Still Waters

The cascade range between Crater Lake and Mount Washington holds hundreds of natural lakes. Most of them small alpine bodies of water a few acres in size, many of which require walking on mountain trails to reach.

We’re more likely to spend time on rivers or streams, preferring moving water. But this week we explored some of the road accessible lakes near home.

Waldo Lake sits on the west side of Willamette Pass, about an hours drive from us. At 39,000 acres it’s one of the largest natural lakes in Oregon and second deepest, next to Crater lake. Bordered on three sides by wilderness the pristine waters of Waldo Lake are off limits to power boats. Once there you can choose from three different camp grounds, each with a boat launch, but none with day use picnic sites.We quickly discovered the area is a huge draw for paddle craft. While the large parking areas were lightly populated it was impossible to find an open spot to picnic on the bank. This did renew our interest in acquiring a canoe and / or trying some of the wilderness hikes north of the lake.

Princess Creek day use site on Odell Lake is a great spot for a picnic.

South of Waldo, along Highway 58, is Odell and Crescent Lakes. In the fall Trapper Creek, running into Odell’s western edge, teams with spawning salmon. The day use site at Princess Creek CG on Odell offered a quiet spot to have some lunch.

Crescent Lake, a few minutes southeast of Odell, offered sandy beaches and excellent fetch and swim time for Tip.

We finished off the trip with a drive north on the Cascade Lakes Highway, past Davis Lake, Wickiup and Crane Prairie Reservoirs. If we hadn’t turned east for La Pine there are another half dozen lakes along that highway as you swing around the base of Mt Bachelor and drop down into Bend.