In this guide
Klamath County has two designated wilderness areas, a long stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail, and a national park, and almost nobody on any of it compared to what those words usually mean in Oregon.
It also has more closures this year than usual, and some of them affect the trails people drive furthest for. Those are up front, because a closed trailhead is a wasted day.
Sky Lakes Wilderness
113,849 acres, designated by Congress in 1984, running from the Crater Lake National Park boundary in the north down to Highway 140 in the south. The Klamath Ranger District of the Fremont-Winema National Forest manages the Klamath County side.
The name is literal. This is a plateau of glacial basins holding hundreds of small alpine lakes, grouped into the Seven Lakes, Sky Lakes and Blue Canyon basins. Mount McLoughlin at 9,495 feet is the high point and the landmark you navigate by from most of the county.
The Pacific Crest Trail runs the entire length of the wilderness north to south, about 35 miles of it, which makes this the easiest place in the county to walk a serious piece of the PCT without committing to a thru-hike. Park at a trailhead, walk in, walk out.
Two practical notes. Mosquitoes in the basins are genuinely bad through early summer, which is why the good window is late summer into fall. And snow lingers at elevation long after the valley floor is dry.
Mountain Lakes Wilderness
23,071 acres, and one of the original areas protected under the Wilderness Act itself in 1964. It was designated a Primitive Area back in 1930, one of three in the Washington and Oregon region, and the Forest Service notes it is the only wilderness in the country with a perfectly square boundary.
It is an ancient caldera, which is why the terrain works the way it does. The Mountain Lakes Loop Trail runs 8.2 miles around the caldera rim and is the classic day or overnight in the area, with small alpine lakes stepping down inside the bowl.
Access is from Clover Creek Trail on the south, Mountain Lakes Trail from the west and Varney Creek Trail from the north. The Forest Service's own page gives two different sets of mileages for those approach trails, so treat any spur distance you read as approximate and check at the Klamath Ranger District.
Compared to Sky Lakes it is compact, it is steeper, and it sees far fewer people. If you want a loop you can actually finish in a day rather than a plateau you could wander for a week, this is the one.
The Pacific Crest Trail
The PCT runs 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada, and two of its better Oregon stretches are in this county: about 35 miles through the full length of Sky Lakes, and 33 miles through Crater Lake National Park.
You do not need to thru-hike to use it. Most people here walk sections, and the trail's proximity to trailheads on both Highway 140 and inside the park makes out-and-back days straightforward.
Inside the park there is an alternate worth knowing about. A Rim Trail route opened in 1995 climbs the Dutton Creek Trail and follows the caldera edge for six miles before rejoining the PCT near Grouse Hill. It trades forest for the rim view. No camping is allowed on the rim alternate and stock are not permitted on it.
Weather here is not summer weather in the sense most visitors mean. The Cascade crest can turn in an afternoon in August, and Crater Lake averages roughly 41 feet of snow a year at park headquarters. Carry layers you would not think you need.
Crater Lake National Park
The park is open and most of its trails are open. What is not open is the part everybody wants.
The Cleetwood Cove Trail, 1.1 miles down and 700 feet back up, is the only legal access to the lake surface. It is closed for a major rehabilitation project covering the 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons, and boat tours are suspended over the same period. About 54,000 people a year hiked it, roughly 10 percent of park visitors. None of them are hiking it this year.
Road construction on East Rim Drive between Park Headquarters and Phantom Ship Overlook takes out more than road access. Sun Notch and Crater Peak trailheads cannot be reached by vehicle while it runs, Vidae Falls and its picnic area are cut off, and Lost Creek Campground is closed. Crater Peak is reachable only by hiking or biking in on Grayback Road.
What that leaves is still substantial: the Rim Drive trails on the west side, the PCT and the Rim Trail alternate, and the rest of the park's trail network. Trolley tours along the 33-mile Rim Drive run roughly July into mid-September.
Entrance is $30 per vehicle from May 22 to October 31 and $20 the rest of the year, card or digital only. The North Entrance and Rim Drive close with the first big snow or on November 1, whichever comes first, and typically reopen sometime between late May and mid-July. The west and south entrances are plowed and stay open all year.
Closer to Town
Not every walk needs a wilderness permit and an hour of driving.
- The OC and E Woods Line State Trail starts in the middle of Klamath Falls and runs 100 miles on an old railbed, the longest linear park in Oregon. The first 7.6 miles to Olene are paved. Toilets on the urban section are at Reeder Road and Wiard Park. Note the two closures above, and that there is no drinking water anywhere on the trail.
- Collier Memorial State Park has a trailhead onto Forest Service Road 390, a multi-use trail running ten miles and more, plus a horse camp. The B loop and its restroom have been closed for maintenance since May 2026.
- Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site has a short walking trail from the campground up to the spring source at the head of the Wood River. Open May 15 to November 1, with no potable water.
One caution the state itself publishes: the Forest Service trails between Jackson Kimball and Collier are unmaintained and may be unsafe from fire damage. That advisory has been standing since 2021.
Hiking Here Without Getting Caught Out
What this country asks of you
Check closures the week you go.
Between fire, construction and seasonal gates, something is usually shut.
Carry more water than the distance suggests.
This is high desert on one side of the county and volcanic plateau on the other, and neither holds surface water where you want it.
Expect no cell signal in either wilderness.
Tell somebody your route and your out time.
Carry layers for weather you do not think you will get.
The crest changes fast in any month.
Go late summer or fall for the wilderness basins.
Mosquitoes through early summer are genuinely punishing.
Start earlier than feels necessary.
Afternoon thunderstorms build over the Cascades.
Living at the Trailhead
Two wilderness areas, a national park, 100 miles of rail trail and a great deal of national forest, in a county of about 70,300 people spread over 5,950 square miles. That ratio is the whole argument for owning ground here.
We sell parcels on owner financing with no bank and no credit check. Down payments typically run $150 to $175, monthly payments typically $150 to $250 on terms of 60 to 96 months, with a document fee of $250 on most parcels. Every one is backed by the Peace‑of‑Mind Guarantee.
There is a 21-day camping limit on your own ground in this county, covered in camping, RVs and tiny homes. If you ride as well as walk, our mountain biking guide covers the trail systems, and Lava Beds is an hour south. Current inventory is on our Oregon land page. Our Klamath County parcels are spread around the county rather than gathered in one subdivision, mostly out toward Chiloquin, Beatty and Bonanza.
