Every year the park service closes 24 miles of the scenic Crater Lake roadway for bicyclist and pedestrians to enjoy without vehicle noise and traffic.
The ride is hosted by Crater Lake National Park and The Discover Klamath Visitor & Convention Bureau. A $10 donation with registration, provides services like shuttle, snacks, and more! We ate homemade cookies and bars, talked to mechanics and friendly volunteers, and noticed lots of water at each stop.
We drove to Crater Lake Friday afternoon from Sunriver. The smoke was thick coming up from California fires. By evening, we could not see the lake. I didn’t think we would be able to ride the next day. By morning, the smoke had dropped into the valley. At 7100 feet we were above the smoke. The sun was out with blue sky and the lake was blue.
We started rolling at 8:30 AM and got to the North Entrance ~9:30 AM. Checked in at the North Entrance and rode the East Rim car free. We saw a few parking places still empty near the North Entrance. We also noticed when finishing and driving out, people were starting. There was no rule as to when to start, except to plan on 4 hours or longer and be done by 6:00 PM.
Temp started at maybe 40 degrees and got up to 60 degrees. A light shell jacket was fine to block the wind on the downhills. I wore a wool light cap, but took it off after the 1st hill. I also had toe covers on.
Once we got to Headquarters (~30 miles) we decided not to bike up the narrow last stretch of ~3 miles with the cars. Instead we checked our bikes in and took the trolley back to Village Rim. Then, went back and got the bikes.
Parking was at Rim Village, Headquarters, and at the North Entrance. Bike corals were at each entrance. The trollies went back between all 3 places.
All kinds of bikes – ebikes, road bikes, mountain bikes. Even 2 Bike Fridays. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. I saw several groups of walkers as well on the road. I saw one pace line of guys who didn’t stop at a rest stop. Otherwise people were not in a rush out enjoying the ride, rest stops, and views car free.
One person mentioned by Tuesday there may be flakes of snow in the air.
