Crater Lake National Park, oregon
Attractions Guide

Crater Lake National Park is centered around the massive Crater Lake, which spans approximately 6 miles (10 km) across and sits within the caldera of a collapsed volcano. Amazingly, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US and one of the deepest in the world, at nearly 1,950 feet (600 m) deep. The volcanic Mt. Mazama that Crater Lake rests in was almost 1 mile (1.6 km) taller before its eruption, and yet the lake still sits at a significant elevation of 7,000-8,000 feet (2,100-2,400 m).

Surrounding Crater Lake is Rim Road, which hosts many viewpoints overlooking the lake. Also surrounding the lake are dense sub-alpine forests filled with all types of wildlife that you might encounter during your trip to the national park.

To the north of Crater Lake is the Umpqau National Forest, which has several gorgeous waterfalls located along Highway 138 that you might like to visit before or after your visit to the national park.

Along the southern side of Crater Lake is Rim Village, where you'll find the incredible Sinnott Memorial Observation Station built into the cliff overlooking the lake. From Rim Village you can hike the extremely popular Garfield Peak Trail, which offers breathtaking panoramic views high above Crater Lake and the surrounding forests, 900 feet (275 m) above Rim Village. This trail is about 3.1 mile (5 km) round-trip with just over 1,000 feet (300 m) of elevation gain.

Just south of Rim Village and the Steel Visitor Center is the intriguing Godfrey Glen Trail, which offers views over a canyon filled with very strange pinnacle formations. This round-trip walking distance for this flat loop trail is 1.1 miles (1.8 km) round-trip.

Along the western rim of Crater Lake is perhaps the national park's most gorgeous viewpoint, the Watchman Overlook, which looks out directly over Wizard Island. If you'd like to view the lake from about 400 feet (120 m) higher, you can hike up the 1.6 mile (2.6 km) round-trip Watchman Peak Trail, which begins at this overlook.

Along the northern rim of Crater Lake you'll encounter what is probably the national park's second best viewpoint, Meriam Point.

Cleetwood Cove

Further east along the lake's northern rim are several more viewpoints. You might also consider hiking down to the lakeshore via the Cleetwood Cove Trail. This hike is about 1.8 miles (2.9 km) round-trip and concludes at the Wizard Island Boat Tour Dock, which offers amazing boat tours around the lake. Reservations for this amazing tour boat are extremely difficult to get and must be reserved months in advance.

The Umpqua National Forest to the north of Crater Lake hosts many stunning waterfalls, located along Highway 138 to the north of the national park. If you're visiting Crater Lake from Portland or Seattle, you might want to stop to see these waterfalls (in reverse order) along the way to Crater Lake's northern entrance. Coming from the south, you'll want to wait until after visiting Crater Lake to see these waterfalls, and coming from Bend or the northeast you might visit them before entering the national park.

Clearwater Falls & Whitehorse Falls

Driving west along Highway 138 from Crater Lake you'll first encounter the beautiful Clearwater Falls, which cascades over lush mossy rocks and logs. A bit further down the highway is the small but lovely Whitehorse Falls. Both of these waterfalls can be seen with a very short 1 minute walk from their parking lots.

Watson Falls

Further west you'll encounter Watson Falls. From the parking lot you can admire a tiny serene waterfall. Behind it the striking Watson Falls flowing over a tall cliff, which can be admired via a short 0.6 mile (1 km) round-trip walk from the parking lot.

Toketee Falls

A bit further west along the highway is the majestic Toketee Falls, which flows over surreal geometric cliffs made of columnar basalt. You can reach this waterfall with an easy 0.8 mile (1.3 km) round-trip hike through the dense forest.

Additional Waterfalls

If you were to continue much further down this highway, you'd have the opportunity to see several more stunning waterfalls, most notably Fall Creek Falls and nearby Susan Creek Falls, which can both be reached with a short hike.