DAY 3
Bend→Crater lake→oregon coast
We started off Day 3 having a very relaxing morning hanging out with our friends at the cabin. We brought home breakfast from The Sparrow Bakery. We waited in a 30 minute line, but totally worth it for the croissant breakfast sandwich and famous ocean roll. We also drove by the last remaining Blockbuster (this is before it turned into some cool PR stunt) and it was boring, the same way it had looked in the 90’s. Day 3 we didn’t have much of an itinerary but it was even more enjoyable finding stops along the way we never thought about!
Stop 1: Deschutes national forest
This stop was completely spontaneous. On our way out of Bend I saw signs for “Lava Land” and wanted to see what it was all about. Driving through Oregon, you’ll notice several massive lava fields, but I wanted to get more context of how they got there. We walked the “Trail of Lava Land,” which had several signs throughout the walk giving context of when and how the Volcano exploded. It’s all part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. I thought it was really interesting to see the lava rocks up close and you can still see the original formation of the volcano. We also had clear skies and could see view of the Sisters and Mount Washington. There are also caves you can go to usually in the park but they were closed due to Covid.
stop 2: crater lake National park
The drive to the North entrance of Crater Lake from Bend was only one hour 30 minutes. We passed so many small towns and national forests on the way. The East drive was closed due to Covid, but the West drive was open. When we first got to the entrance, the Park Ranger handed us a map and recommended we spend at least 3 hours in the park. We thought, eh, maybe? Its just a lake you see right? We were so so sooo wrong. We ended up spending almost 5 hours inside the park. First off, I was silly and didn’t do my research on how massive the lake actually is. I guess it’s easier to understand once you see it in person. You climb to 8,000 ft of elevation gain before you hit the first lookout point of the massive crater. The water is the most royal blue color I’ve ever seen a body of water look. We stopped at four different view points, just gazing in awe of how beautiful it is. We had several hikes saved in our maps to do, but majority were still covered in snow and ice so we decided not to this trip. I definitely recommend hiking around if you have the right equipment. The main visitor walk ways for tourists just walking around the scenic areas were fine so we stuck to those taking a million pictures. Crater Lake had a great visitor center and also a Lodge you could stay at with some rooms having views overlooking the lake itself. We sat in rocking chairs outside the lodge just admiring the views and relaxing.
fun facts I learned visiting Crater Lake:
Its snowy at Crater Lake 8 months of the year
Wizard Island it the land you see in the middle of Crater Lake. It is an active volcano!
The water level never changes, it stays the same no matter what time of year
The deepest park of the lake is 1943 ft
stop 3: southern oregon coast
Leaving Crater Lake, we headed for the Oregon Coast. We wanted to go as far South as we could (for us to drive in 2 days) to see as much as possible. If you can do the whole coast line I highly recommend it. You can go about 2 hours further South than we did before you hit California. We decided to start our coastal drive at the city of Bandon. Drive time way 3 1/2 hours of very windy roads and not much to see aside from a river running parallel to us majority of the drive and farm land. Honorable mention, we did try to find Tolemtie Falls but it didn’t come up on Google Maps correctly.
When we got to Bandon the first place we went was Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint. Called Face Rock because one of the rock formations on the beach literally looks like a rock. We then decided to drive 5 minutes South and stop at Devils Kitchen beach. We walked along the beach here for sunset and it was perfect. Lastly, for the evening before the sun completely faded away, we went to Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge next to Bandon Beach. There we could see Puffins flying over the rock formations, surfers catching their final waves of the day, and many people admiring the last minutes of the sunset. We then drove to downtown Bandon, stopped at a local bar and got dinner to go, and headed to our Airbnb in Coos Bay for the night.
