Cross-Country Skiing
Cross-country skiing is the most popular active winter recreation activity in the park. There are approximately 70 miles of ungroomed marked cross-country ski trails, including the Rim Drive Trail (Route UC1), portions of the Pacific Crest Trail (Route UC2), Lightning Springs Trail (Route UC3), Pumice Flat Trail (Route UC4), Raven Trail (UC5), Dutton Creek Trail (UC6), Hemlock Loop (UC7), Mazama Campground Trail (UC8), and Crater Peak Trail (UC9). These trails are shown in Figure 3-2. Cross-country skiing in the remainder of the park is unrestricted. The NPS uses 25 to 30 volunteers to patrol ski trails. Patrols occur primarily on weekends and holidays. The most popular ski route is Rim Drive, a 33-mile unplowed loop road around the lake. Park staff and ski patrol volunteers conservatively estimate that between 200 and 300 cross-country skiers travel around the rim each winter season. Cross-country ski equipment rental is provided at the Rim Village activity center by the park concessioner.
Crater Lake Area Cross-Country Ski Trails
There are approximately 139 miles of cross-country ski trails in the three national forests surrounding Crater Lake National Park. This total does not include cross-country ski trails located within the park and is a conservative estimate, because it includes both one-way and round-trip miles. Trails are described in the following section. Table A-6 in Appendix A of this document lists each trail and its length.
Figure 3-2. Crater Lake National Park Cross-Country Ski Trails.
Umpqua National Forest
Diamond Lake Ranger District. There are approximately 54 miles of crosscountry ski trails in the Umpqua National Forest’s Diamond Lake Ranger District. The longest trail, which is 10.5 miles long, is along a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail is in a wilderness area and is therefore unmarked.
Rogue River National Forest. There are approximately 45 miles of cross-country ski trails in the Rogue River National Forest. The longest is the 10-mile Union Creek trail, which begins and ends at the Farwell Bend Snow Park previously described. Table A-3 of Appendix A shows that of the 4,480 winter visitors to the Farwell Bend Snow Park during the 1991-92 season approximately 12% (538) were cross-country skiers. Of all winter visitors (6,210) during the 1992-93 season, 18% (1,118) were cross-country skiers. Data show that more cross-country skiers use the Farwell Bend Snow Park than the Thousand Springs Snow Park. This is likely due to the fact that snowmobile use is not allowed at Farwell Bend Snow Park.
