Hike of the Week: enjoy solitude, panorama on top of Crater Peak
Mail Tribune
Medford, Oregon
September 2, 2005
By BILL KETTLER
There’s more than one crater at Crater Lake National Park.
People come from all over the world to see the big crater that filled with water after Mount Mazama blew its lid. Few visitors know about, or care to visit, a smaller crater — a scaled-down cinder cone on the south flank of what’s left of Mazama.
The trail to Crater Peak is a good choice if you want both solitude and mountain vistas. From the 7,263-foot summit of this minor cinder cone, you can see all the major peaks in Southern Oregon and Northern California: Mount Thielsen, Mount Scott, Mount Shasta, Mount McLoughlin, Mount Ashland and Mount Bailey, and a number of lesser lights, such as Union Peak.
To reach the trail from Medford, take Highway 62 to Crater Lake National Park. Don’t be surprised if you’re held up for a few minutes by road construction. The National Park Service is rebuilding several sections of the park highway, including a pair of old switchbacks that were particularly exciting in snow.
Just before the road reaches park headquarters, turn right where signs point to Rim Drive East. Follow the Rim Drive about 2.25 miles to the sign for the Crater Peak trailhead.
The 2.5-mile trail begins on the south side of the Rim Drive, on an old abandoned gravel road, at 6,655 feet. As mountain trails go, that’s pretty gentle, but at that altitude you may find yourself breathing hard even if you hold to a leisurely pace.
The old road soon shrinks to a footpath as it moves through stands of mountain hemlocks, known by the droopy tip-top of their trunks and their slender purple-brown cones. Mountain hemlock is one of the few trees that can thrive under the prolonged bitter cold and November-to-June snowpack that’s typical at 7,000 feet.
Most of the trail’s elevation gain happens during the last half mile as it scales the Crater Peak cinder cone. Most of the little cone filled with debris from Mount Mazama’s giant eruption, but a shallow depression with a clear rim still remains. Long after most snow has vanished at the park, a tiny patch remains in the crater.
If you have the time and the energy, walk around the rim. It adds less than half a mile to the five-mile round trip, but you can see half a dozen summits along the way. Bring along a map so you can pick out some of the minor summits you might not already know. For a map, directions and trail description, see William Sullivan’s “100 Hikes in Southern Oregon.”
Reach reporter Bill Kettlerat 776-4492, or e-mail bkettler@mailtribune.com.
Other pages in this section
- Writers on the Range: Panhandling in our national parks – November 21, 2005
- Anniversary: Altorfer – 50 years – November 20, 2005
- New parkway signs go up – October 21, 2005
- Latest park proposal still worries some – October 20, 2005
- Scientists gather to save pines – October 09, 2005
- Prescribed burns planned at Crater Lake – October 4, 2005
- Crater Lake pines in peril – October 01, 2005
- ‘Rockin’ in the Klamath Basin – September 26, 2005
- Park rangers cleared in camper’s shooting death – September 23, 2005
- Seismic monitoring stations wanted at Crater Lake – September 17, 2005
- Editorial: Don’t let parks become political battleground – September 15, 2005
- Proposal: Parks need an update – September 6, 2005
- Spending a night on Crater Lake’s Wizard Island – September 04, 2005
- Longtime Crater Lake ranger retires – September 02, 2005
- Basin residents honor Crater Lake – August 26, 2005
- Oregon Governor just another tourist – August 26, 2005
- Crater Lake bicycle ride: 100 years, 100 miles – August 25, 2005
- Kulongoski, Walden in town for Oregon quarter celebration – August 23, 2005
- Jack Batzer dies after a household accident – August 22, 2005
- Crater Lake plates boost park funds – August 20, 2005
- Teens rehabilitate trails near Crater Lake – August 18, 2005
- Rim runs, marathon an oxymoron – August 15, 2005
- Bricco wins despite pain – August 14, 2005
- Hawkes wins marathon – August 14, 2005
- Layne claims victory in first trip to Crater Lake Rim Runs – August 14, 2005
- Hill, Glidden remember ’84 race well – August 13, 2005
- Parking a concern at Rim Runs – August 11, 2005
- Crater Lake National Park has seven rangers with authority to carry guns – August 02, 2005
- Man shot at Crater Lake arrested a year ago – August 02, 2005
- Ranger details Crater Lake shooting – July 30, 2005
- Ranger shoots violent camper at Crater Lake – July 29, 2005
- Teachers wanted for outdoor science school workshop – July 26, 2005
- Construction Projects Update – June 30, 2005
- Make the most of Crater Lake quarter – June 02, 2005
- Mint strikes Oregon quarter – May 27, 2005
- Celebrations planned for state quarter –
- Construction projects beginning at Crater Lake – May 24, 2005
- Multiple construction projects Begin! – May 23, 2005
- Since you asked: It would take centuries to drink up Crater Lake – May 6, 2005
- Officials unveil plan of action for tourism – April 27, 2005
- Postcards from the camps – April 25, 2005
- Wintery classroom at Crater Lake National Park – April 25, 2005
- Festival blooms in Jacksonville – April 7, 2005
- Project to Rehabilitate Rim Village Begins! – April 01, 2005
- Courses set on Karuks, bats, Crater Lake biology – March 21, 2005
- Education Afoot: a local teacher takes the lesson out of doors – February 7, 2005
- Streamflow signs buried in the snow – February 1, 2005
- How Rogue forest began – January 30, 2005
- Winter fun at Crater Lake – January 6, 2005
- Crater Lake ski races set for this weekend – February 02, 2005