
Hikers on the trail to Garfield Peak in Crater Lake National Park
Hikers sitting and overlooking Crater Lake at Garfield Peak in Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the entire country and the seventh deepest in the world. For one of the very best perspectives of this shining blue beauty, hike up to Garfield Peak.
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Hot Springs With a View

Hike to Umpqua Hot Springs in Southern Oregon

Hike to Umpqua Hot Springs in Southern Oregon
People love a good hot spring. And Umpqua Hot Springs in Southern Oregon is a marquee attraction. You're perched on a mineral deposit above the flowing beauty of the North Umpqua River.
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National Parks Road Trip: Circle of Discovery!

National Parks Road Trip in Northern California and Southern Oregon

National Parks Road Trip in Northern California and Southern Oregon
Love national parks? Love road trips? Combine the two on one fabulous Circle of Discovery route in Northern California and Southern Oregon! This itinerary features 7 national parks with wondrous features.
Circle of Discovery Road Trip

Gone Rogue!

Float an Inflatable Kayak Down the Rogue River in Southern Oregon

Float an Inflatable Kayak Down the Rogue River in Southern Oregon With Orange Torpedo
If one thing can make you feel like a kid at summer camp, it’s spending a day on the river, rafting, floating, cannonballing off cliffs—eureka! One of the best rivers in the West to float is the Rogue River.
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Farm to Tent Cabins

Glamping Tent Cabins at Willow-Witt Ranch in Ashland, Oregon

Glamping Tent Cabins at Willow-Witt Ranch in Ashland, Oregon 07.29.2020
The hardest part of staying at Willow-Witt Ranch will be leaving. This sprawling 445-acre property in Southern Oregon is part organic farm, part campground, part wellness retreat, and wholly relaxing.
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Highway of Waterfalls

Hike to Susan Creek Falls Off of Oregon’s Highway of Waterfalls   

Hike to Susan Creeks Falls Off of Oregon’s Highway of Waterfalls
Susan Creek Falls Oregon
Something you’ll notice when driving in Southern Oregon: The highways are beautiful. And perhaps none more enchanting than the Highway of Waterfalls. One not to miss: Susan Creek Falls.
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Grizzly and Great Views

Hike to Grizzly Peak Near Ashland, Oregon

Hike to Grizzly Peak Near Ashland, Oregon
Grizzly Peak Hike Ashland Oregon
You probably won’t see a grizzly bear on the hike up Grizzly Peak, but you will see locals on this 5.3-mile lollipop loop trail with panoramic mountain views and meadows of wildflowers.
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Trending Stories NorCal

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  1. Aloha from California

    Say Aloha without leaving California with a 7-mile out-and-back hiking adventure to Lake Aloha in El Dorado National Forest. You can also camp here, a premier place for stargazing.

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  2. Sequoia Re-opens Crystal Cave

    Step inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park's hidden world by visiting the newly re-opened Crystal Cave—the only cave in the parks open to the public. Closed for four years, this rare marble karst cavern is welcoming visitors once again, but only through the summer season!

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  3. Easiest Best Hike in the World

    Choose the easiest and most view-rewarding hike in Yosemite. Okay, we’ll go first: the combination of hiking to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. Both of these lookouts are within a couple miles of each other on Glacier Point Road

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  4. Hiker in the forest at Mount Sutro in San Francisco

    San Francisco's Middle Earth

    No need to travel to New Zealand to visit Middle Earth. San Francisco’s Mount Sutro Open Space is practically Hobbiton—a hidden “shire” in the middle of the city. Okay, maybe not quite as magical, but still an incredible place to take a hike in city limits.

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Trending Stories SoCal

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  1. Can't Top This

    San Francisco’s Presidio was already a fantastic place to hang out for the afternoon, a beautiful site within the largest urban national park in the United States (the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). And Presidio Tunnel Tops is like a cherry on top. Make that two cherries on top, with the newly opened (July 2025) Outpost Meadow, a 1.5-acre green space located at Old Mason Street across from the Crissy Field Marsh in the Presidio.

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  2. Underground Garden

    Looking to escape the summer heat? Head to Fresno and discover its cool secret: the Forestiere Underground Gardens–an enchanting garden and architecture oasis like no other.

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  3. Volcanic Activity

    Northern California is home to one of the most unique ecosystems in the country: Lassen Volcanic National Park. The region features geothermal areas, including the largest dome volcano in the world, Lassen Peak. Hike to the top of this active volcano on a 5-mile out-and-back.  

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  4. Oh Ryan

    Sure, it’s those whimsical trees that give Joshua Tree National Park its marquee billing; but this beautiful landscape also has surrounding mountains and its night sky—one of the darkest in Southern California and designated an International Dark Sky Park. Joshua Tree has four allowable stargazing parking lots, and a newly opened haven for spending the night nearby...

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