With their weathered wood, stone fireplaces, breezy patios and decks overlooking the water, Oregon lake lodges are the perfect family vacation. You’ll find every type of outdoor adventure imaginable, so you can enjoy splashing around with the kids or just hanging out roasting hot dogs over crackling campfires.
There’s another side of lodge vacations, too — one that’s perfect for an empty-nest couple or those seeking quieter pleasures. You may find yourself sitting on a deck for hours lost in lake views and the scent of pine, sipping a cocktail and watching the sun go down, or enjoying an afternoon of live music at a rustic on-site restaurant. From grand, timber-built icons to tiny, lovingly maintained inns with a few rooms and cabins, here are lodges that encourage rest and restoration on the shores of a beautiful lake.
Fish and Relax on a Boat at These Lodges
As you might imagine, lake lodges are a great place to get out on the water. Paulina Lake Lodge & Resort, in the Newberry Volcanic National Monument about an hour south of Bend, is an elevated experience. The lodge, originally built in 1929, sits at 6,332 feet of elevation and overlooks Paulina Lake, one of two lakes in the caldera of Newberry Crater. Paulina Lake is an excellent spot for catching big brown trout, rainbow trout and kokanee salmon, and summer afternoons are wonderful spent relaxing lakeside with live music.
Under new ownership, the renovated A-frame lodge now has a take-out deck and a walk-up ice cream window. You can rent boats and purchase gear for fishing, stay in a cabin, or just enjoy a sweet treat before you head back down the mountain. In winter the lodge caters to snowmobile and ski-in enthusiasts.
In the Cascade Mountains of Central Oregon — about 15 miles west of Sisters — the Suttle Lodge & Boathouse is tucked away in a forest of pine trees on the shore of Suttle Lake. The lodge, constructed in 2005, was built on the same site as former lodgings dating back to the 1920s. I love relaxing in the Adirondack chairs under towering pines at the lodge and watching the lake shimmer in the distance before making my way down to the lakeshore and the seasonal boathouse.
I’ve caught more kokanee and rainbow trout on Suttle Lake in one of the resort’s rental boats than I can count, and if you’re not out fishing or paddling around on a kayak or stand-up paddleboard, relaxing on the deck at the Boathouse is the next best thing. Expect a diner-meets-camp-store with midcentury vibes, featuring an excellent potato-chip-encrusted trout sandwich. The on-site bar and restaurant has more upscale cuisine and excellent cocktails to savor in the lodge itself.
A classic built in 1927, Odell Lake Lodge & Resort is located in the Cascades about 90 minutes east of Eugene. When Highway 58 was built in the 1940s, the lodge expanded its property to accommodate carloads of campers and anglers heading out to catch state-record lake trout and kokanee salmon. The stately old lodge, filled with rustic wooden furniture and big windows, features seven lodge rooms and 14 rustic-chic A-frame cabins. The area is popular for downhill and cross-country skiing in winter. I love stopping off in the summer for a hike or a game of disc golf, and timing my visits to berry season, when the resort serves up huckleberry- and blackberry-laden fruit cobblers.
Experience Oregon History at Bucket-List Spots
Situated at the southern end of the glacially carved Wallowa Lake, Wallowa Lake Lodge and Cabins — about a five-hour drive east of Portland — was built in 1923 and sports a striking dark-stained exterior. The lodge is at the base of the Eagle Cap Mountains, often called the Alps of Oregon. Aside from the natural beauty of the lake and the towering mountains, the area is popular for horse riding, backpacking and high-lake fishing. The Camas Dining Room and the Redd Bar in the lodge offer rich interiors with taxidermied wildlife on the walls, a stone fireplace and good eats to fully immerse yourself in that old-time, lake-lodge vibe. The lodge opens in late May and closes in late September.
The crown jewel of the lake-lodge genre is undoubtedly Crater Lake Lodge, built in 1915. The 71-room lodge overlooks the deepest lake in the United States and is the starting point for many adventures like camping, hiking or cycling in summer or cross-country skiing the rim in winter. The great hall with its stone fireplace and terrace, with rocking chairs overlooking the bluest blue you can imagine, are some of the best spots to enjoy drinks with a view and some of my favorite places to bring friends and family visiting Oregon. The lodge is open mid-May to October, and reservations at the restaurant are recommended during the busy summer season.
Go Off-Grid at These Resorts
For an off-grid adventure, consider Ollalie Lake Resort, about two hours east of Salem. Built in 1932, this rustic lodge has no electricity, internet or cell service. It’s a wilderness experience that reminds me of summers spent exploring Oregon by map in my youth. You’ll need a vehicle with some ground clearance, as the road is rough in places. This little resort is a great place for an all-day adventure hiking the many trails around the lake, fishing for trout, or just sitting around and chatting it up with the many Pacific Crest Trail hikers who stop there. The resort rents boats and has a small store with food items, soft drinks, and beer and wine. Ollalie Lake is one of my favorite midweek adventures, so I can beat the crowds, enjoy a cold beverage and put a few trout in the cooler. The resort is seasonal, opening in late May and closing in late September.
Elk Lake Resort — about 35 miles west of Bend — was originally built in 1921 as a fishing getaway for area residents. Recent renovations include a revamped bar inside the lodge and a sitting area with lake views. The resort has a busy summer season, shuts down for a bit and then caters to snow-themed winter activities, including a delightful lakeside sauna and cold-plunge experience that really brings on the relaxation under what might be some of the best mountain views in Oregon.
For an entirely different experience, check out the tiny but sublime Loon Lake Lodge & RV Resort in the Lake Creek Valley, about 15 miles east of Reedsport. Travel the winding road from Highway 38 to a body of water that was created by a massive landslide around 1,400 years ago, and you will find a beautiful lake with sandy beaches, campsites, bungalows, cottages, yurts, and a small lodge and marina that could easily be a 1950s movie set. More resort than lodge, the area is popular for angling, kayaking, paddleboarding and personal watercraft rentals — it makes a nice base camp for fishing charters in nearby Winchester Bay and recreation in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The resort is open from April to September.
