Crater Lake National Park
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Location
The vast majority of this national park lies outside the boundaries of Jackson County (see Klamath County for a more comprehensive guide to the park). If you are worried about county listing, bring a local map to keep track of your location. From Medford, take Hwy 62 for 54 miles to an area just past Union Creek. Continue on Hwy 62 to the park entrance. If you want to enter the park from the north and go directly to the lake, continue past the Union Creek only take Hwy 230 to the Diamond Lake cutoff. Follow the signs to Crater Lake from here. If you’re coming from Roseburg, take Hwy 238 for 86 miles (past Diamond Lake) to Crater Lake N. Hwy. Take this road into the park and on to the lake.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. At an elevation of over 6000 feet and more than 500 inches of snow per year, this is truly a mountain lake. Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Red Crossbills mingle in the lodgepole pines while Clark’s Nutcrackers and Gray Jays ply the tourists for handouts. Climb the rocky slopes above the lake and check the snow fields for Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. Pine Grosbeaks are a possibility and Barrow’s Goldeneyes might be found in the lake itself or on one of the numerous smaller ponds in the park. Vaux’s Swifts nest nearby and Black-backed Woodpeckers occupy the numerous small burned areas.
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