It's only about 60 miles or so from KFalls to Crater Lake, little over an hour.

Here's the park website with info about day hikes, other folks will probably have more info for you about hiking than I do, lol!

nps.gov/archive/crla/brochures/dayhikes.htm

I am assuming your visit will be in the summer?

Thanks Half-Brit. I will probably be traveling there within the next month. Hiking is only a suggestion. Are there any "must sees" while there, in such a limited time?

Yes, you should have time to visit Crater Lake in one day. As Half-Brit mentioned, it's not too away. It's probably about and hour and 15 minutes to the park itself, and about an hour and a half to the rim where you can view the lake.

It's a pretty drive up from Klamath Falls. Hwy 97 follows the end of Klamath Lake for a while, so you have nice views of the lake and farmland and the Cascade mountains across the lake. You may some rock chucks (yellow-bellied marmots) sunning themselves on the rocks along the highway or in the fields along the highway for the first 10-15 miles. When you are nearing Chiloquin, you'll turn off onto Hwy 62, which is also very scenic around the Fort Klamath area and on up to the park, as it goes though beautiful ranch land.

At the park, you can go to the main visitor's center to learn about the park, watch a 20-movie about the park, and get info or souvenirs. When you pay at the fee booth, they will give you a park map, which shows all the hiking trails.

If you do go to the visitor's center, you'll want to ask them what trails are open, as Crater Lake has received a lot more snow that usual this winter and some of it later in the spring that usual, so there is still snow on the ground in most of the park currently. I don't think any trails are open right now, but by the time you come, I imagine at least a couple or parts of some will be open.

You will definitely want to drive up to the Rim (3 miles past park headquarters where the main visitor's center in located), where you can view the lake. You'll be able to walk along the rim from the gift shop to the Lodge. There are some informative signs along this area. There is also a Rim visitor's center you could check out, the gift shop and a cafe, and the lodge is interesting, as well. You may want to see what ranger-led activities, talks, or hikes are being offered, too. You can check that at either visitor's center.

You can also drive out along Rim Drive as far as it is open. It circles the lake, but currently is only open about 1/4 around the lake (the west side) because of snow. When you're there, it will probably be open farther. Maybe if you're lucky, the whole drive will be open.

Depending on when you'll be at the park, you may also be able to go on a boat tour of the lake-looks like they're scheduled to begin July 2nd. They do occasionally sell out early in the day, so it's best to buy tickets in the morning.

About "day hikes", there are quite a few hikes throughout the park ranging from about a 1/2 mile roundtrip to about 5 miles roundtrip. There is a wildflower trail near the main visitor's center (that's the shortest one-1/2 mile), a couple that follow creeks and go through the woods (Annie Creek and Godfrey Glen), 3 hikes up mountains or peaks, (Watchman, Garfield Peak, and Mt. Scott), and one where you hike inside the rim down to the lake, the Cleetwood Cove trail, which is the one used to go on the boat tours.

I've done all of the things I've mentioned above, some several times, with the exception of hiking the Watchman trail and I've only hiked part of the Garfield Peak trail. I really enjoy the different hiking trails, the ranger-led activities, the boat ride, things to see along Rim Drive, and of course, the beautiful lake.

I'm sorry that this is so long, but I hope it helps give you an idea of what you can do at Crater Lake.

diekmanj - you're a wealth of knowledge! everything sounds fabulous! this is exactly the info i needed. many thanks!!!

One day is absolutely enough time to make Crater Lake worthwhile. I live in Klamath Falls, and can tell you folks make a day trip to Crater Lake all of the time.

Thanks! I worked in the Lodge one summer and in the visitors centers 2 summers, and been to the park many other times. While working there and visiting, I've explored a lot of the park and been on most of the ranger-led activities. Have a great trip!

This post may be too late for you, but here goes anyway.....

We just returned from the area. We stated just outside of Klamath Falls, and visited the park twice during our week. It is about a 1 1/2 hr drive to the rim. All of the roads, including the rim road, and trails that we took were open, though there were still patches of snow alongside the roads and trails.

We hiked the Garfield Peak trail. It was a great hike, with fabulous views of the lake as you ascend. Not easy, but very do-able and well worthwhile. Go early and you will miss most of the crowds, though "crowds" is a relative term: we found Crater Lake to be much less crowded than Glacier, Yosemite or other national parks we have visited.

Happy travelling, Ed.