Crystalwood Lodge, your warm and cozy base for winter fun

We’re OPEN for Winter Play…plenty of snow, warm temps, Crater Lake is mantled in her winter glory, special winter-only events and activities coming up…and it isn’t even officially winter yet!

Brick Says...Come Visit Me!

First I should pass along a request from Brick…he wants you to know that he’d love some company, and please bring treats. Lots of them. As everyone knows who’s visited and been charmed by Brick, he’ll be the first to tell you I never, ever feed him and so he depends on handouts for his sustenance. (yeah, right). But he truly does love the busy summer season and visiting with guests, and takes his job of Crystalwood Lodge Official Meeter and Greeter quite seriously. He’s getting pretty frail now at 18 years young, so he’s slowed down quite a bit…but his nose certainly still works just fine!

What a magnificent early fall we had — drop dead gorgeous Indian Summer, with beautiful soft days, crisp nights, and as always it was a great time to hike and enjoy our natural wonders. I had the chance to explore a few miles of the Nannie Creek trail, just north of Crystalwood Lodge, which goes into the heart of the Sky Lakes Wilderness and connects with the Pacific Crest Trail. My good friend Karen came to visit, and we took advantage of the grand weather to check out the trail…

Looking North Toward Pelican Butte at the Nannie Creek Trail Overlook in the Sky Lakes Wilderness

Puck Lake off Nannie Creek Trail

Then, in November and early December…SNOW! Lots of it, much earlier than normal for this much snow — we usually get quite a bit to enjoy, but we had January type storms in November. I kept digging out to keep access to the Lodge easy and open, but once the dog yard did get kind of buried:

First Big Snow in the Iditarod Dog Yard at Crystalwood Lodge, Southern Oregon Cascades

Luckily the dogs love it and are good at keeping their circles stomped down and quite usable. With this much snow, and no base, it did mean we were grounded in our seasonal “no fly zone” — way too much snow to train the team using 4-wheelers, and no trails established to be able to safely run a sled.

But that is changing this week! The groomer is finally getting out on the trail system, and I expect we may be able to get out on the sled very soon. We’ve had quite a bit of rain in the last couple of weeks, which melted some of the snow and compacted the rest, so now terrific base conditions upon which we can build the rest of the winter with more snow.  Let it snow, let it snow!

Crystalwood Lodge Easy Winter Access

As a reminder, Crystalwood Lodge has easy winter access — I maintain the driveway and parking areas, the country keeps Westside Road well plowed since it is a country truck bypass route, and the state takes care of the main highways. I’ve never had guests who couldn’t get here…and in fact, we have served as an emergency way station for travellers from Klamath Falls to Medford. It is definitely recommended you bring chains or traction tires — we are in the mountains, so even when Crystalwood itself and Westside Road are perfectly open, you may need them for safe traveling over the higher passes on your way if a storm happens to blow in.

Crystalwood Lodge is located just outside the south entrance to Crater Lake National Park, which is the entrance open year-round. Crater Lake too has plenty of snow this year, so a great time to explore and feel like you have the Park to yourself. Additionally, there’s a number of upcoming winter-only events:

• Winter Wings Festival in February, celebrating the terrific birding available in the Klamath Basin, especially visiting the wintering bald eagles, the largest population in the lower 48 states. Workshops, field trips and activities for the whole family…mark your calendars and make plans to attend!

• Crystal Cave Tours at Lava Beds National Monument. Crystal Cave is only open on a limited basis during the winter months due to its delicacy. Tours are by reservation, only on winter Saturdays, and only 6 people are permitted per tour. Be sure not to miss out on this very exclusive adventure!

• Ranger led snowshoe hikes at the Rim of Crater Lake. Guided snowshoe hikes are every winter Sunday afternoon.

Snowshoe Paradise at Crystalwood Lodge

Don’t forget to plan a few extra days to explore Crystalwood itself — go sledding, snowshoe outside our front door on the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, and visit with the Iditarod sled dog team (yes, Brick will share, grudgingly…).  Be completely relaxed and on your own schedule, indulge and enjoy yourself in our fully outfitted commercial kitchen (all you bring is your food), and watch a movie or read a book while cuddling up by the wood stove in the Great Room. A winter vacation just doesn’t get any better than this!

Well, Are Ya Coming?

So what should I tell Brick? Will you be visiting him this winter?

This coming weekend is the first of three summer weekends that visitors can see to National Parks free of charge! The National Parks Service has waived the entrace fees for this coming Saturday and Sunday at many parks including the Crater Lake National Park to encourage tourism.

In light of this opportunity, the Crystalwood Lodge is offering a last-minute hot deal to anyone who wants to take advantage of the deals at the National Parks. If you make a last-minute reservation mention this blog post, you will recieve 50% off of your stay! This offer is valid for Friday the 19th through Monday the 22nd only. A minimum stay of two nights is required.