Photographer’s Assignment: Crater Lake

The Cascades, Mt. Mazama, and Crater Lake, all part of the chain of volcanoes surrounding the Pacific Ocean, known as the “Ring of Fire.”

The caldera itelf is 2,148 feet deep. It’s filled with water to a maximum depth of 1,949 feet and a mean average depth of 1,148 feet, which makes it the deepest lake in the Western Hemisphere, and the third deepest on the planet. There are no rivers or streams flowing into or out of the crater; ALL of the water is from precipitation. More fresh water comes in than what’s lost through evaporation, but there’s just enough seepage through the upper layers of rock to maintain a near constant water level. The lake is entirely free of sediment, algae, and environmental pollutants. It’s said that the water is the purest in the world, and the legendary clarity is one of several factors influencing the dramatic blue color. Water that’s so pure as this reflects only the blue spectrum of light, absorbing all the other colors, an effect that’s amplified even more by the depth and the cold temperature of the water. The lake has a surface area of 20.6 square miles, that whole expanse reflecting nothing but blue, a Royal Blue more intense than any natural color you’ll ever see.

Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest have known about Crater Lake for thousands of years, but they considered it a sacred place, so they never spoke of it to outsiders. In the spring of 1853, prospectors searching for gold found the lake by chance while traversing the mountains east of Roseburg, and news of their discovery soon spread. Within a few years, traveler’s accounts describing this uniquely beautiful body of water started appearing in Oregon newspapers, arousing widespread curiosity, and prompting a steady stream of visitors, despite the remote location. Fast forward half a century, to 1902, when the efforts of dedicated conservationists persuaded Congress to establish Crater Lake and the surrounding area as a National Park, to protect and preserve this pristine natural wonder for future generations.

Crater Lake was only the sixth location in the United States to be made a National Park, and there was never a question as to whether or not it was deserving of that status. It simply isn’t possible to gaze upon that lake and not be awed by the view. It’s like staring into the eye of the Creator, a heavenly vision reflected by water so clear, and so deep, and so intensely BLUE, you’ll find yourself neglecting to breathe. I call that an “Oh, WOW!” moment, a scene so splendid, it stops you in your tracks. Those moments, especially when they’re unexpected, are one of the main reasons why I love to travel, and I’ll tell you this: our National Parks, Crater Lake included, are among the best places in the world to experience that sort of thing.

Location of North Entrance, South Entrance, and Road Closures (2023)

CLICK MAPS AND PHOTOS FOR AN EXPANDED VIEW

Landscape photography is an art form with almost as many styles as there are practitioners. The subject matter is everywhere, the competition all but limitless. If you want your image to rise above the herd, you need three things:

1.) An eye for composition, which is the instinctive ability to frame or crop a scene in a visually pleasing manner. Your experience tells you where to take your photos. Your eye tells you where and how to point your camera.

2.) Light, great light, of the sort you can only find when you put yourself in the right place at exactly the right moment. Sometimes, you get lucky, and you stumble into it. Far more often, you have to find a promising spot, and wait for the sun.

3.) Last, but obviously not least: Something interesting, unique, or iconic, either on the horizon, or in the foreground, to draw the eye, and lend a sense of scale.

Crater Lake, as seen from any of the many viewpoints, will hand you #3 on a sky blue platter, and with a bare minimum of patience, #2 will magically appear. (All you need is a break in the clouds). #1 is a little trickier, because that’s your “photographer’s eye.”  Some people are born with it. The rest of us have to develop it, and that can take years.

 FROM MY SOAP BOX:

Never make the mistake of confusing artistic talent with technical proficiency. You need both to make a great photograph, and they’re equally important.

New cameras are wonderful. They have capabilities we never even imagined, back in the old days, but that can be dangerous. Some photographers get so obsessed with the gear, they forget why they’re out there in the first place.

 PLANNING YOUR CRATER LAKE PHOTO SHOOT

Crater Lake National Park gets close to half a million visitors in an average year, but the vast majority are day trippers who are not staying in the park overnight. They’re coming from Medford, or Roseburg, or perhaps they were just passing by on I-5 or US 97, and took advantage of the easy detour. Regardless, the bulk of the traffic, even on the busiest days, doesn’t arrive before the entrance kiosk opens at 8 AM. There will usually be a line of cars on the highway, waiting to pay their fee or to present their pass, and once through the gate, they all head for the restrooms, the snack bar, and the Visitor’s Center, in that order. Those early birds all start out at the same time, and nearly everyone, almost without exception, turns left out of the concession area and takes the West Rim Drive. The lead Winnebago sets the pace for a conga line of cars, all traveling in a slow-moving pack to Discovery Point, then the Watchman Overlook, the two spots that offer the best views of Wizard Island. Those are the views everyone most wants to see, so they can post that all-important “been there, done that” selfie on their Instagram/Facebook/X account.  The parking areas are overflowing everywhere the flock of early birds travels, and there are people everywhere at the overlooks. I realize that some photographers like to have random tourists in their photos, for scale, or human interest, but if you’re looking for clean landscape shots, those crowds can be a real drag.

There’s a way to minimize the crowds. It worked for me on a holiday weekend, so even though my trip was a few years back, there’s a good chance this will work for you as well. Here’s what I suggest: arrive as early as possible. If you have a Pass, or if you’ve pre-paid your entry fee, you don’t have to wait for the kiosk to open. You can drive right past it, and get started with your photos as soon as there’s enough light to see by. (Don’t worry about missing the park brochure with the map; it’s okay to come back for it later). If you’re super early, so early there’s nobody else in sight, head for the Watchman Overlook; it’s a great place to watch the sun come up over the lake. Otherwise, it’s best to avoid the West Rim Drive, and all the other visitors who tend to go there first. Instead, you should turn RIGHT out of the concession area, onto the East Rim Drive, and save Wizard Island for later. You’re going to be in the park all day! You’ll be able to circle the whole lake at least three times, so you’ll have more opportunities to see Wizard Island than you’ll know what to do with.

EAST RIM DRIVE

The East Rim Drive, from the South Entrance to the Cloudcap Overlook

The Phantom Ship is a small volcanic island near the southern shore of the lake, but appearances are deceiving, because it’s actually the tip of a pillar that rises all the way up from the floor of the crater, as much as 1,000 feet below the surface of the water. When viewed in profile, as in the photos above, the rocky islet is thought to resemble an old-time sailing ship.

Pinnacles Road

Just before the Phantom Ship Overlook, you’ll come to the turnoff for Pinnacles Road, a paved spur off the Rim Drive that dead ends after 6 miles at the Pinnacles Overlook, a good spot for viewing the Pinnacles. These are a grouping of fossil fumaroles, as much as 100 feet tall, created when intensely hot volcanic gas seeped upward through ash deposits, hardening them into rock that was then carved by the elements into these unique volcanic spires.

Wildflowers along Pinnacles Road, near Lost Creek Campground

The Pumice Castle, and expansive views of the Lake from the Cloudcap Overlook

Several views of the lake from the Phantom Ship and Cloudcap Overlooks. Wildflowers abound in spring and summer.

Both the Phantom Ship and the Cloudcap Overlooks face off across the lake toward Wizard Island and the western horizon. You’ll want to come back again late in the day, because these two locations are among the best in the park for views of the sunset over the lake. (See below).

On your first pass around the lake, early in the day, you’ll want to continue on from the Cloudcap Overlook, past Grotto Cove, to Cleetwood Cove, and the North Side of the crater. NOTE: This section of the East Rim Drive, from Grotto Cove to Cleetwood Cove, is currently closed for major repairs. Until those repairs are complete, visitors will have to turn around at the barricades and return to the Visitors Center before they can access the other sections of the park, by way of the West Rim Drive.

NORTH SIDE

Cleetwood Cove is the only point around the shores of Crater Lake where visitors are allowed access to the water. The Cleetwood Cove Trail leads from the parking area on the Rim Drive down to the tour boat docks on the shore. The trail is about a mile long, and drops 700 feet in elevation. Keeping in mind that basic premise: he who hikes down, must hike back up again, don’t even try it if you’re not in reasonably good shape. At the bottom, there are safe areas for swimming, and you can fish for the trout and salmon that were stocked in the lake in the last century. (There have never been native fish in the lake). 

WEST RIM DRIVE

West Rim Drive, from Rim Village to Merriam Point and Llao Rock

Wizard Island is a volcano within a volcano. There are actually four new volcanoes that have formed inside the massive caldera since the original eruption and collapse, but Wizard Island is the only one that rises high enough to extend above the surface of the water. To give you an idea of the size: the part you can see represents just 2% of the total bulk of that “smaller” volcano. All the rest is underwater! The eruption that created this cinder cone took place within 750 years of the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Mazama, around 5,000 BC, give or take a few centuries. The last eruption to take place within the caldera was 4,800 years ago; just a small one, on the flank of Wizard Island, below the surface of the lake. Mount Mazama is currently considered dormant, rather than extinct. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it’s a virtual certainty that the volcano will erupt again, so it’s closely monitored to insure that we’ll know about it before it happens.

Views of the lake and surrounding area, including Mount Thielsen, to the north

SUNSET TO SUNRISE

With Daylight Savings time, sunsets in the summer don’t happen until after 8:00 PM. If you’re not staying in the park, and you want good photos of the sunset, be aware that you’ll be leaving the area quite late, and you’ll have a long drive ahead on some incredibly dark mountain roads. If you ARE staying in the park (as I was), you can be a lot more relaxed about it. The Phantom Ship Overlook is a terrific place to capture the sunset over the lake. All of the photos below were shot there.

Sunset views, looking west from the Phantom Ship Overlook

Another definite advantage to staying in the park: you’ll have to get up mighty early to photograph the 6:00 AM sunRISE. If you’re already there, at least you won’t have to factor in any travel time. The Watchman Overlook on the West Rim Drive is perfect for catching the event, with Wizard Island in the foreground. The lake is like a mirror reflecting the sky, so the caldera looks like a bowl filled with clouds.

Extraordinary sunrise views, looking east from the Watchman Overlook

Crater Lake offers exceptional opportunities for landscape photography. With just a little bit of advance planning, you’ll come away with Five Star images that you’ll treasure forever, the best possible souvenirs from your magical day at this amazing volcano, this astonishing lake, this extraordinary National Park!

Click any photo in this post to stop the slide shows and expand the images to full screen. 

(Unless otherwise noted, all of the images in these posts are my original work, and are protected by copyright. They may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.)

PHOTOGRAPHER'S ASSIGNMENT: OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

(Coming Soon!)

Some of the text and many of the photos in my Alaska Highway series first appeared on RoadTrip America’s website. A few years ago, I posted a detailed account of my entire 57 day, 13,000 mile “Mother of All Road Trips,” and RTA has kept that account available in their archive of Field Reports. If you’d like to read it, the link below will take you there:

This is an interactive Table of Contents. Click the pictures to open the pages.

Alaska Road Trip

This is an interactive Table of Contents. Click the pictures to open the pages.

Canadian Road Trips

A few years ago I wrote a book about road trips in Arizona and New Mexico that's a lot like this website, packed with interesting information, and illustrated with beautiful photographs. Check it out! You can find it on Amazon, and at all other major booksellers.