5 Bucket List by cunninghamamy069
first prev 1 next lastSummer lake
Deer Butte Hot Springs
Riley, Oregon
18.8 miles NW of Riley, Oregon
Wall Creek Hot Springs
Riley, Oregon
17.4 miles NW of Riley, Oregon
Plaikni Falls
Chiloquin, Oregon
24.5 miles NW of Chiloquin, OregonThere's more to Crater Lake National Park than the lake itself. If you want to get away from the more popular hiking trails and scenic routes, Plaikni Falls trail is a great alternative! It is definitely one of the more remote hikes at Crater Lake. This hiking trail is extremely family friendly and wheelchair accessible for the most part. This short hike leads you to the beautiful 20-foot waterfall and Sand Creek. This area is usually teeming with wildflowers in the prime summer months.
The Plaikni Falls trail is one of the newer trails at Crater Lake. It opened in 2011 and was intended for people with limited mobility and families with young children.
Along the trail, you will be surrounded by fir and hemlock trees which provide some nice shade during the hike. Make sure to bring a camera so that you can capture the great scenery you'll see!
Roundtrip: 42 minutes / 2 miles
Elevation gain: about 180 feet
Olene Gap Hot Springs
Klamath Falls, Oregon
9.2 miles E of Klamath Falls, OregonOlene Gap Hot Springs is a small, little-known thermal spring in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon, just east of Klamath Falls near the tiny community of Olene. Set on a hillside beside Poe Valley Road where the Lost River cuts through Olene Gap, it's one of the many geothermal features that bubble up across this volcanically active corner of the state.
Be realistic about what you'll find, though: Olene Gap is far more a geologic curiosity than a soaking destination. The spring produces only a small flow of warm water — too little to fill a usable pool — and the old concrete holding tank near the road sits empty. With so little water and a spot right beside the road, there's no developed soak here, so it's best appreciated as an interesting stop for hot-spring enthusiasts cataloging the region's thermal features rather than a place to take a dip.
If you do go looking, the spring sits on the hillside a short way up Poe Valley Road from the Lost River bridge. Land ownership in the immediate area isn't clearly documented, so be respectful of any private property and posted boundaries, and don't trespass to reach it.
For a genuine soak, the Klamath Falls area and the broader Oregon Cascades offer better-developed options — but for the curious, Olene Gap is a small, quiet footnote in Oregon's rich geothermal story.
Hart Mountain Hot Springs
Plush, Oregon
12.5 miles NE of Plush, Oregon