I took a quick summer trip to Crater Lake for a few days of camping, hiking, and sightseeing with my sister.

She was visiting from Kansas City and had never been to the park before, so we set up at Mazama Campground to give her a good introduction to the area. While we were there, we fit in a couple of short hikes and explored the Visitor Center and Rim Village.

We drove down from Portland, taking I-5 south before heading east on Highway 58 across the Cascades. Along the way, we made a stop at Salt Creek Falls — which is always worth the short detour.

When we reached Crater Lake National Park, there was a short line at the entrance gate but it moved quickly. It takes a few miles of driving past the entrance before you actually see the lake, so we pulled over at the first viewpoint to take in that unforgettable first look. Even though I’ve been before, that moment when the lake finally comes into view is always something special — especially seeing my sister’s reaction to it for the first time.

We drove to Mazama Village to find our campsite, got everything set up and then walked over to the nearby restaurant for dinner. The campground is big, with 214 sites, and it fills up quickly during the summer months. There’s also a small grocery store and gas station in Mazama Village, which makes it a convenient base for exploring the park.

Even midweek, Crater Lake can draw a crowd, and this trip was no exception. I found that getting an early start made a big difference — popular spots like the Visitor Center and Rim Village were much easier to navigate in the morning, with better parking and quieter trails.

On our second day, we spent the morning exploring the Rim Village area, including a visit to the Crater Lake Lodge, which has that classic national park lodge charm. After a quick lunch back at camp, we headed to the Steel Visitor Center to watch the park film and browse the gift shop.

In 2025, the East Rim Drive road is closed for construction from Sun Notch to Reflection Point until mid-September, so we drove from the campground to where the closure begins and hiked the Sun Notch Trail for views of Phantom Ship. This short loop hike (0.8 miles with 150 ft gain)  heads uphill through an open forest with grassy meadows to several viewpoints along the rim. This is as close as you can get to Phantom Ship without taking the boat ride on the lake.

On the way back, we made a short stop at Vidae Falls, an easy roadside viewpoint worth pulling over for.

On our final morning, we returned to Rim Village and hiked a short stretch of the Discovery Point Trail, which runs along the lake’s west rim for about six miles. We turned around after a mile or so, but the views were incredible — this trail gets you remarkably close to the lake’s rim – just be cautious near the cliff edges.

After packing up camp, we made one last stop at Watchman Overlook for a final view of Crater Lake — always a breathtaking way to end the trip.