Crater Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Crater Lake |
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| Giiwas (Klamath-Modoc) | |
Panoramic winter view of Crater Lake from Rim Village
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 Crater Lake
Location in Oregon
Crater Lake
Location in the United States
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Bathymetric survey
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| Location | Klamath County, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 42°57′N 122°06′W / 42.95°N 122.10°W |
| Lake type | Volcanic crater lake |
| Primary inflows | precipitation and snowmelt only |
| Primary outflows | evaporation, subsurface seepage to Wood River |
| Catchment area | 23.3 sq mi (60 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 6 mi (9.7 km) |
| Max. width | 5 mi (8.0 km) |
| Surface area | 20.6 sq mi (53 km2) |
| Average depth | 1,148 ft (350 m) |
| Max. depth | 1,949 ft (594 m) |
| Water volume | 4.49 cu mi (18.7 km3) |
| Residence time | 157 years |
| Shore length1 | 21.8 mi (35.1 km) |
| Surface elevation | 6,178 ft (1,883 m) |
| Islands | Wizard Island Phantom Ship |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Crater Lake (Klamath: Giiwas) is a stunning volcanic lake in south-central Oregon, USA. It's famous for its incredibly deep blue water and amazing clarity. This special lake is the main attraction of Crater Lake National Park. It sits inside a huge bowl, called a caldera, which formed about 7,700 years ago when the ancient volcano Mount Mazama collapsed.
No rivers flow into or out of Crater Lake. Instead, rain and snow keep it full. Water slowly leaves through evaporation and underground seepage. It takes about 150 years for all the water in the lake to be completely replaced! Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, reaching an incredible depth of 1,949 feet (594 meters). Around the world, it ranks as the eleventh deepest.
Crater Lake has two small islands. Wizard Island is a cinder cone, like a small volcano, near the western shore. Phantom Ship is a natural rock pillar that looks like a ghost ship.
Since 2002, Oregon's license plates have featured Crater Lake. A small fee from these plates helps support Crater Lake National Park. In 2005, the United States Mint released a special quarter with an image of Crater Lake on its back.
The lake and its surrounding park offer many fun activities. These include hiking, biking, snowshoeing, fishing, and cross-country skiing. During the summer, you can even stay at campgrounds and lodges.
Contents
Discover Crater Lake
Where is Crater Lake?
Crater Lake is located in Klamath County, Oregon. It's about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Klamath Falls. It's also about 80 miles (129 km) northeast of Medford.
Native American people have a long history with this area. Their connection goes back even before Mount Mazama erupted. Archaeologists have found ancient sandals and other items buried under ash from the eruption. This shows people lived here roughly 7,700 years ago. Crater Lake is still very important to the Klamath tribes today. They call the lake Giiwas.
In June 1853, Isaac Skeeter, John Wesley Hillman, and another man were the first non-Native Americans to see the lake. They were on a mining trip. Skeeter named it "Deep Blue Lake" because of its amazing color. The lake was renamed a few times, as Blue Lake and Lake Majesty, before finally becoming Crater Lake.
How Big and Deep is it?
The lake is about 5 miles (8 km) wide and 6 miles (10 km) long. The rim of the caldera around it rises from 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,134 to 2,438 meters) high. The average depth of the lake is 1,148 feet (350 meters).
The deepest point of Crater Lake has been measured at 1,949 feet (594 meters). This depth can change a little with the weather. Based on its maximum depth, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. It's the second-deepest in North America, after Great Slave Lake in Canada. It's also the eleventh-deepest lake in the world.
When we look at the average depth of lakes, Crater Lake becomes even more special. It's the deepest lake in the Western Hemisphere by average depth. It's also the third-deepest in the world. A scientist named Owen Hoffman explains that Crater Lake is the deepest when comparing lakes whose bottoms are entirely above sea level. Lakes like Lake Baikal and Lake Tanganyika are deeper on average, but parts of their basins are below sea level.
How Crater Lake Was Formed
Crater Lake was formed from a huge volcano called Mount Mazama. This volcano was part of the Cascade Range and grew over 400,000 years. It was made mostly of volcanic rocks like andesite and dacite.
About 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, Mount Mazama had a massive volcanic eruption. This eruption caused the top of the volcano to collapse, creating the large bowl we now call the caldera. About 50 cubic kilometers (12 cubic miles) of rock exploded during this event! After that, any new eruptions happened only inside this caldera.
Over time, new lava flows created features inside the caldera. These included a central platform, Wizard Island, and other smaller volcanic hills. Sediments and landslides also covered the caldera floor.
Eventually, the caldera cooled down. Rain and snow began to collect, slowly filling the bowl and forming the lake. Landslides from the caldera rim continued to shape the lake bed. Hot vents, called fumaroles and hot springs, were common and active back then. It took about 720 years for the lake to fill to its current depth of 1,949 feet (594 meters).
Some hot water activity still happens on the lake floor. This suggests that Mount Mazama could erupt again in the distant future.
The Weather at Crater Lake
Crater Lake has a subalpine climate. This means it has mild, dry summers and very cold, snowy winters. The high elevation and ocean winds cause this unique weather.
In winter, the area gets enormous amounts of snow. On average, about 463 inches (11.8 meters) of snow fall each year! The snow often stays on the ground until mid-July. The winter of 1949/1950 saw a record snowfall of 885 inches (22.5 meters). The heaviest snowfall in one day was 37 inches (94 cm) on February 28, 1971. Even in June and September, 20 inches (51 cm) or more of snow can fall in a single storm!
It can get very cold, even in summer. Freezing temperatures are possible from late August to early July. Snowfall can happen from late September to early June.
| Climate data for Crater Lake National Park Headquarters, Oregon, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1919–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 64 (18) |
66 (19) |
67 (19) |
71 (22) |
80 (27) |
96 (36) |
100 (38) |
94 (34) |
93 (34) |
81 (27) |
71 (22) |
64 (18) |
100 (38) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 49.4 (9.7) |
49.5 (9.7) |
53.0 (11.7) |
59.3 (15.2) |
66.7 (19.3) |
73.8 (23.2) |
81.1 (27.3) |
81.8 (27.7) |
77.7 (25.4) |
69.7 (20.9) |
56.4 (13.6) |
47.7 (8.7) |
83.3 (28.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 33.4 (0.8) |
33.6 (0.9) |
36.1 (2.3) |
40.3 (4.6) |
49.0 (9.4) |
57.0 (13.9) |
68.9 (20.5) |
69.3 (20.7) |
63.0 (17.2) |
50.7 (10.4) |
38.0 (3.3) |
32.7 (0.4) |
47.7 (8.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 26.6 (−3.0) |
26.3 (−3.2) |
28.2 (−2.1) |
31.7 (−0.2) |
39.2 (4.0) |
45.3 (7.4) |
55.1 (12.8) |
55.4 (13.0) |
50.1 (10.1) |
40.4 (4.7) |
30.6 (−0.8) |
25.9 (−3.4) |
37.9 (3.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 19.8 (−6.8) |
18.9 (−7.3) |
20.3 (−6.5) |
23.1 (−4.9) |
29.3 (−1.5) |
33.6 (0.9) |
41.4 (5.2) |
41.5 (5.3) |
37.1 (2.8) |
30.2 (−1.0) |
23.2 (−4.9) |
19.1 (−7.2) |
28.1 (−2.2) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 5.9 (−14.5) |
5.4 (−14.8) |
6.6 (−14.1) |
10.3 (−12.1) |
17.1 (−8.3) |
24.2 (−4.3) |
31.7 (−0.2) |
31.4 (−0.3) |
26.1 (−3.3) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
9.0 (−12.8) |
4.2 (−15.4) |
−0.7 (−18.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −21 (−29) |
−18 (−28) |
−7 (−22) |
−3 (−19) |
5 (−15) |
10 (−12) |
18 (−8) |
16 (−9) |
16 (−9) |
3 (−16) |
−7 (−22) |
−18 (−28) |
−21 (−29) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 10.10 (257) |
7.53 (191) |
7.81 (198) |
6.16 (156) |
3.65 (93) |
2.27 (58) |
0.80 (20) |
0.83 (21) |
1.93 (49) |
4.80 (122) |
9.60 (244) |
11.28 (287) |
66.76 (1,696) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 86.5 (220) |
68.9 (175) |
71.9 (183) |
48.7 (124) |
14.5 (37) |
3.7 (9.4) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.8 (4.6) |
17.2 (44) |
59.3 (151) |
90.6 (230) |
463.1 (1,178) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 92.0 (234) |
106.4 (270) |
121.1 (308) |
113.4 (288) |
89.3 (227) |
42.5 (108) |
4.3 (11) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.4 (3.6) |
10.7 (27) |
32.0 (81) |
66.0 (168) |
124.3 (316) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 17.9 | 16.7 | 18.0 | 16.5 | 11.5 | 7.4 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 10.6 | 16.7 | 18.4 | 146.2 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 16.2 | 14.8 | 15.4 | 13.2 | 5.5 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 12.1 | 16.1 | 100.7 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 124.0 | 141.3 | 217.0 | 240.0 | 310.0 | 330.0 | 372.0 | 341.0 | 270.0 | 217.0 | 90.0 | 93.0 | 2,745.3 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 44 | 45 | 58 | 62 | 67 | 73 | 80 | 79 | 75 | 64 | 30 | 33 | 59 |
| Average ultraviolet index | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Source 1: NOAA | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather Atlas (sunshine data, UV index) | |||||||||||||
Amazing Lake Life and Water Clarity
For a long time after Mount Mazama collapsed, no fish lived in Crater Lake. Then, in 1888, a man named William Gladstone Steel decided to stock the lake with fish so people could enjoy fishing. They continued adding fish until 1941. By then, the fish populations were strong enough to survive on their own.
Six types of fish were originally put into the lake. Today, only two species remain: kokanee salmon and rainbow trout. Kokanee salmon are the most common. Fishing is encouraged in Crater Lake because these fish are not native to the lake.
Crater Lake is also famous for the "Old Man of the Lake". This is a full-sized tree log that has been floating upright in the lake for over a century! The very cold water slows down the wood's decay, which is why it has lasted so long.
In 1987, scientists used a submersible (a small underwater vehicle) to explore the bottom of Crater Lake. They gathered information about the lake's geology and studied moss found in deep moss beds, some as deep as 600 feet (183 meters).
Crater Lake's water is some of the purest in the world. This is mainly because no rivers or streams flow into it. This means there are very few pollutants. Scientists measure water clarity using a Secchi disk. Readings have consistently shown the water is clear down to about 120 feet (37 meters). In 1997, a record clarity of 142 feet (43 meters) was measured. However, in 2025, scientists recorded a clarity of 78 feet (24 meters). This change might suggest new things are happening with the lake's natural balance.
The lake water has relatively high levels of dissolved salts and other minerals. Its average pH usually ranges between 7 and 8, which is close to neutral.
A Sacred Place
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The Klamath tribe of Native Americans have a deep spiritual connection to Crater Lake. Their ancient stories describe their ancestors witnessing the collapse of Mount Mazama and the lake's formation. They believe the lake is a "home to the Great Spirit."
Klamath stories tell of a great battle between Skell, the sky god, and Llao, the god of the underworld. Mount Mazama was destroyed during this battle, creating Crater Lake, which they call Giiwas. The Klamath people used Crater Lake for vision quests. These quests often involved climbing the steep caldera walls and other challenging tasks. Those who succeeded were believed to have special spiritual powers. The tribe still considers Crater Lake a very important spiritual site.
Fun Things to Do at Crater Lake
Crater Lake is about 56 miles (90 km) north of Klamath Falls. It's also about 62 miles (100 km) northeast of Medford. You can reach it from U.S. Route 97 on the east, Highway 62 on the southwest, and Highway 138 on the northwest.
You can see Crater Lake and the remains of Mount Mazama from Rim Drive. This 33-mile (53 km) road goes all the way around the caldera. It's the only part of Crater Lake National Park where vehicles are allowed.
The Garfield Peak Trail is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) hike east from the Crater Lake Lodge. It offers amazing views from 1,900 feet (579 meters) above the lake. On a clear day, you might even see Mount Shasta, about 125 miles (201 km) to the south! Another trail leads 2.5 miles (4 km) from Rim Drive's eastern edge to Mount Scott. From there, you can see central and southern Oregon, including the Three Sisters mountains and Mount Thielsen.
The Cleetwood trail is 1 mile (1.6 km) long and goes down the northern side of the caldera rim. It leads to Cleetwood Cove, where boat trips run during the summer. These trips take you to Wizard Island, which you can climb for even more views of Crater Lake.
Swimming is allowed in Crater Lake. The only safe and legal way to reach the shore is by following the Cleetwood Cove trail. From there, you can enter the water. Other activities include fishing and a 2-hour boat tour around the lake with a Park Ranger from Crater Lake National Park.
Since the area is a national park, collecting rocks is not allowed unless you have a special permit. The park's main facilities are at Rim Village, on the southern edge of the caldera. Lodging and camping are open during the summer, usually from May to October. No lodges, gas stations, or camping areas are open from October through late May. Popular activities in Crater Lake National Park include biking, fishing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.
See also
In Spanish: Lago del Cráter para niños
- List of lakes in Oregon
- Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway
