Deepest Lake in the USA

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The first thing that comes to mind when we look back on our 2 days spent at Crater Lake National Park...BEAUTIFUL!!!

The lake is 5 miles wide, is at an elevation of 6,000 feet, the deepest part of the lake is 1,943 feet deep. Crater Lake is the clearest lake in the world. There are so many unique features to this lake but I won't bore you with too many facts.

One of my Leader Mentors at Weight Watchers told us we needed to spend the money and due the boat tour on the lake, so we spent the $39/person and took a 5.5 hr tour of the lake. The boat ride took us out to Wizard Island and we spent 3 hours hiking around the island and taking in the amazing views. There are only 5 boats on the lake; 2 for research and 3 for tours. Due to the massive cliffs on the sides of the lake the boats are flown in by helicopters. No private boats, canoes or kayaks are allowed on the lake. After visiting there I now understand why. We had to hike down 1.1 miles on Cleetwood Cove Trail to get to the boat launch, while descending 770 feet in elevation. When we arrived to the ticket booth at around 9:45am there were only 3 seats left on the 1pm boat, which was the last boat that would drop us off at Wizard Island. We took 2 of the last 3 seats as the couple ahead of us let us bypass them as they decided what to do.


We had luck on our side as the Rim Drive (33 miles long) just had opened 2 weeks prior to us arriving due to the massive amounts of snow they received this year. On average they get 44 feet, yes feet, each year. This year the park measured over 56 feet of snowfall with the last snowfall being on June 28th. The boat rides also opened at this time and there are a limited amount of rides with 42 passengers per hour.

If you ever get the chance you must see this place. It is a 5.5 hour drive from Portland, OR in Southern Oregon. Check out our photos as they are amazing!!!

Next stop on our trip is Sonoma, CA.

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Comments

[Valerie]

Good for you!
Glad you got to see one of the treasures of Oregon!