Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Is Detroit Lake worth it?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
IMHO, no. That SC is basically for traveling Northwest Oregon to Bend. It's on a reservoir lake in the mountains. There are a few things to do there but it's mostly about boating/fishing/... Mostly a summer activities town. Kind of shuts down off season.
 
If you want a detour to visit more SuperChargers, maybe visit Ellensburg on the I90 after Centralia, and take highway 2 via Leavenworth on the way back over to Burlington. That way you hit both mountain passes.

It will add a bit more than 3 hours though, and you likely have to stop in Leavenworth for an hour or two for a 1772 charge. There are some 70A chargers along that way as well if you have twin chargers and want to try them out.
 
Hi Pacific Northwesterns! I'm on a quixotic quest to visit all the supercharger and move up the board; my next trip will take me from Sacramento up to Vancouver. I can't quite figure out what to do with Detroit Lake though because it will take an extra 3 hours to visit on the way up. Anyone familiar with the area? Is it worth it? Any interesting to see and do there? Thanks.

If you do go out of your way to go to Detroit lake, make sure to do it in the Summer. The lake is literally dry in the winter (they open the dam and drain it in prep for the snow run-off) and there is nothing to do in Detroit Lake itself. The "town" by the Supercharger is literally a few small stores and restaurants. That's it. If you were heading out there, as the other reply mentions, plan to head to Central Oregon. The first Resort after Detroit Lake is Black Butte Ranch (we have a place there...about an hour past DL) and then another 45 minutes past that brings you to Bend (and Sunriver after that). Central Oregon is beautiful and offers a host of recreational activities, but not much in Detroit Lake itself unless you are going camping/boating.
 
If you do go out of your way to go to Detroit lake, make sure to do it in the Summer. The lake is literally dry in the winter (they open the dam and drain it in prep for the snow run-off) and there is nothing to do in Detroit Lake itself. The "town" by the Supercharger is literally a few small stores and restaurants. That's it. If you were heading out there, as the other reply mentions, plan to head to Central Oregon. The first Resort after Detroit Lake is Black Butte Ranch (we have a place there...about an hour past DL) and then another 45 minutes past that brings you to Bend (and Sunriver after that). Central Oregon is beautiful and offers a host of recreational activities, but not much in Detroit Lake itself unless you are going camping/boating.
Is camping open on the lake bed during winter?
 
There's a SuperCharger in Detroit Lake ?!?!! Wow. The more the merrier. I've actually been there once on a road trip w the family. Thus my surprise. We camped at the state park (summertime).

You should go there, of course, for your "quest" & while you're at it, go into any store or restaurant, buy something, & tell 'em you only came here because there's a Tesla . . . you get the point. I plan on doing that as much as possible this year. They don't need to know I don't have the car to charge, yet. ML
 
If you do, go all the way to Bend. Bend is quiet in the winter, like others have said, but warms up when it's sunny. Ellensburg and onto Leavenworth is nice, we might do that this weekend.
 
At least Bend has some winter activities near. Leavenworth is a lot of fun year round. It's a Bavarian themed with lots of restaurants and shopping. And, Jack Anderson's efforts have lead to several HAL2 chargers in town so you're not stuck with 6KW charging. Pretty soon, Route 2 will have a number of HAL2s on it all the way to Wenatchee.
 
What's fun about the Detroit lake supercharger is it's almost completely forgotten about.

So much so that it doesn't even have proper lines. It's like they couldn't figure out if a person should back in straight or at an angle so they have both lines. But, only faint lines for both.

It's fun test of your backing up skills since you can't cheat and use the camera.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: Rocky_H and MP3Mike
If your goal is to visit most SCs, then you might want to take Klamath Falls, Bend, Detroit Lake route up to Portland, and do the coast on the return trip. These routes are pretty, if you like forests and rivers and ocean vistas. There is not much to do while you are charging in Detroit Lake, but you won't need much charging in Detroit Lake except as a check-off item. In fact, it is easy to skip it by charging just slightly longer in Bend and/or Woodburn.
On your next trip, you could come up/in via Nevada/Utah/I-84 and go down I-5.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: pilotSteve
Is camping open on the lake bed during winter?
No it's not, but it's cool to see the lake bed and how high that short bridge is.

I LOVE the drive from Detroit Lake to Sisters (unless you get stuck behind a slow truck) because it is so scenic and twisty, ESPECIALLY right before you crest HooDoo/Santiam Pass area where that forest fire burned out the trees several years so now you can see the lava topography. Yes I'm a geology geek on the side.
 
I plan on road tripping from bay area to Oregon to see the eclipse tomorrow. Turns out Detroit Lake is right in the path of totality. Can someone let me know if there is plenty of sunshine there or is more in the mountains?
I haven't been to the supercharger, but Detroit Lake in general is definitely in the mountains. Seems like not the best spot to view the eclipse as it might take some work to get a clear view of the sun through the mountains and trees.

If you are heading up from LA, definitely look at the Corning and Mount Shasta threads. It likely would be faster for you to cut over to 101 north of the bay area and drive up the coast. Good luck!
 
Detroit is definitely in the path of totality and the weather forecast is for crystal clear skies. It's in the mountains and at 10:30am it should be plenty easy to see the sun. The biggest challenge will be traffic and crowds. It's a 2 lane highway clear from Stayton so I would start very early in the morning. Otherwise you'll be seeing it from the side of the road along the way, which might turn out to be cool. However if you've made it as far as Stayton you might just stay there to watch it.
Welcome to Oregon!
 
At least Bend has some winter activities near. Leavenworth is a lot of fun year round. It's a Bavarian themed with lots of restaurants and shopping. And, Jack Anderson's efforts have lead to several HAL2 chargers in town so you're not stuck with 6KW charging. Pretty soon, Route 2 will have a number of HAL2s on it all the way to Wenatchee.
Bend is one of the top 10 fastest growing destination cities in the U.S. It has as much going on in the summer as it does when the ski area opens. If you come through please know that the traffic circles are yield not stop circles...(that is a joke btw).
T
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky_H