Diamond Lake, OR and the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway

Diamond Lake, Oregon

I should have posted this long ago, but life has been insanely busy.... We took a road trip for our honeymoon all the way from Spokane, WA to San Diego, CA, with a few stops along the way. One of those stops was Diamond Lake, OR.

We didn't spend much time at the lake itself, because there was an algae bloom (apparently pretty common iAugust there), but it was gorgeous. There were quite a few people there who packed everything they could manage, but we had a nice simple tent site. There are some sites that you could use a hammock, but I wouldn't count on it.

Watson Falls (with my hubby to scale)

The next morning, we woke up early to hit the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway. Let me tell you, it was totally worth it! We stopped off at Watson Falls first, and had the entire place to ourselves. It was a pretty steep hike, but very doable. The view was breathtaking.

Up next, I believe was the Umpqua Hot Springs, the whole reason we even wanted to do drive this route. It was an EXTREMELY steep, but very short hike, and it was completely worth it!! There is a small fee, so bring cash there (I think it was $5 but can't remember), and while most people were in their bathing suits, there were some people skinny dipping in the hot springs. Bring some sandals, as the trek to the lower hot springs is rocky and a bit slippery. The upper hot springs were SCALDING and we weren't even able to keep a foot in there, the lower you go, the less hot they get. There were maybe 10-15 other people there with us, some children as well.

Umpqua Hot Springs

We then went to Toketee Falls, this was probably the most crowded of the falls, with quite a few steps, but again well worth it. The infographics along the hike were very interesting as well.

Whitehorse falls was next, there is virtually no hike to this, but parking is very scarce. I think there were 5 spots at most maybe, and they filled up shortly after we arrived. Small waterfall in comparison to the rest.

Finally, we stopped at Clearwater falls. This one is interesting,

because it's a very short hike up to the waterfall itself, but there is another back trail you can go up, and come out on top of the waterfall. There is also a campground up there that we did not know about. I believe it was a $20 fee per night, but it was a very rough campground with no facilities. There were quite a few visitors to this as well.

We camped at Diamond Lake, left around 8am and didn't return until 5pm or so (but easily could have stayed at the Hot Springs an entire day). The drive was really nice, and there were many other short stops we could have taken. Total it was less than an hour from Diamond Lake, and we got to see all of these amazing places while celebrating our honeymoon. It was absolutely perfect!

Toketee Falls

Clearwater Falls

Whitehorse Falls