Looking Down on Crater Lake

CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK, Oregon — The serenity of a crisp autumn day, belies the origins of this stunningly beautiful lake fed only by rainfall and snowmelt high in the Cascade Mountains. National Park Service literature says the volcanic eruption that led to creation of the lake may have been the largest ever in North America.

Crater Lake’s elevation is about 6,200 feet, and the rim around it is about a thousand feet higher. The mountain that once was there stood 12,000 feet high before it blew its top approximately 7,700 years ago. To get a view of the lake any day of the year, find the webcam at nps.gov/crla. (Photo by Tom Adkinson)