Testimonials


Janet McNeil of Crater Lake Bed and Breakfast says: “Our guests all loved the Crater Lake Trolley!  The driver and Ranger were great, informative and courteous.  It is great to be able to encourage guests to take a tour and have a great time.”
Justin Owens, Fresno, CA:  “The trolleys are awesome!”

Lisa Thormodsgard: “A great informational tour!  It was the talk of the Mazama campground.”

Gail and Bella of Canada:  “We had an amazing time!  We also enjoyed Becky’s Café, the pie and ice cream was wonderful!  We’ll send more folks your way so they can enjoy the tours! Thanks again.”

William Patterson: “A must for anyone’s bucket list.”

Mary Lorimer: “Riding the trolley in mid-September was the highlight of our trip.  Thanks to Ranger Josh for the info and insights.  John Muir would be proud.”

Helen from Chicago: “The trolley was worth every penny.  The Ranger was wonderful and the trip was gorgeous!”

Janice Vice: “We give then an A for the tour.”

Paula and Bruce Walker: Just wanted to let you know what a great time we had visiting Crater Lake via your trolley on Sunday July 7, 2013. The different views we saw were just wonderful. The trolley was very clean and we could see from every angle. I will highly recommend it to all our friends and family planning this trip.
The main reason for this email is to let you know what a wonderful staff you had working the day we rode the trolley. I hope you take the time to check to see all the people working that day and give them all a big THUMBS UP for a wonderful trip (the 12:00 tour). I asked for the email address of the company and had all the people we dealt with that day to put their names on the card for me. Needless to say I misplaced that card. Please kindly check your records that day as not to forget anyone. Thanks.
The ones I remember are a special young lady that was our tour guide named Sarah. Just fabulous!!!! And of course our driver I think it was Orlando or Fernando but he was so polite and funny. The ticket lady was just as nice. We were treated just like family and that means a lot. I think one guys name was Ben. Anyway please know that we were so please with our experience. You always hear the bad things that happen so I wanted you to know the other side.
Sincerely, Paula and Bruce
I hadn’t been to Crater Lake since I was a small child and had no memory of this place and the beauty of it. I I drove down with my family where we parked our car and took the trolley around the rim of the lake. The ride was wonderful. It was so nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the beauty and splendor of this magnificent lake without having to stress over looking for places to pull over for the best view. The highlight of the trip was having a knowledgeable well versed park ranger as our personal guide to point out the history and transformation of the Lake as we know it today. This is an experience everyone should check out at least once. You will never forget it. It was wonderful.
Cindy T: We had originally planned to drive around the rim on our own but so glad we did the trolley tour instead. The large windows allowed easy viewing of all the beautiful vistas and even though we sat in the back we all could hear the tour guide perfectly. The friendly volunteer ranger who was our guide gave an exceptional explanation of how the lake was formed, history, flora and fauna, geology…basically everything about the lake and surrounding area and even showed pictures and passed around a lake clarity measuring device. Everyone on our tour asked lots of questions and the ranger thoughtfully answered each one. All the stops where we got off the trolley were scenic and the guide further elaborated on its noteworthiness. After the tour ended and now understanding more of the area truly gave me a deeper appreciation of the lake.
This trolley company is the only one in the park. A park ranger was our guide along the tour and pointed out many things that you would probably not know or read on your own. It is nice to sit back and enjoy the ride and learn something rather than try to stop, park, read, and drive all on your own. You can make reservations ahead of time if you know when you will be there. I recommend this activity. Good for all ages.
David E:This two hour trip around the rim of Crater Lake affords beautiful views and outstanding information provided by a Ranger. The information is both informative and interesting but not overdone so that you never feel as if you’re on overload. There are about four or five stops to give different views. The Ranger is also available and more than willing to respond to specific questions. Ours was also very helpful in taking family photos for people. This was well worth the cost.
Jennifer R:My husband and I took the two hour trolley tour, and totally enjoyed the experience. Our driver was wonderful, the pace was just right, and I believe we made about 5 or 6 stops along the way. Our ranger/tour guide, Tim, is a retired geologist and had so many interesting facts to share about how the lake was formed, etc. We really enjoyed our tour.
Linda D:Rim drive is over 20 miles of narrow, 2-lane road. On the Trolley, I got to look out the window and enjoy all the views without worrying about other vehicles or driving too close to the edge. We made about 7 stops in 2 hours at awesome viewpoints where we got out and gazed at this deep blue, crystal clear lake. National Park Ranger Dennis informed us of park history and geology, threw in some stories and jokes, and answered questions. The Trolley driver was also pleasant and friendly-and a great driver.
Maryann L:When we entered the park the ranger gave us the usual map of the park and a postcard describing the Rim Drive Trolley. What a great idea! Later we learned from our driver that the trolleys were purchased from the city of Detroit. They had been used to shuttle people at the Super Bowl. Tickets are purchased at the community building at Rim Village. Our driver was friendly and offered pads for the hard wooden seats. Our guide, Tim, was a geologist and a National Park volunteer. He provided great narratives at each of the 6 stops, gave us a history of the park, the formation of Crater Lake and had photos to share of the park’s wildlife and samples of volcanic rock, pumice and obsidian. This was a perfect way to do the Rim Drive. Tim and our driver tried to avoid the crowds at the most popular stops and we didn’t miss anything. We had plenty of time at each stop for photos. The trolley we took drove clockwise around the caldera. For the best photos with the sun behind you most of the time, go in the early afternoon. If you drive the rim, take the West rim entrance in the morning and the East rim entrance in the afternoon
SuzC:Highly recommend the trolley as a way to see the lake and not have to focus on driving the narrow road. They make 5 or 6 stops so you have plenty of time for picture-taking. And the tours are narrated by geologists, botanists, or naturalists so you get a lot of very good information. It was a great way to spend 2 hours. If you arrive in the morning, buy your tickets as soon as possible or buy them online. They had cut back the number of tours the Saturday we were there and they all sold out. This is great for children, too, and the narrators spend extra time making sure the children are entertained.

Visited September 2013

For a reasonable $25 a person, this trolley drives the lake rim for 35 miles, stopping @ various points that are not only spectacular to see but educationally important to the area. We saw the entire lake from totally different vantage points which put it in proper perspective to it’s surroundings. Our trip had a volunteer geologist on board explaining the very recent history & geologic activity in the formation of Crater Lake. Amazing blue from 750′ above.

Leaves from the community house, a short walk from the Crater Lake Lodge, every two hours during the day, but check the schedule to be sure. Discounts for seniors & children. Accessible to persons with disabilities. Everyone can enjoy this magnificent treasure.

If you only do one thing @ Crater Lake, consider the trolley first!
The weather was awful, cold, overcast and 40mph wind gusts. The visibility was spotty. The park ranger, Christa, was enthusiastic and cheerful and so was Mike, the trolley driver. There had been so much snow and rain that half of the drive, the east portion, was closed due to rock slides so we only got half way around the rim but they made it fun and interesting. What could have been a miserable day was pleasant and a lot of fun. Someone else did all the tricky driving and we got lots of interesting detail and information. Sometimes, the clouds would part and we would have a wonderful view. The trolley would stop so we could get pictures. Christa’s bubbly, funny demeanor made the day. Put this one on your bucket list!

A JOLLY TIME ON THE CRATER LAKE TROLLEY

“My wife and I booked a tour on the Crater Lake Trolley. I highly recommend this tour to everyone visiting the lake. The tour does a complete circle around the perimeter of the lake making stops and very scenic vista points. What really makes this tour so interesting is the superb on-board narration provided by one of the park’s rangers. We found the presentation to be very interesting and informative. I must say that we boarded the trolley with 24 strangers and returned in a trolley with 24 friends.”

Cheers,

Roger

We knew before arriving we would be short on time so we made reservations to ride the trolley, I’m so glad we did because they were sold out when we arrived. We were pleasantly suprised to see that a Park Ranger would be our tour guide. This was a great experience, if you are driving it is difficult to see everything because your so busy watching the road. This is the way to go, great views, great turnouts, the Park Ranger was awesome and engaging with lots of information and facts, and no worries about making the drive, just enjoy!!

Visited July 2014

July 23RD. This is the way to experience beautiful Crater Lake. The Ranger on board shared his vast knowledge with us about crater lake. The bus driver made several photo stops. Sit back, relax, enjoy the beautiful views and leave the driving to them!
What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know this service existed. Our family took this trip last year to Crater lake. It was most memorable. The ride encircled the entire rim of the lake stopping at different sites allowing us plenty of photo opportunities. A park ranger told of its history. This year we will be taking our visiting guests from Australia. We are proud of our spectacular scenic country and proud to show it off to the world in such an ecologically friendly manner. I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone.
We had a wonderful time taking the trolley.With all of the road work being done there the trolley was the way to go , Our ranger was the best I don’t remember his name (red hair) Loved all of his visual effects in telling everyone about the park and area around it. The female driver Ida? Wonderful.. The weather was hot but the trolley was cool , we took the first tour in the morning glad we did as the park was filled with people when we got back 2 hours later….. Every stop was spectacular. 1 more thing to scratch off the bucket list….. Just remember to use the restroom before the tour. Its right next to the trolleys.

Visited July 2014

Great way to circle the rim”

We originally planned to drive around the rim road on our own, but when we learned of this alternative, we jumped at the chance to take it. We had a ranger guide to explain what we were seeing while practicing his stand up comedy act. Great fun!

Of course, the main attraction is the lake itself. The talk on the tour, together with Q&A, covered every aspect of this magnificent sight: its creation 7700 years ago, Indian myths about a fight between competing deities, construction of the road (a daunting challenge), and more.

We highly recommend this tour, which lasts about two hours with several stops along the way.

Visited June 2015

We took the trolley tour with two friends this past week while visiting Crater Lake. We were limited on time, so the trolley made for an excellent option, as the tour is only two hours long. There were about 12 of us total on the trolley.
The tour takes you around the entire circumference of the lake. Our park ranger, Heidi, was knowledgeable, and she had some interesting stories about the history of the park. She spoke about the Native American history of the area and shared original photos of the lake. We made multiple stops along the way, so that we could get out and take pictures of the lake.
 If you have an additional day at Crater Lake, the trolley tour is an excellent way to get an overview of all of the different things you can do along the rim of Crater Lake. As I mentioned earlier, it’s also a very efficient way to see the lake if you’re short on time.
You can do the same drive yourself, but you wouldn’t get the additional information provided by the park ranger, and there are definitely some scary/steep drops off the side of the road that would have made me nervous about driving the road myself.

Visited June 2015

Trolley ride is the way to go. Every stop has an interesting fact and view for taking photos. The ranger was full of interesting information and added some humor. He was very willing to answer questions. When you picked up your ticket they had free postcards and information available.

Visited June 2015

A very grate way to see the lake !! Informative and tell you other places you can go around lake on your own .plus you can look take pictures and don’t have to drive prices very reasonable.

Visited July 2015

We took the trolly tour on July 2 and it was a highlight of our trip. It takes you all around the lake and stops so you can get some beautiful photos. We had Park Ranger Jeff and he was very knowledgeable about the area and we were surprised to find out he is a fellow Minnesotan and is from a town very close to ours!! We learned a lot about the area and the history. Q

Visited July 2015

A friend and I decided to take the trolley around the rim of Crater Lake. It is a two hour tour, with several stops to take pictures and to learn more about how the Crater was made. Our tour was lead by Ranger Dave and I highly recommend taking the tour with him. He is very informative and very funny. He has a great way of including humor in his presentations. The trolley was a very comfortable ride. The day we were there the weather was pretty cloudy and started to rain, so it was nice to have the trolley.

Visited July 2015

Absolutely a must do. We were coming from Bend and entered the North entrance. We probably would take 97S to 138w to 230S to 62 E tothe South entrance which basically takes you to the Lodge where the Trolley tour starts. Someone had recommended that, but it looked quite a bit further. We came back that way. The road around the lake is a bit scarry and with the bikes and RVs the stress is not worth it. The tour was 2 hours. The driver was great. Ranger Sean was our tour guide. He was very engaging. We took lots of stops for pictures with loads of information and stories. It was quite smoky due to sme fires in the park but we still had great views.

Visited August 2015

I am so glad that I read the trip advisor reviews about the Trolley Tour around the rim of Crater Lake before my husband and I headed there a few weeks back. Crater Lake is stunningly beautiful! And, we were so happy that we were able to thoroughly enjoy it since we did not have to drive the 30 miles around the rim of the Lake. I agree with the people on the site who say it is a must do. We learned so much information that we would not have otherwise known with Park Ranger Dave as our guide – he also told some great jokes! 🙂 The driver Mike was also fabulous, and the owner Sandy was delightful. In my opinion, the trolley tour is well worth the money. I love to take photos and appreciated that the trolley stopped many times around the Lake for photo opportunities. The two hours just flew by. I can not say enough about how accomodating everybody who works for the Crater Lake Trolley is – including when making reservations, giving directions, and even after the tour was over. I realized after we had driven all the way back to Portland, Oregon that I had left a my favorite fleece jacket from Africa on the trolley. When I called, they told me that they would mail it to me, which they did. My fleece arrived one day after we returned from vacation. Now, that is service! In short Crater Lake is stunningly beautiful, and the Crater Lake Trolley Tour was informative and fun!

Visited August 2015