Little Crater Lake — Attraction in Sandy

The little lake is located within Little Crater campground. There is a $10 day use fee and I did see the camp host ticketing a vehicle who didn't pay. Do the right thing and pay. Or park outside the campground and walk in. There are a few places you can pull over.

At the far end of the small campground is a parking area for 6-10 vehicles. The trailhead is right there - second photo. The path is super easy, not long and then you are at Little Crater Lake. The viewing platform is out of commission right now but you can walk to the left or to the right. The left is a very short path as you cannot walk around the whole pool. To the right you can continue down the path and boardwalk and meet up with the Pacific Crest Trail. This is a beautiful little pool, super clear and no you...

Camping spots are nice though kind of poorly defined. The toilet is nice when it's been recently cleaned but it gets hammered quickly and gets nasty fast. The lake itself is beautiful, but the viewing decking is falling apart. It hasn't been serviced in many years. It's absolutely decrepit. The camp host was very friendly and pleasant to deal with. Unfortunately, due to the lake, the camp sites end up being very loud, busy, and touristy which detracts from the nature quite a bit if you're just trying to enjoy a serene campsite. This is especially bad if you're camping anywhere near the parking lot for the lake. Overall, it's just a mixed bag. It's not a bad place to camp, but it's not also a great...

Just went yesterday. Unfortunately, the 6.5 mile road to reach the lake is closed in the winter to regular vehicles. We had no warning online anywhere of this so we couldn't get to the lake as we arrived in the afternoon without enough daylight to make it there and back. The parking lot is close to clear lake but don't waste your time in the winter. It's a tough trek through snow drifts and the lake is more of a Marsh covered in snow. We had our dogs along so they still had a blast and the walk partway to Little Crater Lake was also nice with plenty of snow. Just wanted to give other would be...