March 11, 2010
Crater Lake Lodge
First opening in 1915, the original Crater Lake Lodge was never, let's just say, the queen of national park lodges. The building was dark, dingy and a fire trap, with tiny rooms and thin interior walls. When engineers finally said in 1989 that the Great Hall just might collapse under its own weight, some in the park service saw a chance to demolish the building, which sits right on the lake's rim, and reduce a possible pollution source to the pristine water.
The public wouldn't have it, though, and in 1995 the lodge re-opened after a $15 million renovation -- actually a near-total reconstruction. They did it right, and in many ways built the lodge that should have been there in the first place, capturing the Arts & Crafts feel of the old lodges of the West.
The rooms remain austere -- small, with no phones or televisions. Perhaps that's why there's a lobby culture here, with people hanging out, reading books, sipping wine and actually talking to each other now and then. Worth a stay.
Photo: Crater Lake Lodge, 2003
all text and images © 2005-06 by Bob Keefer
no reproduction allowed in any form without written permission