Crater Lake National Park
What is it that they say about the best laid plans? Well Crater Lake reminded us that whatever we think we want to do in a National Park, mother nature (and the Park Service) may have other plans. We awoke at Mazama campground to find out that East Rim Drive is close for snow — in mid-July, mind you. The boat tours to Wizard Island still aren’t running for the season, and the hike at Watchman Peak is closed.
So, what do we do? The answer: everything else! Crater Lake is magical. It’s just view after view after view. Even though you’re looking at the same body of water, it just offers something different every time. And the backstory here is amazing.
Simply, this place is sacred — its stillness, its depth, its impossible blue. Scientists say it was born nearly 8,000 years ago, when Mount Mazama erupted with such force that the entire peak collapsed, leaving behind a caldera that slowly filled with rain and snowmelt.
But long before geologists named it, the Klamath people told the story of a battle between Skell, the spirit of the sky, and Llao, the spirit of the underworld, who lived beneath the mountain. In their epic struggle, fire and ash rained down, the mountain caved in, and peace was only restored when Llao was defeated and the crater left behind was filled with water to seal him in. For the Klamath, that lake is a place of power—so powerful that only the most spiritually prepared would approach its shores. That origin feels as true as any geological record: a place shaped by violence and restored by stillness, held sacred by those who knew it first.
The first morning sent us to the Rim Village Visitor Center and Sinnott Overlook. We took a 2-mile hike along the rim to Discovery Point for some amazing photo ops. After lunch we drove over to Sun Notch for views of Phantom Ship. And then returned to the campground for an evening of marshmallows and making friends with other families.
The next day we decided to put on some more miles and we started with the 3.6-miles hike up Garfield Peak. The girls had been reluctant, but felt rewarded to have lunch at Llao Rock overlooking the lake from one of the highest possible points.
Next we drove to the North side of the lake to hike not up, but down. In fact, this is the only place where you can hike down and the only place to access the sacred shores of Crater Lake. Cleetwood Cove is a relatively easy 2.2-mile stroll with an amazing reward at the bottom.
Sure, there is snow on the East Rim, but we’re swimming today! We it cold? Only at first, and then also cold for the rest of the swim. But you can’t pass up this opportunity. The girls — who are used to the warm central Pacific — were brave enough to swim out beyond the shallows into the deeper part of the lake. The crystal clear water shows the depth quite clearly until it simply doesn’t. A steep drop off into a dark abyss. There is something unnatural about swimming over the abyss, as if the sea monster might pop up at any point. The feeling is almost Darwinian. But we pushed past the intrinsic fear and treaded water in the deepest lake in the US. Who knows what was below us!
We dried off, hiked up, and drive to Skelly Head for another new view. Then we made it back to the visitor center just in time to get our Junior Ranger badges.
A good day all in all, except for one small thing.
We haven’t seen much crime at National Park campsites. (We had a clothesline stolen from Kalaloch in Olympic, but that’s about it.) Until Crater Lake, where on our first day out we had a collapsable table stolen. We reported it to Park Police who said that another campsite had been completely ransacked. A couple hours later, the police pulled up with our table in hand. They had caught the thief and recovered the items. Hooray!
No remember, we’re in a campervan, so we take most of our stuff with us. If we leave it behind, it’s usually in the bear bin. But the table doesn’t fit in there. So, on day two we left the table (hidden) behind the bear bin. Only to come home from the day and find it stolen again!
Look..someone needs that table more than us. So they can have it. But it’s a bit frustrating to get the same item stolen twice. Whoever has it, I hope you’re enjoying it. We’ll just hold our plates on our laps. Haha!
On the third CRLA exploration day, we hit up Watchman Overlook and then took off through the National Forest headed for the California Coast. The drive away from Crater Lake to the southwest is pretty remarkable. Small curvey roads through beautiful forest.
We made an impromptu stop at Oregon Caves National Monument. Took the tour. Got the Junior Ranger badges (and did some laundry in town). We were very glad to have popped in, and it’s well worth the visit to Cave Junction!
Wildlife count: bald eagle, deer, marmot, squirrel, (and possible lake monster).