Eugene OR - Crater Lake NP Or route?
 

Looking for a suggested route from Eugene OR to Crater Lake NP OR. I have looked at the ACA route via Sisters - Bend - Chemult. To many days for the vacation time we have. Google maps is recommending Hwy 58 or Rt 138. Anyone have experance on these two roads or have a better route.

Doesn't look like you got many options for paved roads between Eugene and Crater Lake. We drove up to Crater Lake a couple years ago from California, and the roads to the south were great. From Grants Pass, I-5, we took OR 234 and 62, and they were very scenic roads with little traffic. On the return trip, we took OR 62 and US 97, with similar impressions. The whole time I was driving through Oregon I was wishing that I was on a bike.

Too short a vacation break? How about drive there, with the Bikes.. and ride the Crater Lake rim road?

^^ This might be a good option.

I've ridden Hwy 138, Diamond Lake Highway, from the Roseburg area to Crater Lake. Other than being uphill all the way it is a great ride. You wouldn't probably would not do the entire 33 mile loop around the lake, but go into the park at the south entrance from 138; exiting at the north entrance down to Highway 62 to 230, and back to 138.

Getting from Eugene to Roseburg is a challenge. I may be wrong, but Highway 58 to 97 may be the shortest, if not the fastest way. The 14 miles of uphill from Highway 97 to the south entrance of the park will warm you up for the 9 mile climb to the rim. I've also ridden this route, and you can see all 14 miles; it is as straight as an arrow. Check out both routes.

This year it won't be a problem, but snow can block the roads well into July. My wife and I have an annual tradition of grabbing our tele skis, and skiing at Crater Lake on the 4th of July.

Fourth of July
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...d4c15545dc.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...PICT2441-1.jpg


Llao Rock, Crater Lake NP on the 4th.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...c48cd011cb.jpg

How many days do you have? How many miles do you want to ride a day. Do you mind a lot of climbing? Are you okay with gravel roads?

I'd want at least 5 days for that trip. 2 days to get there, one day to wander around, and 2 days to get back. FYI: I'd prefer Hwy 138 over Hwy 58.

The plan is 5-6 days starting in Eugene going to Klamath Falls via Crater Lake NP then ridding the
train home. Doing around 50 miles a day. All ready have a route Crater Lake NP to Klamath. Looking for help with the Eugene to Crater lake leg.

I was considering the following route, but life (and other trips) got in the way, so it might not happen this year:

From Eugene, leave town southeast via Dillard Rd. Then hwy 99 (frontage to I-5) to Dale Kuni Rd then to Cloverdale followed by south on Sears Rd. into Cottage Grove. In CC, pick up the Row River bike path and ride it to its end. At that point, take Row River Rd, which becomes Brice Creek Rd. (NF22). Take the right fork onto NF2213, which will become gravel for a few miles. At some point you will take/road becomes USFS3831 and then USFS100 and then USFS38, which becomes Steamboat Creek Rd and returns to pavement. Steamboat Creek T's at N. Umpqua Hwy, take that on up to where it becomes Cascade Lakes Hwy then Diamond Lake Bypass then Crater Lake North Hwy.

You can look at (almost) all of that on Streetview to decide whether those road surfaces suit you.

Take a look at this article on Crazyguy: crazyguyonabike.com: Bicycle Touring: Umpqua Crater Rogue alternate - Southwest Oregon, by Wayne Estes Might give you some ideas. Also look at the articles' guestbook post #17 which has a route from Crater Lake to Eugene though the author does say it is hard to figure a good route.

mike

Nice! You're going to enjoy the highway between the South Rim and Fort Klamath!

I like B.Carfree's suggestion, it'd be epic!

Another related road is Sharps Creek. Down a little farther south is Rock Creek. You could also parallel I5 and come out near Roseburg by riding to Cottage Grove Lake and turning south on Shoestring Road to Scotts Valley, Elkhead, and Driver Valley Rd. (This road has some gravel) If you choose to ride to Cottage Grove Lake rather than Dorena Reservoir, be sure and utilize Weyerhauser road if it's available.

I did a ride using Sharps Creek and Rock Creek a couple of years ago.

FYI there is lots of climbing involved and the distances may be a little too far for the amount of days you have scheduled.

Agree, The route into Steamboat Creek is great, but there is still a lot of climbing left when you reach the North Umpqua Highway (138). However, it is possible.

It is a tough 50+ or so miles between Cottage grove and Steamboat, the old Forest Service Ranger Station on the Umpqua River. From there you will ride up one of the most beautiful rivers in Oregon, the North Umpqua. Depending on the time of year, stop and check out some of the pools in Steamboat Creek. You could see some very large steelhead.

Thanks for all the replies. Wife just read them and asked why can't we keep it simple and go south east out of Eugene connecting up with eastbound "Willamette HWY (58)" - Southbound "Dallas Ca HWy (97)" - west on
"East Dimond Lake HWY (138) - "South on Crater Lake N Hwy."

What do folks think will this route work. How is the road conditions, traffic and grade?

You can do it that way. It is essentially what I described in earlier post.

I have ridden from the Junction of 97 and 58 to 138 and then over the top as part of a tour I was doing finishing up. I was wild camping with the mosquitos right near the junction. I lived in a small town just north of Roseburg, and it was my last day, 139 miles. I have not ridden on 58, but I drive it a lot. I'm a ski patroller and the area I patrol is at the top of Willamette Pass. I've driven it a lot, actually too much, and with a biker's eye. IMO- it would not be a bad ride. There is a lot of truck traffic because 58 heads diagonally southeast and is a good way to connect to 97 southbound. Highway 97, while busy, has good wide shoulders. That is the way we drive to Crater Lake. I live a little northeast of Eugene.

Here's another idea. The Adventure Cycling Association has a Portland to Crater Lake trip planned for August 2-16 this year. Contact them and see if they will share their route. They would probably be more than willing to do that, since that's one of their missions -- developing cycling routes.

Portland-Crater Lake Loop | Guided Tours | Adventure Cycling Association

We're paying attention to this thread because we may be in the area late August/early September. :)

I tried that very approach a few years ago when planning a route in MT. One of their tours was going between two points I was looking at. I emailed them asking for their exact routing because I couldn't figure it out from the on line tour description. I got no response, and I have been a member since '99. I am active on their forum and I have noticed that, while they give advice about resources to help plan routes (e.g., state bike maps) and comment about specific roads when questions about them are posed (e.g., "What is the Skalkaho Highway like?"), they don't seem to like to recommend specific routing to people. Perhaps it has to do with liability.

So much for that idea. Perhaps someone could suggest a route on the ACA or Crazy Guy forums.

The ACA does provide details of the trip itinerary on their website. Although it does not reveal the specific roads it does list the overnight locations. With a state map it's easy to find these and connect the dots between them. Click on "itinerary"..........

Portland-Crater Lake Loop | Guided Tours | Adventure Cycling Association

OP-
I concluded a trip (at least 25 years ago) from San Francisco to Eugene via Crater Lake taking Rte 97/58 for the last leg into Eugene. I don't recall any problems. I rode Rte 62 north from Medford to get to Crater Lake. That was real nice.

I noticed the same thing. You could also buy the ACA map for their Sierra Cascades route, Mount Ranier to Crater Lake section. I presume it follows the same route as their tour, at least from Cascades Locks east of Portland to the park. Or you can just look at the map on-line and figure out the roads. Here is a link to that page on their website:

Sierra Cascades | Adventure Cycling Route Network | Adventure Cycling Association

The maps cost $15.75 each, less if you are an ACA member. I probably would buy the map to have as a reference for that price.

BTW, I would love to do the Portland-Crater Lake ACA ride. It sounds like it would be a great trip. Unfortunately, I can't swing the price at this time. In addition to the $1,600 trip fee, I would have to pay to have my bike and gear shipped to Portland and back from NC.

I biked the entire loop around Crater Lake on a beautiful sunny day in early September. (I drove up to the park, however.) It's a gorgeous but exhausting ride because it's mostly up and down with some long climbs. I read that in the 33 mile loop around the lake, the total amount of climbing adds up to about 3,800 feet. Parts of the road are away from the rim with no view of the lake, but it's still wonderful.

BTW, I was back in the national park in late September a few years ago, and it started to snow and the lake quickly ceased to be visible.

The "Windigo Alternate" from Crescent Lake to Diamond Lake might be a fun alternate for you, derail3. It would bypass the loop out to Rte 97 and back if you take Rte 58 from Eugene. It's probably dirt. I may have taken that option 25 years ago as I recall camping at Diamond Lake.

Crater Lake Rim Road, June 1984....

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/a...erLake0002.jpg

Just comparing the itinerary for that trip against their ACA interactive map, it looks to me like their route is going to look a lot like this: http://mapq.st/1lzl7nZ

Edit: Route without Windigo Alternate: http://mapq.st/1pR0mby

I'm sure the $16 for the Sierra Cascades Section 2 maps is money well spent. It's not obvious to me whether they would route along OR-140 or US-97 into Klamath Falls, as the ACA Sierra Cascades maps south of Crater Lake route west toward Ashland via Butte Falls. Maybe some with local knowledge could chime in about scenery/traffic/shoulder quality.

(It should be noted that Google maps is a complete and utter mess when it comes to routing a trip like this, using either bike or car directions.)

Derail3,

Hwy 58 has a substantial shoulder most of it's full length. So does Hwy 97.

There is a tunnel on Hwy 58 near Salt Creek Falls. You'll be riding in the uphill direction in this tunnel. There is no shoulder in the tunnel, but there are hazard lights to warn cars when bikes are in the tunnel. There's a button you push on the shoulder of the road just before you enter the tunnel.

Hwy 58 has a fairly substantial climb, but it'll be less than your other options.

There's a hot springs beside Hwy 58 about 10 miles past Oakridge. Big Mountain Cafe in Chemult has good breakfasts. The Pilot truck stop in Chemult has showers. There's a snow park just before Chemult with a day use warming cabin and outhouses that could make a good campsite. There's also many options for setting up camp off the highway.

It looks like you're looking at 140 to 150 miles to get to the north rim. I notice Eugene has bus service to Oakridge so you might be able to shorten that distance by 40 miles.

There was a relatively recent thread about that alternative on the ACA forum. Sounds like very tough going due to the condition of the road.

I have done it (unloaded) twice as part of two Cycle Oregons in the same conditons at the same time of year. First time we rode up from Daimond Lake, did the loop and rode back down to the lake. The second time we came up from Fort Klamath, did the loop and rode down to Prospect. I think the two trips prematurely aged me. I remember the first time feeling that I didn't even want to do the 12 mile descent back to Diamond Lake. I was that exhausted. The map for that day shows a total of 59.8 miles and 6,470' of eleveation gain, with four peaks of over 7,000'. I believe that includes the short out and back to Cloud Cap Overlook, which offers terrific views.

This is the only photo I have handy at the moment:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=377537

The last time I drove over that road, it was not surfaced and very dusty.

They still have to get from Eugene to to intersect with the ACA route. I'd just go a little further and use Highway 97 which has a good surface, and good shoulders. Once you reach 138 there are a couple of options which are easy to pick out on a map.

I always look at ACA maps as guidelines. They tend to take you places that seem illogical to me. Someone gave us an ACA map to use on a tour. On part of the route we were actually using, it took us from a nice road , up a relatively long, steep hill, into a small town. After leaving the town we dropped right back down to the road we were originally on. I really did not need to go through that town, climb a hill in the rain and end up a mile or two down the same road I started on. Since then, I really look at ACA maps skeptically where there route selection is concerned.