We spend an awesome weekend exploring Crater Lake National Park just before it starts closing down for the season! This park has been on our bucket list for years now and we honestly didn’t think it would still be fully open this late in the year.

Crater Lake is one of the snowiest inhabited places in the USA. The park receives an average of 44 feet of snow each year! Each winter, they close the Rim Drive and North Entrance to cars with either the first big snowstorm, or on November 1st, whichever comes sooner.

It is October 30th and only a couple times in the past 10 years has the whole rim drive been open this late in the year so we feel very lucky. The rim drive will be closing the day after tomorrow… so we are here just in time!

Once a 12,000 foot volcano, Crater Lake was formed almost 8,000 years ago after an enormous volcanic eruption of Mount Mazama. The volcano collapsed after the eruption and created this huge crater and over time, rain and snow accumulated in the caldera and began to form a lake. Crater Lake is nearly 2,000 feet deep making it the deepest lake in the United States, and 9th deepest in the world.

Day 1

We dedicate our first afternoon to the Rim Drive which is a great introduction to the park! The Rim Drive is a 33 mile road that goes around the entire rim of the caldera. There are over 30 pull outs and stops. We get started at the North Entrance and do the Rim Drive counter clockwise so we can end somewhere on the East side for sunset.

From our first stop we are immediately blown away by the sheer size of the lake. It is around 6 miles wide and is surrounded by steep rock walls that rise up to 2,000 feet above the lake's surface. It also is one of the most intense blue colors we have ever seen! All the water in the lake is from rain and snow melt. There are no inlets from other water sources which means no sediment or mineral deposits are carried into the lake, helping it maintain its rich color. It is one of the cleanest and clearest lakes in the world.

We make our way around the Rim Drive which gives us the chance to see the lake from every possible angle. We make stops at Pumice Point, Merriam Point, The Watchman Overlook, Phantom Ship Overlook, Victor View, and more!

We finally end the afternoon at the Cloudclap Overlook. This is the highest road access overlook in the park and is the perfect spot for sunset. It is very windy and cloudy so after we walk around a bit, we enjoy the sunset from the warmth of our car. :)

Day 2

We wake up early and hike up to Watchman Peak for sunrise. The Watchman Peak hike is under 1 mile each way and is less than 400 feet of elevation gain. This is the perfect vantage point for sunrise. There are 360 degree views of the lake with a mountain backdrop of Mount Scott and the surrounding landscape. It is perfectly calm and still which is such a contrast from sunset last night!

After the sun is up, we make our way back down to the car because there are a couple more short hikes we plan to do in the afternoon. Up next, we head to Garfield Peak. This is a 3.4 mile hike with a little over 1,000 feet of elevation gain. The top offers and amazing view point that is situated almost right on top of the lake.

After a quick picnic, we end the day and our time in Crater Lake National Park hiking up to Mount Scott. This is the highest peak in all of Crater Lake National Park. The hike is 4.2 miles with around 1,200 feet of elevation gain. Mount Scott is set a ways back from the lake and the summit offers a full panorama of the entire landscape of the park. It is the perfect way to end our time here!

From the Rim Drive to different overlooks to hiking to different vantage points, we have an amazing 2 days in Crater Lake National Park!

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