How to Visit Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks in 3 Days: A Complete Itinerary
Traveled in August 2019
Looking for a quick getaway with easy hikes to explore some surreal landscapes? A road trip to Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks checks all the boxes. Crater Lake, in the caldera of an ancient volcano, is one of the most incredibly blue, clear lakes I have ever seen. And for the geology enthusiasts, Lassen National Park is full of boiling springs and bubbling mudpots. Hiking through Lassen National Park really makes you feel as if you have landed on another planet.
This road trip itinerary to Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks hits the highlights of both parks. It’s a quick visit, but with enough time for some easy hikes at each national park. As a bonus, we also stopped in Burney Falls along the way. Burney Falls is one of the most stunning waterfalls in California, so it is well worth the detour. Read on for everything you need to know to enjoy a “geology rocks” road trip to these natural wonders!
Itinerary
When to Go
July, August, and September is the best time for this road trip. Because Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks are at elevation, snow closes many trails during the winter. However, summer is also the most crowded time at both national parks and Burney Falls, especially on weekends. The shoulder months of June and October could be ideal. Especially if you get lucky with nice weather since there will likely be fewer crowds. Traveling on weekdays is another option to avoid crowds during the summer. We did this road trip during the weekday in late August and had great weather. We also did not have much trouble with traffic or parking. However, visiting on a weekend in August could be another story.
How to Get There
We started this road trip from the Bay Area. If you are flying into the area then flying into Sacramento airport (airport code SMF) would make for a shorter drive to Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks.
Booking tip: certain flight searches like Kayak, Skyscanner, or Google flights allow you to set price trackers that will alert you when the price of your flight changes. I never book a flight without tracking prices first because there is no better feeling than snagging a good deal! And if you book your flights with a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire card, the card usually includes some travel insurance protections (like lost luggage reimbursements, trip delay reimbursements, or trip cancellation insurance) to save you the cost of buying extra travel insurance.
Bonus Booking tip: sign your kiddo up for frequent flyer accounts with airlines to start earning airline miles for them! Most airline miles do not expire for minors so your kiddo will thank you later.
Where to Stay
On this quick Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks road trip, we stayed one night in Ashland, Oregon and one night in Klamath Falls, Oregon to limit drive times and avoid back tracking. You could also stay 2 nights in Ashland if you don’t want to switch hotels, although the drive back to Ashland from Crater Lake takes longer at 2 hours compared to the one hour to Klamath Falls.
Where to Stay in Ashland
Ashland is such a cute little town, known for being the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Ashland is surrounded by nature and has a beautiful park, along with a picturesque downtown area that oozes small-town charm. It’s just a much more charming place to stay than a more urban city like Medford, though you do end up paying more for that character. Coming from an urban area, it’s a nice change of pace for us to experience that small-town atmosphere.
Ashland Springs Hotel ($$$)
We stayed at the Ashland Springs Hotel, a historic hotel right in downtown Ashland. It’s walking distance to the restaurants in downtown Ashland, as well as Lithia Park and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was very convenient to park our car in the lot for the day and explore the town on foot. This is a renovated building, but still retains its old elegance. If you like charming historic buildings that transport you back in time, then this is the perfect place to stay. This hotel can be pricey on the weekends, but we were able to find a great deal on a weekday stay.
Bayberry Inn Bed and Breakfast ($$$)
How cute is the Bayberry Inn Bed and Breakfast?? If you want that complete small town charming bed and breakfast experience, then this is it. The inn is housed in another quaint renovated historic building in Ashland. Breakfast, which focuses on providing fresh, locally grown foods, is included in the stay.
Best Western Windsor Inn ($$)
The Best Western Windsor Inn is a great budget choice if you’re just looking for a convenient place to spend the night. It’s located just off the highway so you will get a head start on the drive to Crater Lake in the morning. The rooms are also larger than the hotels in downtown Ashland. It still has that quaint inn feel, but because it’s a Best Western, there is an opportunity to use loyalty points if you have any.
Where to Stay in Klamath Falls
Not gonna lie, Klamath Falls is not really a tourist destination. We chose to stay there just on the basis of drive times alone. It feels pretty industrial and there isn’t a lot to do, so it was really just a place for us to rest for the night in the hotel and recharge for the next day. The one good thing is that there are some good chain hotel options that are relatively affordable. We stayed at the Best Western Plus Olympic Inn in Klamath Falls and it was clean, spacious, and quiet. Just what we needed to rest up after a day of exploring for the busy day ahead.
How to Get Around
You will definitely need to have a car for this Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks road trip because you will be covering a lot of driving distance.
Booking tip: if the car rental agency has a free membership program, sign up for it! Members usually get extra perks like a free additional driver, discounts, or faster reservation check ins (all very desirable things when you have an overtired toddler in tow).
Itinerary at a Glance
| Day | Activity | Sleep In |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drive to Ashland, Oregon (6 hrs) | Ashland |
| 2 | Drive to Crater Lake (2 hrs) Drive the rim road, stopping at viewpoints Hikes: Sun Notch and Discovery Trail Drive to Klamath Falls (1 hr) | Klamath Falls |
| 3 | Drive to Burney Falls (2.5 hrs) Drive to Lassen National Park (1 hr) Bumpass Hell Hike and viewpoints Drive back to Bay Area (4 hrs) |
Day 1: Drive to Ashland and Explore Ashland
The drive from the Bay Area to Ashland, Oregon takes about 6 hours. But the good thing is that it is an easy straight drive up the 5 freeway, so it is not a strenuous drive. We started early in the morning so that we could have some time to explore Ashland.
Ashland is famous for being the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It is also a very cute small town with lovely green spaces. We arrived in the late afternoon, so walking around town and taking a short hike through Lithia Park was a perfect way to stretch our legs after the long drive.
Day 2: Crater Lake
The drive from Ashland to Crater Lake takes about 2 hours, and just driving the rim road around Crater Lake can take 2-4 hours depending on how many stops you make, so it is best to get an early start if you also plan on doing any hikes there.
Entrance Fees and Parking: The entrance fee is $30 per vehicle in the summer months. If you’re planning on visiting any other national parks, it is well worth it to get the America the Beautiful Pass. We made great use of our annual pass on our Utah National Parks trip and visiting national parks close by to the Bay Area. There are parking lots at each of the overlooks. If you’re worried about finding parking, there is also a trolley that you can book that takes you around the rim road with stops at various overlooks.
We started at the Rim Village, which has a large parking lot, a visitor’s center, and the Crater Lake Lodge. There is a sheltered overlook right in Rim Village where we got our first glimpse of the deep blue lake. Rim Village is also your best bet for food options. There is a cafe with sandwiches and salads to go. Or you can eat at the restaurant at the Crater Lake Lodge.
For a short and relatively easy hike with great views of Crater Lake, we hiked the Discovery Point Trail. The trailhead for the Discovery Point Trail is at the west end of Rim Village, so it was a convenient hike to do after getting our initial views of the lake. It is a 2 mile round trip hike that winds through the forest along the rim of the lake, with stunning views of the lake along the way.
After finishing the hike, we started our drive around the Rim Drive. There are 30 overlooks along the Rim Drive that give a different perspective of the lake and highlight different geologic features of the caldera. We definitely stopped more in the beginning of the drive, and skipped more of the viewpoints near the end. The bigger overlooks are the Watchman Overlook, the Cloudcap Overlook, and the Phantom Ship Overlook.
For an easy hike to end our day, we got our last views of Crater Lake at the Sun Notch Trail. It’s an easy 0.8 mile round trip hike to the rim, where there is another view of the Phantom Ship.
From Crater Lake, it’s a 1 hour drive to Klamath Falls.
Day 3: Burney Falls and Lassen National Park
While you could just drive straight back down the 5 for a faster route home, the detour to Burney Falls and Lassen National Park is definitely worth it.
Burney Falls
The drive from Klamath Falls to Burney Falls takes about 2.5 hours. Burney Falls has gotten extremely popular in recent years, so parking can be difficult, especially on summer weekends. Sometimes the entrance closes if the park reaches capacity so it’s best to arrive as early as possible.
Once you get into the park, you’ll be rewarded with stunning views of the wall of cascading waterfalls. There is a paved path that leads from the parking lot to the waterfalls. We’ve seen some beautiful waterfalls in Oregon on our Oregon waterfall road trip, but Burney Falls ranks right up there because of the breadth of the waterfalls, spilling out in multiple streams that spread out over a large area on the rock face. You can climb down to the rocks for a frontal view of the waterfall, but be prepared for crowds.
Lassen Volcanic National Park
The drive from Burney Falls to Lassen Volcanic National Park takes about 1 hour.
Entrance Fees and Parking: The entrance fee is $30 per vehicle in the summer months. If you’re planning on visiting any other national parks, it is well worth it to get the America the Beautiful Pass. We made great use of our annual pass on our Utah National Parks trip and visiting national parks close by to the Bay Area. Each stop along the Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway has a parking lot, but some parking lots can be small.
Driving the Lassen National Park highway is the easiest way to see the highlights of Lassen National Park within a couple hours. Many of the popular sights and hikes in Lassen are along this 30 mile highway. You can just pull off at any of the spots that sound interesting to you. We stopped at the Devastated Area, Summit Lake, and Sulphur Works.
The Devastated Area interpretive trail is a short loop trail where you can see the aftermath of Lassen Peak’s previous eruptions. It’s amazing to walk around and see how far the lava rocks were spewed during the eruptions. Summit Lake is a nice place to stop for a snack. There is a short walking path around the lake, or you can just find a picnic table to enjoy the lake and mountain views. To see some hydrothermal action, we stopped at the Sulphur Works which is just off the highway. There are a couple viewing areas where you can see (and smell) the bubbling mudpots.
We were planning on doing the Bumpass Hell hike but part of the hike was closed when we visited, so we decided to skip it. The Bumpass Hell hike takes you on a boardwalk over even more bubbling and steaming mudpots. The terrain looks seriously other-worldly, so I can see why it’s one of the most popular hikes in the national park.
The drive from Lassen National Park to the Bay Area takes about 4 hours.
