The Crown Jewel of Oregon – Over 7,000 Years in the Making
Identifiable from space for its rich blue color, Crater Lake is a natural wonder unlike any other. Despite its tranquil appearance, this body of water was born from fire.
7,700 years ago, the 12,000-foot-tall Mt. Mazama endured the largest explosive eruption in the last 400,000 years of Cascades volcanic activity. This event, which was witnessed by the Klamath peoples, created a column of pumice and ash that reached 30 miles high, carried debris to the southern parts of Canada, and created a five-mile wide, one-mile-deep inward depression that would eventually become Crater Lake.
Fed only by snowmelt and rainfall, Crater Lake, which filled over the course of a few hundred years, holds some of the cleanest water in the world. The water’s clarity, met with its striking depth, creates the lake’s signature cobalt hue.
With a history spanning millennia, Crater Lake holds profound significance for the Klamath peoples. Their devout reverence for the lake prevented settlers from discovering the unique treasure until 1853. It would be another 59 years until Crater Lake became the United States’ 5th National Park.
Today, nearly half a million visitors travel to see this extraordinary volcanic creation and the pristine nature surrounding it each year.
For More Information:
NPS- Learn About the Park
Oregon History Project
Klamath Tribes