Short Stop: A Lake That a Volcano Made

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Visiting Crater Lake Is Like Nowhere Else Because, Well, It Is

Where can you walk down 65 stories to take a boat ride, see an old man bobbing about in the United States’ deepest lake, and take a sip from your water bottle of what’s said to be the world’s purest H2O?

You’ll find all that at Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park. It will take you perhaps two days to see it, and it may be one of the most interesting national parks you will ever visit. Located about a two-hour drive east of the Pacific Coast, it was one of our bucket list stops—well, at least mine, anyway—on a nine-week trip to see grandkids in Yellowstone National Park and on Canada’s Vancouver Island in our 2023 Wonder Murphy Bed Lounge, Lucky Us Too.

We were all set to visit the park on a similar trip back from the West Coast in 2019. But with that summer’s series of wildfires seemingly everywhere, we arrived at the entrance and couldn’t see 100 feet, so we moved east and out of the smoke.

Wildfire smoke billows from the surrounding forest. It closed nearby national forest campgrounds, and it sometimes affected lake views, but the park remained open. Nearby peaks are volcanic cinder cones in this area, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

We wondered if we’d also get in this time, too, due to the blazes that the hundreds of firefighters we passed were battling. All campgrounds approaching Crater Lake were closed, but fortunately, the road was clear this time, and the five-year wait was worth it. As we topped the last hill and cleared the previous Ponderosa pine, the forest opened onto a field of volcanic pumice hundreds of feet thick, and beyond, a weird jagged collar of rock, a parking lot at its base–we’d arrived.

Our first view of Crater Lake. Still surrounded by fields of pumice, the crater edge drops fast, but it also lures the curious, aka foolhardy with a death wish, to dare to illegally stroll out to the point on the left for a look even though the view’s the same from behind the fence.

It was a short walk up to the rim for our first look. Some 700 feet below was the lake—all six miles long and five miles wide, containing nearly four and a half cubic miles of water. We looked at the deepest lake in the United States at almost 2,000 feet, the second-deepest in North America (Canada’s Great Slave Lake holds number one), and the ninth deepest in the world. As we turned around, we saw clouds of smoke from the fires, seemingly only a few miles away, but fortunately, the winds kept it mostly out of the park.

Our spacious site at Crater Lake’s Mazama campground

How’d the lake form? Was it a meteor strike? Alien space laser? Was Bigfoot responsible? We’d find out the next day. We’d booked a boat tour, which is the best way to see it up close. But for now, we paused at several viewing spots on the rim road on our way to Mazama Campground, six miles south. Mazama, originally named by the volcano, is the park’s only campground, with 214 sites.

Crater Lake National Park has a photo-op at every stop along the rim road, with Wizard Island in the distance.

Are you looking to check in for your site? Don’t bother standing in line at the store. Just find it. There is no check-in or out. There is no on-site water or power, so top off before setting up. Reservations open on July 1. Until then, it’s first come, and the internet is spotty to nonexistent. You can also stay near the rim at the 71-room Crater Lake Lodge, which opened in 1915, 11 years after Teddy Roosevelt named it a national park, and recently renovated cabins near the campground.

But enough of that. We were here to see the lake, and there are three ways: the 33-mile rim drive via trolley or your coach, or dive deeper–we dove.

If you’d instead take a boat tour like we did, you’ll currently have only the first two choices. The National Park Service has halted boat tours until 2027 as it renovates docks, trails, and other areas. Don’t let that stop you. Visit and return for the boat ride. Take that guided trolley tour right now, or drive the rim road yourself. The lake tour is worth it. Choose from two. One circles the entire lake, while the other takes you to Wizard Island to romp around a volcanic boulder-strewn landscape for about four hours in the heat. We chose the former. By the way, the island was named by William G. Steele, who lobbied to make this a national park.

Planning is key. You probably won’t get on one of the tour boats or trolleys if you show up. The tours are that popular and are booked way in advance.

Denise wondered why the park website advised arriving at the parking lot up to 90 minutes before the tour. Traffic wasn’t an issue, and neither was the drive from the campground. We found out why quickly. If you’re in shape, the 65-story walk down will take you, with photo stops, maybe an hour. If you have to stop frequently, plan on taking at least 90 minutes to get to the boat dock or more. There are composting toilets at the dock area and none aboard the boats, so prepare for at least the next two hours. Going back up is a totally different story—65 of them.

The sign at the top of the trail leading to the boat tour tells it all.

With pauses for great images like this, plan on up to 90 minutes to reach the boat dock.

Finally, the boat dock is being renovated. Composting toilets are nearby

The Big One

Tour guides on the trolley and boat will tell you how the lake was formed. Only about 7,700 years ago—a short time geologically—the volcano was Mount Mazama, one of the region’s highest peaks at 12,000 feet. Now? It’s about 8,900. How?

In literally an instant, 12 cubic miles of earth and rock launched 30 miles into the sky in the largest eruption in a half-million years and one of the largest in Earth’s history. Stories passed down to present-day Klamath people are proof that First Americans were here to witness and perhaps die in it since sandals were also found buried in surrounding pumice fields. Volcanic ash blew as far as Canada and Greenland, and explosion debris was tossed as far as 25 miles.

After the explosion, what was left collapsed, allowing rain and snow to collect. Today, the only way it leaves is by condensation and a good amount of seepage, which our guide said occurs at a porous rock wall.

The Wizard And The Old Man

You’ll also learn that Wizard Island is a cinder cone rising 755 feet above the water. The scale of everything here is so large that the island and a neighboring formation are smaller.

One of our first sights was The Old Man. Faithfully bobbing in the lake and moving frequently, it’s a 40-foot stalk of western hemlock that was first spotted poking three feet out of the water in 1896. It continues to delight tour-takers as it’s pushed by wind around the caldera.

The 40-foot-long western hemlock known as The Old Man has been a permanent lake resident since at least the 1890s. Note the water’s stunning blue color. Remember, that cliff in the center is about 700 to 900 feet up, depending on who’s counting. That gives you an idea of the immensity of the crater. Behind and right of the old man is a gray layer of ash from the eruption, hundreds of feet thick.

Wizard Island was named by the man who campaigned for years to have the lake named a national park. It’s a cinder cone left over from the eruption

Smaller Phantom Ship Island rises 170 feet above the surface, though it may not look like it due to the scale of everything here.

Thanks, I’ll Have Another

Yes, you can take a drink of the lake’s water. At one point, the boat stops as the guide asks who wants a drink or fills a bottle of what is considered the world’s cleanest water from one of the world’s clearest bodies of water. Tastes just like, um, water.

The Trek Up

Once you get off the boat, you’ll be going up. The trail eventually gets less steep before it gets steep again. Take your time. You’re at about 6,100 feet at lake level, and once you finally reach the top, you’ll have climbed about 700 to 900 feet, depending on the sign. Remember to stop along the way when, not if, you feel winded. The sign at the top is a good place to pause, take in what you just did, and take another look at where you were and at the folks still making the switchbacks. Go in the morning so it’s still cool when you climb up. Afternoon tours were facing temps in the 90s. Crater Lake is unique in North America, and worth a short stop in your LTV.

Yup, still going up. That’s why we went in the cool of the morning.

When You Go

Reserve your campsite, boat, or trolley ride early. The trolley ride takes about two hours and has several stops for photos and views. You’ll learn a lot more aboard than on your own.

Campsites at Mazama are widely spaced amidst a grove of large Ponderosa pine. The park stresses conserving water. Plan on using your shower, so have plenty of water aboard. There is a dump station, and fire rings are available. Check the park for restrictions. Nearby wildfires notwithstanding, several national forest campgrounds close if Mazama is full. The park has three restaurants: Crater Lake Lodge, Annie Creek Lodge, and Rim Village Café. Check the website for other things to do.

We witnessed some visitors going off trail and walking to the edge of the crater rim to peer over. What would’ve happened had the soft rock gave way? Don’t be that person, please.

Bill & Denise Semion

Michigan-based Leisure Explorers Bill and Denise Semion use more than 75 years of combined writing and photography experience to bring you, along with their cat, on their adventures across the U.S. and Canada in their 2023 Wonder MBL. Bill is an award-winning travel/outdoor writer and author of two travel books. Denise is an accomplished photographer and outdoor communicator.