Deep blue water
Clear and still.
w_lemay — CC BY-SA 2.0 · w_lemay — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jeffhollett — CC BY-SA 4.0 · w_lemay — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Steve Frazier — CC BY 2.0
Crater Lake is a volcanic lake in southern Oregon, its intensely deep blue water filling a broad caldera ringed by high rock walls and pines, with a small cone-shaped island. The caldera formed about 7,700 years ago when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed. No rivers flow in or out; rain and snow replace what evaporates, and all its water is renewed roughly every 150 years. At 594 m deep it is the deepest lake in the United States, famous for its blue colour and clear water. It has two small islands: Wizard Island, a cinder cone, and the Phantom Ship rock near the south shore. You drive Rim Drive around the lake, stopping at viewpoints, hike nearby summits for the view from above, and in summer take a boat to Wizard Island. It is about 5 km in a straight line north of Rim Village. Snow covers the area most of the year, and Rim Drive is usually fully open only from July to October.
Clear and still.
A cinder cone.
Around the lake.
Crater Lake National Park, southern Oregon
July to September.
By one steep trail in summer.