Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake

We visited Crater Lake National Park on September 10th and 11th.  It’s located in Southern Oregon at the Cascade Mountain range and is one of the older National Parks, receiving the honor in 1902.  The Park features one of the most beautiful places on Earth: a deep, pure lake tucked into sheer cliffs that are over 1,900 feet high and two stunning islands on the lake.  Crater Lake itself is over 1,900 feet deep making it the deepest lake in the United States and the nineth deepest in the world.  The lake actually lies inside a volcanic basin that was created when the 12,000-foot-high Mount Mazama collapsed 7,700 years ago following a large eruption.  The lake is filled mainly by snowfall and is one of the clearest and cleanest lakes in the world.

During our visit we took the Boat tour of the Lake, which was an excellent way to explore the lake.  You definitely get a different and unique perspective of Park by seeing it from lake level. The boat stops at the two islands as well for great up-close photos which are in the photo gallery below.  There is an excellent 2.2 mile hike on the Cleetwood Cove Trail to reach the boat dock.  There was 700 foot drop in and elevation on the way down and a challenging hike up out of the basin of the lake on the way up. 

We also hiked the following trails:

·         Boundary Springs Trail

·         Plaikni Falls Trail

·         Pinnacles Trail

·         Discovery Point

·         Watchman’s Peak Trail

The top three hikes and features were:  Plaikni Falls, which was a short 2 mile hike to a wonderful little water fall tucked into the backcountry of the main park; The Pinnacles, which was also a short hike to an area where a group of volcanic pumice spires, colored various shades of grey and brown formed by erosion along a steep sided canyon; and Watchman Peak Trail which is  1.1 mile one way hike up (then back) to the Watchman’s Observation Station – the average grade on the trail is 15% so be ready for that.  The Watchman’s Observation Station sits at 8,013 feet above sea level and provides great 360 views of Crater Lake, the forest area and the Cascade Mountains. 

All of the hikes were very easy other than the Cleetwood Cove Trail and the Watchman’s Peak Trail.  Since the Park is generally organized around the Lake the Park is easy to navigate and trailheads were simple to access.  Since we went in September parking was not bad.  Keep in mind Crate Lake is one of the snowiest places in the United State, receiving an average of 533 inches of snow every year.  So, with such a short window to visit the Park, it can get crowded during the summer months. 

On our last day we visited the Crater Lake Lodge located on the edge of the caldera volcanic basin overlooking Crater Lake.  The Lodge was opened in 1915 for visitors to Crater Lake and is owned by the National Park Service.  There is a magnificent fireplace in the Great Hall room of the Lodge and each day a Ranger will give a lecture on some aspect of the park or lake at the lodge.

All of our photos from the hikes, boat tour and roadside stops are uploaded to the below gallery, however, Crater Lake must be seen to be appreciated properly.  Photographs simply cannot depict the majesty of the lake in its setting and the depth of the blue within the lake’s waters. 

Cleetwood Cove Trail

Plaikni Falls

Crater Lake from lookout tower