Crater Lake and Wizard Island

The beauty and intense blue of Crater Lake have awed people for generations. Roughly six miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2,000 feet high, the lake rests in the shattered remnants of a volcano called Mount Mazama, which erupted and collapsed into itself 7,700 years ago. Later eruptions formed Wizard Island and other volcanic features, now hidden under the lake. Crater Lake filled with rain and melted snow. Annual snowfall here is 44 feet per year. That's feet folks, not inches! At 1,943 feet deep, it is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the deepest in the world.