On first take the road into the park is not bad at all but once inside the park it is different. If you recall the Beartooth pass and how I did not like it well this is not as bad but close. The road in many places has not guard rails and the drop off is mighty far. I survived the drive and have to say that the number of trees dead standing was more than a few but most of them. I think the Beatle may have gotten these guys. After driving the road a few times, it is not nearly as bad ad the Beartooth pass and it something that I will do again. The park has many pull outs that are on the lake side so you can stop and give an oh ah and go on down the road. At all of these pull outs you can see all of the lake and even the island within the lake but don’t think you are going down to the lake as it has some steep cliffs. Besides the steep cliffs, and the smoke from the wildfires the lake was a beautiful site to see. I am disappointed in not being able to see the lake on a clear day as the haze put a bit of a damper on the oh ah views. I came in at the North Entrance Station and then drove on the rim road south to Mazama Village and the campground. Mazama Village has a camp store and it is also the point for checking into your campsite or securing a campsite. If you have a reservation you can see the list of sites on the board to the right of the restroom entrance and left of the store entrance. Side note is the store does have Wi-Fi but it is slow and many people are trying to access it so be ready for some slow speeds. The cell service is very spotty in the park but one of the reasons to go to a park is to get off of the electronics. Ok some fun facts about Crater Lake. It is the 2nd deepest lake in North America. The deepest part of the lake is 1,943 feet from the surface. The lake has 8 bays around the outside of the lake and it has an island in the lake on the southwest side of the lake, called Wizard Island. The average depth of the lake is 613 feet from the surface. Remember the long way down from the rim well the tallest point is 1,978 feet above the lakes surface and the lowest point is 507 feet above the lake, a long way. Wizard island has erupted since the lake was formed but did not do harm but if Mazama were to blew the lake would be gone most likely. The lake has no streams that feed it so its only source of water is precipitation, balanced with evaporation and seepage keeps the water level of the lake constant. Hint:Someone gave me advice to drive the rim road clockwise meaning the East Rim Road and I have to say that I would agree. The views and stop offs are the same but you are on the “inside” lane and it is much easier to drive in my opinion. From the North Entrance of the park it will be the first turn to the East Rim Road. Take it you will not regret it.
Discovery Point – The trail starts at the Rim Village along the rim of the lake. You take the trail clockwise around. The trail starts are paved but will quickly become sand/ash/rock. The one way from the village to Discovery Point is 1 mile an it has an elevation gain of 100 feet but remember you are already at 7,100 feet. Between the elevation and the smoke from the fires, breathing was a bit hard. I think it was more of an out of shape hiker but I will take what I can get. Along the way to discovery point there are plenty of places to view the lake and Wizard Island. Once at the point if you continue to walk past the pull out you will come to the Rim Trail that will also go to Watchman Peak. I started to do the hike to Watchman as it was 2.8 one way and only 420 feet of elevation gain but I made it only to Lighting Springs before I turned back. The trail from the pull out at Lighting Springs goes up and I have to say that at the point of having to go up again was not appealing so back to where I started I went.
The Pinnacles Trail – The trail head is at the end of Pinnacles Road. Access Pinnacles Road by turning left just past the Phantom Ship Overlook from the East Rim Road. The road signs leave something to be desired but know you have come to the correct road to turn left if you are going clockwise it is the first left after the intersection for Cloudcap Outlook. If going counterclockwise then it will be the first right hand turn on the East Rim Drive road. At the end of the road you come to Pinnacles Overlook and the Pinnacles Trail. The trail is well marked for the trailhead and also the trail is lined on either side with logs, so it is like bowling with the gutters covered up. The path is crushed stone and there are plenty of lookouts on this 0.5 mile one way hike with an elevation gain of 10 ft. Be aware that the trail ends in the NPS and continues into Winema National Forest. There are a bunch of boulders and a place that used to have a sign, I think, at the end of the NPS land. The trail is easy and is something to see looking at the Pinnacles. You ask what is a Pinnacle and it is a chimney formed when hot ash is cooled after a big eruption. These pinnacles are volcanic spires and is something to see.
Plaikni Falls Trail – You access this trail on the Pinnacles road but the falls are much closer to the East Rim Road. This path takes you 2 miles round trip and has about 100 feet of elevation gain and most if not all of it is in the last 1/4 mile! The path is wide and mainly dirt during the hike. Plenty of places to sit or get off of the trail exist for those who have issues with the 2 mile round trip hike. The trailhead is right alongside the road and the parking area. You will wind you way through the forest of old growth trees and enjoy the shade. Some of the turnouts of the trail offer you a way to look at some fallen rocks or the forest with big, not Olympic big, trees. Bummer when I went was a big tree fell over the trail and a walk path was now created to get a hiker around the fallen tree. I also have to say that the falls although nice were not spectacular. The falls is not fed from Crater Lake as the lake as no in/out feed but is feed from the snow melting during the year. I guess it would be much bigger when the snow starts to melt but all of it was gone when I was here in August.
Cleetwood Cove – Access to the trail is on the East Rim road just northeast of the junction of the East Rim and West Rim roads to the North. The parking lot is big but there are no RV spots so Dundee was hanging out in the road a bit but oh well. There are two set of vault toilets at either end of the parking lot. I would suggest to get to the parking lot early as at 0930 when I arrived it was virtually empty. When I got back out at 1200 it was getting crowded. The trailhead is across the street from the parking area and is easy to locate. A park ranger is most likely at the trailhead to prevent people from taking boats, etc. that could bring in some evasive items into the lake. Please don’t bring boats, swim goggles, fins or anything that has been in other water here. If you want to swim bring a suit that was washed prior to coming to the lake and head into the water. The hike was 2.2 miles roundtrip with the elevation gain of 700 feet. The way down to the lake is not bad at all but the way back is when you get your 700 feet in 1.1 miles. The path at the top is packed gravel and sand but after the second switchback it changes to ash dust/sand that is packed for the most part. The top has a few switchbacks and also at the bottom there are a few switchbacks but there is a long downhill/uphill part of the hike. The NPS has provided places to sit on the hike to rest your legs and heart. If the smoke was not around I would bet that the view of the lake would be wonderful but on a smokey day like today it was hard to see the other side of the lake. At the bottom of the trail, you sometimes can take a boat around the lake but not this year, so you are left with swimming or fishing. The fishing does not require a license nor do you have a limit to the number of fish you can catch. Based on what I saw and talked to the various fishermen it appears that the fish were not abundant or even interested in the fishermen’s lines. I did however take the plunge into the water, well not a plunge but a walk and sit. I sat in the water for about 20 minutes and the water temperature is in the high 50’s or low 60’s so not bad at all. After my sitting and getting my joints some relief, I went all the way into the water and went under! Quite refreshing I have to say and if I were here again I would make sure I brought shoes for the water since the water is full of rocks. Good news about the rocks on the bottom of the lake is you can see them so you can find some bigger flat ones that don’t hurt as much. The water was amazing blue and clear.
Annie Creek Trail – The start of this trail is in the Mazama campground in loop E behind the amphitheater. The trail goes behind loop E, F, and G before heading down the mountain to the bottom. The trail is a loop trail with multiple bridges to cross the creek along the way so you end back up at loop E. Along the way down you come across sign posts with a number, so be sure to purchase ($0.75) or borrow a trail guide at the trailhead. On the way to the bottom you will see grass and the creek which supplies the grass with the water it needs. Side note, not much grass here in Crater Lake. The trail is 1.7 miles round trip and has an elevation gain/loss of 200 feet, but it felt like more than that when going up. The canyon you go into has been carved out by the creek through volcanic ash. The hike is a nice hike out of the campground and if you stay here at the campground, I would say be sure to take the hike.
Mazama campground – my site is a pull through site and the sites are assigned by the operator of the campground. You can choose the type of site you want and that is about it when you reserve your site months in advance. The campground has 7 loops and the entire area is quite big. The largest loop is E with 55 spots, then G with 37 and D with 35. F loop has only 29 spots but it does have the comfort station with 3 showers although the showers are not operational this year. Many of the sites have bear boxes and all have fire pits but no using the fire pit with all of the fires and the high fire likelihood. There are some spots in the F loop that you can see.
