Klamath Falls

Understand

Klamath Falls is surrounded by two lakes and two rivers. It was founded as Linkville in 1867 at the mouth of the short Link River, which drains Klamath Lake into Lake Ewauna. In turn, Lake Ewauna is the source of the Klamath River, one of only two rivers that flow across the Cascade Mountains, a distinction shared with the great Columbia River. Linkville changed its name to Klamath Falls in 1893 and was incorporated in 1905.

Locals like to joke about tourists and other outsiders naively asking, "Where are the falls?" The fact is, Klamath Falls got its name from rapids on the Link River. The average person seeing these rapids today might wonder who on earth would call them "falls," especially now that a small hydroelectric dam on the river has dropped the water level, making the whitewater at the rapids less remarkable. Although this is probably what most locals mean when they joke, "Where are the falls?", a few are truly clueless and may just be flaunting their ironically naive understanding of "the truth"—in which case, the joke's on them!

Klamath Falls is on Pacific Time. Standard time is UTC−8, and daylight saving time is UTC−7. This is three hours behind New York, and typically eight hours behind London.

Visitor information

Get in

By plane

The closest airport with commercial service to Klamath Falls is

This airport, Oregon's third busiest, is a 78 mi drive west of Klamath Falls. Klamath-bound passengers arriving in Medford can take the Klamath Shuttle, which drops off at the Amtrak station and the Klamath Shuttle office, or rent a car and drive east via Highway 140.

By car

US Hwy 97 is sometimes called The Dalles–California Highway in Oregon, a major north–south highway in the western US, is the main highway through Klamath Falls. Highway 97 provides connections to Weed, California to the south, and to Bend, central Washington, and Osoyoos and further points north in British Columbia, Canada.

Crater Lake Pkwy (OR-39) comes to Klamath Falls from the southeast, connecting to Merrill and northeastern California. It brings traffic in from Reno, Nevada via Susanville and Alturas, California. The road becomes CA-139 once over the state line into California.

'Oregon Highway 66 (OR-66) is also known as the Green Springs Highway, winds through the Cascade Mountains between Klamath Falls and Ashland.

The Southside Expressway (OR-140) runs east–west through the southside of Klamath Falls. Its western terminus is White City, near Medford in the Rogue Valley. It runs east to Lakeview and northwestern Nevada, bringing visitors to Klamath Falls via Winnemucca, Nevada from points east like Salt Lake City, Utah.

Klamath Falls can be accessed from Interstate 5 (I-5) by four different routes:

• From Eugene and points north, take Oregon Route 58 east from Eugene at I-5 Exit 188, and then drive south on Highway 97.
• From the northern Rogue Valley, leave the Interstate near Central Point or Medford and take Highway 140 from White City.
• From the southern Rogue Valley, take Highway 66 from Ashland at I-5 Exit 14.
• From Weed and points south, take Highway 97 north from Weed at I-5 Exit 747.

By train

• Route stopping in Klamath Falls:

• Coast Starlight operates daily between Seattle and Los Angeles. Stops include Tacoma, Lacey, Centralia, Kelso, Vancouver, WA, Portland, Salem, Albany, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Dunsmuir, Redding, Chico, Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, San Francisco (Emeryville), Oakland, San Jose, Salinas, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Simi Valley, Van Nuys, and Burbank. A northbound train departs at 8:17AM daily, and a southbound train departs at 10PM daily. Klamath Falls is one of three fresh-air stops in Oregon, meaning that passengers are allowed to step off the train to stretch, get fresh air, or smoke.

By bus

The main intercity bus stop is located at the Amtrak Station at 1600 Oak Avenue:

In addition to the Amtrak station stop there are additional local stops in different places. See the above listings.

Get around

By car

Klamath Falls is fairly easy to navigate by car. Downtown has a small network of one-way streets. Major thoroughfares include Main Street, Klamath Avenue, Oregon Avenue, California Avenue, South 6th Street (one branch of Highway 39), East Main Street, Washburn Way, the Crater Lake Parkway (the other branch of Highway 39), Shasta Way, Homedale Road, and the Southside Bypass (Highway 140).

Some streets have directions (South 6th Street, East Main St, etc.). Numbered streets are divided by Main Street into north and south, but otherwise there is little logic to the system. For example, Main Street extends east to Crater Lake Parkway, but before it gets there, East Main Street branches off and runs southeast, then south, to South 6th Street.

By bus

Basin Transit Service (BTS) provides bus public transit around Klamath Falls. BTS is in service Monday through Friday from 6:30AM to 7:30PM, and Saturday from 10AM to 4:30PM. Bus fare is $1.50 per trip (75¢ for senior and disabled riders), with transfer slips available. A day pass costs $3; it saves money to get one if you know you will take the bus at least twice in the day (or at least four times if you pay discounted fare).

Two mainline routes (1 and 2) run from the Oregon Institute of Technology at the north end of town to the south end. Four feeder routes (3/5 and 4/6) connect with the mainline routes at two transfer stations downtown (7th and Pine) and at the Klamath County Fairgrounds (South 6th and Altamont).

By foot

Downtown is walkable, but the whole city is spread out and not very walkable.

By bike

Numerous bike paths run all over the city, providing a full day's worth of biking. The local buses have bike racks on the front bumper.

By taxi

Go next

• Ashland
• Crater Lake National Park
• Fort Klamath
• Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex
• Lava Beds National Monument
• Oregon Caves National Monument
• Train Mountain Railroad Museum