Season 6, Camping #3, Hike #17, Kayak #2 - Clear Lake

 Season 6, Camping #3, Hike #17, Kayak #2 - Clear Lake 

Starting Location: Coldwater Cove Campground

Point of Interest :Clear Lake, 3 Sisters, forest

Distance: 5 mile loop around lake (Trail Map)

Difficulty: moderate. Not much elevation, but parts of the trail go over lava rock and is uneven.

Bathrooms: Yes, at campground and resort

Parking: yes, at boatramp and resort

EV Chargers: No

Rentals: Yes, at Resort, not at campground

Dogs: Yes, on leash (but maybe not always?)

Coldwater Cove is the only campground on Clear Lake, so you need reservations early. It's a nice campground, with lots of room, and easy access to the lake.

There is water, but only with 2 hand pumps. We were lucky enough to be camping right next to this one (spot #12!).

We were able to have a fire while we were there, but you can only but wood at the Resort about a mile away. You can also stay at the resort as an option.

We went with a mid morning hike first. The campground is on the East side of the lake, so we just walked from our campsite towards the lake, and found the trail easily. You can also access the trail from the Resort.

This side of the lake has more lava flows to walk over and around. It's not too difficult, but is slowed us down a bit.

There are some amazing views of the lake on this hike. This is from the Southeast corner. The weather was perfect, and we did not have much issue with bugs.

We also did this on a Thursday, and there were not too many people on the trail. A few more were on the lake, but not too crowded. 

The trail does wind through some forest as well. Occasionally, lava rock will pop up, but it's not too bad. The trail stays pretty close to the lake, with a few detours out of sight.

There are some creeks flowing into the lake from the North end, and bridges over them. One creek was dry, and one was flowing, but looked low. 

On the very Northwest end of the lake trail, you get this fantastic view of the Three Sisters. There is even a bench here for you to rest and enjoy, so we did. 

The Clear Lake Resort is a good place to use the restroom, and we also had lunch here. They have rentals of boats, and a boat ramp to use as well. 

This bridge is at the South end of the lake, and heads back toward the campground. 

This is also where the water from Clear Lake turns into the McKenzie River.

After dinner, we went kayaking. The boat ramp isn't like other boat ramps. We couldn't back our kayaks down on the trailer, and this kayak slide didn't look useful, so we just carried them to the shore from the access road to the ramp.

This was also the maiden voyage for our dog, Odo. He isn't too fond of water, but he didn't fight too hard getting on the boat. He even had his own life jacket. 

We were at Clear Lake once before, 10 years ago, with different dogs, and this is one of my favorite pet pictures. We were just there for the day, and rented a boat, so our 2 beagles, not water dogs, as you can deduce, just sat there dejectedly.

The water was perfect for kayaking, and not much wind. We went to the North end of the lake to get this mountain shot.

There were a ton of waterfowl on the water, and raptors overhead, fishing. We witnessed a territory fight between a loon, and a family of ducks. The loon won buy kicking them out of the north end of the lake. 

The sun was also going down, so many of the birds were bedding down for the night, mostly on trees sticking out into the water. There were about 10 birds on this log.

They call is Clear Lake for a reason. You can see a long way to the bottom, especially near the shoreline. We saw lots of fish as well.

This is a great place to stay a few days. Hiking, kayaking, camping, fishing, and birdwatching. Highly recommend.