America’s clearest lakes run the gamut from the fabled Big Blue of Lake Tahoe deep in the Sierra Nevada to the steely waters of Lake George amid the New York Adirondacks. To put it simply: The U.S. is one darn fine hunting ground for lovers of all things crystal-clear and freshwater. And when it comes to the state of Oregon — where there’s a whopping 1,400 named lakes in total — there’s one that stands out above the rest. Welcome to Crater Lake.
This is a lake that sloshes with superlatives. For starters, it’s the deepest lake in the United States — the water drops a dramatic 1,949 feet from the surface to its deepest point, meaning it’s deeper than the Empire State Building is tall (at 1,250 feet)! On top of that, Crater Lake reigns as one of the clearest on the planet. Its average clarity (the depth you can peer into the water from above) sits somewhere between 90 and 100 feet. And then there’s its downright jaw-dropping setting, spilling across a whole collapsed volcano in the heart of the jagged Oregon Cascades.
These days, Crater Lake is encompassed by its very own national park: Crater Lake National Park. While access roads may close due to winter snowfall, the park remains accessible throughout the year. To get there, you’ll need to journey into the peaks of southern Oregon, a trip that should take about four hours from Portland and its international airport.
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Crater Lake’s pristine waters
A man jumps into the waters of Crater Lake from a rock outcrop – Fly View Productions/Getty Images
If there’s one thing that really defines Oregon’s mountain-rimmed Crater Lake, it’s just how clear its water is. Speaking to the BBC, local national park ranger Dave Grimes summed up the sheer shimmer of the spot like this: “Crater Lake is this amazing blue that you really have to see to believe — it’s hard to even capture it in a photograph.”
Indeed, the water clarity, a real-life metric that counts how deep it’s possible to see below the surface of any given lake, has been measured at more than 130 feet in Crater Lake. That’s enough to put it up there in the company of New Zealand’s Blue Lake, the clearest lake in the whole world. You’ll want to swing by during the months of July, August, or September to catch the water at its best and bluest, and this is when you’ll also get a glimpse of the surrounding peaks blooming with wonderful wildflowers.
There are several reasons for the glass-clear quality and blue hue of the water. For one, Crater Lake is fed solely by snowmelt and rain; there’s not a single riverway or creek that gurgles its way through. That means hardly a speck of mud, runoff, or sand can make it into the lake, keeping it pure water from top to bottom. That, in turn, helps strong UV rays to filter through the water, reducing plankton counts and biological material even more.
Crater Lake: A jewel amid the Oregon Cascades
A hiker on a path on the rim of Crater Lake, Oregon – Fly View Productions/Getty Images
Visitors may come to the lake to wonder at the sheer blueness of the lake, but they’re likely to stay because there’s a whole collapsed volcano’s worth of things to do and see in the surrounding national park. Everything from ultra-scenic drives along the rim of the ancient crater to wilderness camping to stargazing is on the menu in these parts — Crater Lake has even been listed among the top dark sky reserves of all national parks in the United States.
The park also happens to boast America’s cleanest air and loads of scenic hiking trails. A veritable spider’s web of routes weaves and winds around the high-altitude plateaus and peaks here, usually starting above 4,000 feet above sea level. You’ll smell the pines as you wander through evergreen forests alongside the Rogue River on the Boundary Springs Trail. You’ll get sweeping 180-degree views of the lake surface and its surrounding geological wonders from the Rim Trail, a path that actually loops around the whole body of water.
You can also make Crater Lake National Park your refuge in the Cascades by picking one of the several campgrounds in the vicinity and hanging around for a few days. The Mazama Campground is just 6 miles outside of the crater rim, offering 214 pitches with fire pits, bear lockers, and tables that are open from June to the end of September. Alternatively, Diamond Lake Resort sits just to the north. It’s an off-the-radar escape that was once a fishing lodge, offering a marina on its own lake, along with cozy cabins and an on-site restaurant.
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Read the original article on Islands.