Diamond Lake, Oregon

We are at Diamond Lake RV Park for two weeks, located at the southeast corner of Diamond Lake.  We chose this location to be close enough to explore Crater Lake National Park, which is only about 20 miles away.  The rv park is much like a state park, but with full hook-ups and the kind of amenities usually found at private parks. The lake is surrounded by Forest Service campgrounds with hundreds of dry camping sites for small RVs and tents.  Other than the campgrounds though, there is very little development. There is a small restaurant/store at this end of the lake and a camp store at the other end of the lake where there is a "resort" with a lodge and some cabins. Very rustic everywhere. Oh, there's a gas station just past the north end of the lake. Other than that, it's 1 1/2 hours in any direction to a city large enough for a grocery store, a bank, car repair, etc. (Bend, Fort Klamath or Eugene). And there's very little cell service of any sort. 

On the east side of Diamond Lake is Mt. Theilsen (above, at sunset), and on the west is Mt. Bailey (below, at dawn) - both extinct volcanoes.

We've been biking the Diamond Lake Loop bike trail as often as possible. It's an eleven mile paved trail that goes - you guessed it - around the entire lake. 

It's a lovely trail that passes through forests, over streams and along the shoreline. It's mostly flattish, with a few manageable ups and downs - just enough to get a good workout. It takes about 1 1/2  hours to go around the lake. If you get an ice cream cone at the little store, it takes 2.

At our end of the lake there's a nice day-use area with picnic tables, a boat dock...

and plenty of places to take a dip in the chilly water. 

We took a drive over to Crater Lake and have plans to hike down to the Lake and take the boat tour later this week. We also took a drive to see the numerous waterfalls in the area. But mostly we're pretty happy just hanging out at the campground and the lake. Pretty idyllic...

The plan is to post something about Crater Lake and the waterfalls if the internet holds up. We'll see.