Oregon - Crater Lake National Park

State: Oregon

Area: 251 sq. mi.

Established: 1902

Crater Lake National Park lies in the Cascade Mountains in south-western Oregon. The striking feature of Crater Lake is the intense blue colour of its water. This unusually deep lake (1935 ft) is almost exactly circular, with a diameter ranging between 41Ú2 mi. and 61Ú2 mi. and a circumference of 26 mi., and is surrounded by lava cliffs rising to heights of between 500 ft and 2000 ft. Crater Lake is the water-filled caldera of Mount Mazama, an extinct volcano that was once 11,970 ft high. Continuing eruptions hollowed out the summit of the mountain, which collapsed some 6850 years ago, leaving the present circular cavity. Later eruptions within the crater gave rise to