Crater Lake - Wizard Island Hike and Boat Tour!
Details
Pre-Order seats on the 9:45 boat ride are sold out
I am leaving a few openings on this Meetup for any adventerous folks that want to try for one of the seats (I believe 1/2 of them) that are relased 24 hrs in avance of each and every scheduled boat ride. They are available online or in line at Cleetwood Cove & the Visitors Center.
Overview
This will be a day of hikes, swimming, boat rides and wonder at Crater Lake. The first hike will be down to Cleetwood cove at the waters edge where we’ll board a boat for a 1 hr guided tour around 1/2 of the Lake. We will then be dropped off on Wizard Island for three hours. Our second hike will be up the cinder cone that is Wizard Island, which will be accompanied by a lot of swimming and adventuring!
Another one hour guided tour will lead us around the second half of the Lake and eventually bring us back to Cleetwood Cove where we’ll relax, eat & swim before heading back up & out of our collapsed volcano playground and back to our cars.
Specifics
The boat rides/ tours are an amazing opportunity to get onto and into the water, inside of a collapsed volcano that boasts a max water depth of 1,943 feet, which makes it the 10th deepest lake on the planet and one of clearest on the Earth as well.
This will be a full active day trip at Crater Lake National Park, which means an active day at elevation.
Crater Lake surface 6,200’
Wizard Island peak 6,933’
Crater Lake Rim Drive 6,500’-7,900’
Hiking elevations
Cleetwood Cove trail
1.1 mi (one way) - 700’ elevation loss / gain
Wizard island
2.2 mi (one way) - 750’ elevation gain / loss
We will be out in the open, at elevation all day, so it is imperative to bring more food and much more water than you think you’ll need for the day due to the elevation, exposure and workload that we’ll face on this day.
Also make sure to protect your skin from the high elevation sun. Bring lip balm, sunscreen, hat, etc…and drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. Broken record on that one…
On to tickets!
Follow link below to purchase tickets for the Wizard Island Tour - (5hr)
9:45 boat on Friday, September 5th.
Once your ticket is purchased please sign up on Meetup and post that you have purchased your seat (seats, if bringing a guest) in the chat.
The Cleetwood Cove trail is mostly sand, gravel and dirt while the Wizard Island trail is pretty much loose volcanic rock.
Walking poles are definitely recommend but definitely not required 😊
Mosquitoes can be bad here…
Restrooms are available at the Cleetwood Cove Trailhead parking lot,
near the boat boarding area at Cleetwood Cove,
and at Wizard Island.
Once at the Cleetwood Cove parking lot, we'll check-in, use the restrooms, load up & load out down to the shore.
Our early morning meetup time will allow us time for snags such as possible delays at the fee station entering the Park and many delight delays, where views need to be taken in, early and often.
Travel and Lodging
We will (most to all) be coming From the Eureka/ Arcata area, so we’ll need to get together prior to this adventure to figure out carpooling, and camping/ lodging spots for those that want to travel and stay together while out there.
Thanks everyone!
I have done this once before, about 12 yrs ago and it was one of my all time favorite experiences. & This is the last summer that anyone will be able to get down to the water to swim, let alone go on a boat ride to Wizard Island, until 2028 or 2029, due to trail and dock projects/ repair work, so the time is literally now!
Gonna be a fun one & definitely worth the drive!
Crater Lake - Wizard Island Hike and Boat Tour!