Despite its stunning natural beauty, Oregon has only one national park, located just over a hundred miles south of Bend. The shell of Mount Mazama holds the deep, blue, resoundingly beautiful CRATER LAKE (seven-day access fee $10; ), formed after an explosion 42 times greater than that of Mount St Helens. The biggest island on the lake, Wizard Island , is actually the tip of a still-rising cinder cone. In its snowy isolation, the lake, at a depth of nearly two thousand feet, is awe-inspiring; in summer, too, it's spectacular, when wild flowers bloom along its desolate rim. The most popular, though still strenuous, hike is up Garfield Peak , an 8,054ft mountain that offers a tremendous view of the lake and is particularly striking - and harder to reach - during winter. More intrepid hikers can explore the marginally better views offered by the park's tallest outcrop, Mount Scott , rising to almost nine thousand feet.

You need a car to get to the park, though only the southern roads (the US-62 from Medford off I-5 or Klamath Falls off US-97) are open year-round. The northern access road (off Hwy-138) is closed from mid-October to June, as is the spectacular, 33-mile "Rim Drive" around the crater's edge. Regular boats cruise the lake (late June-mid-Sept daily 10am-4.30pm; $12.50), reached via the sheer, mile-long Cleetwood Cove trail , which provides the only access to the lakeshore. The trail is on the north shore, but visitor facilities are clustered on the south at tiny RIM VILLAGE , where the summer-only visitors center is a few steps from Crater Lake Lodge (mid-May to mid-Oct; tel 541/830-8700, ; $130-160), a grand old lodge that's recently been refurbished at massive expense; ask for a room overlooking the lake - the lodge perches on the rim of the caldera. Mazama Village (early June to mid-Oct; tel 541/830-8700; $75-100) is a motel with an adjoining campground ($10) in a quiet wooded setting about seven miles south of the rim. There are also several wilderness campsites. The park headquarters are at the Steel Information Center (daily 9am-5pm; tel 541/594-2211, more information at ), a year-round facility a few miles south of the rim on the main access road.

Crater Lake National Park

• Crater Lake National Park

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