Experience Americas Most Treasured Roads
Touring the Byway
9 Days/ 8 Nights | Gateway City: San Francisco, California
DAY ONE
We recommend starting your journey in San Francisco, where you can learn about the city and its role in California’s Gold Rush. The Barbary Coast Trail takes you through the city. Explore the California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, the Palace of Fine Arts and Fisherman’s Wharf. After some great Bay area cuisine, stay at Inn San Francisco.
DAY TWO
Travel to Sacramento to explore the California State Capitol Museum and Crocker Art Museum, stroll the Old Sacramento Waterfront and explore Old Sacramento Waterfront State Historical Park. Stay the night on a converted paddlewheel riverboat.
DAY THREE
Head for far Northern California beginning at Redding, home of one of the world’s largest sundials, Turtle Bay Exploration Park and Museum and Shasta State Historic Park. Spend the night at the Hope Inn.
DAY FOUR
Today, marvel at 200 million year old caves at Lake Shasta Caverns and Castle Crags State Park’s sky-scraping spires of granite. Explore the Historic Lumber Town Museum in Weed before relaxing at Lake Shastina Resort.
DAY FIVE
Travel to Yreka, that was once the site of one of the biggest gold mines in America and explore the West Miner Street Historic District. After visiting the Siskiyou County Courthouse and the Siskiyou County Historical Society, cross into Oregon on your way to Medford. You’ll want to drive to Table Rocks, cliff-edge mesas that provide great views of the Rogue River Valley. Explore the Southern Oregon Historic Society before staying at Lay Geneva Bed and Breakfast.
DAY SIX
Move on today to Chiloquin and the start of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All American Road. Explore Collier Memorial State Park and Logging Museum, and stop at the Oux Kanee Overlook where jagged rocks rise up over the river canyon and the headwaters of Spring Creek, before heating to Crater Lake National Park. Stay in the park or at one of the nearby lodges or cabins.
DAY SEVEN
Spend the day in Crater Lake National Park beginning with a spectacular drive on Scenic Rim Drive. Take the walking tour of the historic Rim Village, the scenic Trolley Tour, Boat Tour, and the Cleetwood Cove Trail. Stay again at the Park.
DAY EIGHT
Heading south on the Byway today, Stops along the way include the Vanished Volcano Pullout, Mare’s Egg Spring, the Crystal Springs Day Use Area and Kiosk, and the Malone Springs Day Use Area, the Jackson Kimball State Recreation Area, Wood River Day Use Area, Fort Klamath and the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. Spend the evening at Rocky Point Resort.
DAY NINE
Spend your last day in the area exploring Klamath Falls, on a Downtown Walking Tour and Mural Trail and at the Favell Museum, Klamath County Museum, and the Baldwin Hotel Museum which showcase the area’s rich history, before spending the evening at the Running Y Ranch Golf and Spa Resort.
From there, we wish you a safe passage if you’re continuing your journey on the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, or a safe and pleasant journey home.
View the Detailed Itinerary below to see the full route, which is complete with dining, shopping, and lodging recommendations!
Highlighted Attractions
Play Video
Crater Lake National Park
Native Americans witnessed the formation of Crater Lake 7,700 years ago when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of Mount Mazama, a tall peak that was half a million years old. On the east side of Crater Lake, rocks that are 430,000 years old form Mount Scott. Pristine waters fed by rain and snow filled the caldera (Spanish for “kettle” or “boiler”), the deepest lake in the United States. It was established as a national park in 1902. Spend the day exploring Crater Lake National Park. Start at Rim Village, where you can take a self-guided tour through the village, a walking tour of Kiser Studio, now the Rim Village Visitor Center and the Crater Lake Natural History Association Bookstore. See exhibits at the nearby Sinnott Memorial Overlook. From there, take the Scenic Rim Drive around the lake, which offers views of the park’s volcanic formations. If you prefer to ride rather than drive the 33-mile Rim Drive, take a trolley tour that makes stops at the significant overlooks. Rangers on board offer narration, trivia, and a dash of fun. Eight daily boat tours on the lake to circumnavigate the caldera are on offer, plus two shuttles to Wizard Island. For a close up view, take the Cleetwood Cove Trail, the only legal access to the shore of Crater Lake. This steep and strenuous 2.2 mile round trip hike begins at the East Rim Drive.
Play Video
Turtle Bay Exploration Park & Museum
A 300-acre campus on the banks of the Sacramento River interprets the relationship between man and nature and celebrates the story of far Northern California. Art, science, history, forestry, and horticulture meet at the Turtle Bay Museum. The McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens feature over 200-acres of native and non-native trees and plants, and Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp is modeled after an old-time forest camp similar to ones that were all over the region 100 years ago.
Play Video
Baldwin Hotel Museum
Constructed in 1905 as the centerpiece hotel of downtown Klamath Falls, the Baldwin Hotel Museum now features 40 rooms filled with antiques and artifacts. Originally built as a hardware store, the building was converted into a hotel in 1911 that was to be located right across the street from the railroad, when George Baldwin sought to profit from the coming of the railroad. Unfortunately, the railroad was built at the other end of Main Street. Nonetheless, thanks to the hotel’s very unique characteristics of almost all rooms connected in order to create the ability to rent out either one room or an entire suite of rooms, the hotel thrived.
Play Video
Favell Museum
Over 100,000 artifacts illustrate the lives of indigenous tribes from North and South America, including collections of arrowheads, obsidian knives, spear points, primitive ancient stone tools, native clothing, intricate beadwork, basketry, pottery and more, some more than 12,000 years old.
Play Video
Old Sacramento Waterfront State Historic Park
This site has witnessed fire and flood, saw the streets raised, the terminus of the Pony Express, and the founding of the Transcontinental Railroad. Today, more than 50 historic buildings in Old Sacramento State Historic Park, including the 1849 Eagle Theater; the 1853 B. F. Hastings Building, once home to the California Supreme Court; and the 1855 Big Four Building, tell the story of California’s early gold rush days, surrounded by a once again bustling waterfront of shops, restaurants and more. You can also enjoy an underground tour under the hollow sidewalks, to see firsthand how the city counteracted the forces of nature by building levees, rerouting the river, and physically raising the streets over 20 feet above the floodplain.