#3 of 26 sights in Crater Lake
Sight · Crater Lake National Park
A lake view with Wizard Island and the Lost Cabin story.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Crater Lake Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Crater Lake National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Crater Lake audio tourRecorded for this place
Discovery Point“Up ahead is Discovery Point, where a roadside pullout gives you a broad view of the lake and Wizard Island. The name recalls gold seekers searching for the fabled Lost Cabin mine in eighteen fifty-three.”
Plays as you drive up to Discovery Point in the Parkwolf Crater Lake Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Discovery Point is a roadside overlook on West Rim Drive, about a mile from Rim Village. A large pullout puts the lake and Wizard Island right in front of you, so you can get the defining view without a hike. It is one of the stops that makes the rim drive worthwhile. For a photo, keep Wizard Island in the frame with some of the crater rim; that makes the island's place inside the caldera easier to read.
The Discovery Point Trail runs between the pullout and Rim Village. From here, the walk there and back is about 2 miles with roughly 100 feet of climbing. It is rated easy, though the route has a few steep rises. The path follows the west rim through wind-shaped forest, with mountain hemlock and whitebark pine, then opens repeatedly to the lake, rim and Wizard Island. You can turn back whenever the view feels like enough; you do not have to make it to the village.
The name looks back to June 12, 1853, when gold seekers searching for the fabled Lost Cabin mine came upon the lake. Their party included John Wesley Hillman, Henry Klippel and Isaac Skeeters; they called the water Deep Blue Lake. That is the European-American account behind the name, not the beginning of the lake's human story. Indigenous people have been connected to this place for thousands of years, and Crater Lake remains sacred to many Native American communities.
The island across the water is not a piece of the rim. It began as a volcanic cone after Mount Mazama collapsed, while rain and snowmelt were filling the caldera. Only about 2 percent of that cone rises above the lake today. The steep walls around it expose the layered remains of a much larger volcano.
This pullout sits on the 33-mile Rim Drive, whose 30 overlooks were laid out from 1931 to 1938 to frame the lake, caldera geology and other features. West Rim Drive is seasonal and usually closes around November 1, or earlier if snow arrives; winter travel can require chains or traction tires. Rim Village Cafe is a separate stop back at the village, with grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and snacks.
Wildlife
16 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
178 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
26 sightingsCommon RavenMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
33 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
47 sightingsRed-tailed HawkMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
71 sightingsCascades FrogMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Crater Lake. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingRim Trail16.2 mi · 9.5 hr · At the trailheadWizard Island shifts position as you follow the western rim.EasyDiscovery Point Trail2 mi · 1 hr · 1 mi awayWizard Island keeps appearing through the wind-shaped rim forest.
ModerateDutton/Lightning Loop12.9 mi · 7 hr · 1 mi awayA long forest loop earns its lake view at the west rim.
ModerateDutton Creek Trail4.6 mi · 3 hr · 1 mi awayA steep forest descent to Dutton Creek and the Pacific Crest Trail.
ChallengingSmall PCT Loop24.8 mi · 12 hr · 1 mi awayRim views and remote PCT miles make this a real loop.
ModerateHemlock Loop1.3 mi · 1.5 hr · 1 mi awayA marked winter loop through hemlock forest with Garfield Peak views.
ModerateLightning Spring Trail8.4 mi · 4.5 hr · 1.1 mi awayA spring breaks up the long descent from the rim.
ModerateWizard Island Summit Trail2.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.1 mi awayA steep volcanic climb to a crater above the lake.
Food · 1 mi awayRim Village Café & GiftsA quick bite, lake-view patio, and souvenirs in one stop.Picnic area · 1.1 mi awayLightning Spring Picnic AreaWalk up from the picnic area for a Wizard Island view.
Visitor center · 1.2 mi awayRim Visitor CenterStart here for ranger help, passport stamps, and a rim-side stroll.
Sight · 1.2 mi awaySinnott Memorial OverlookA stone shelter frames the lake and explains the caldera.
Picnic area · 1.3 mi awayRim Village Picnic AreaA shaded picnic stop just south of the lodge.
Lodging · 1.3 mi awayCrater Lake LodgeA historic rim lodge with a lake-view porch and big stone fireplace.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayWizard IslandA cinder cone with a crater, rising from the caldera lake.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayWatchman Observation StationA steep summit climb with a 360-degree caldera panorama.Parkwolf’s Crater Lake ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
