Merriam Point

Merriam Point is the roadside overlook at North Junction, where North Entrance Road meets Rim Drive. If you're coming in from the north, this is where Crater Lake first opens up. I'd stop for that first look, then choose which side of Rim Drive to explore. Several small parking areas line the overlook, and a short walk along the rim reaches another broad lake view.

The wide view can take in Wizard Island, Llao Rock, Mount Scott and Mount McLoughlin. Farther along the rim-side path, wind-shaped trees and exposed roots give you a foreground; keep Wizard Island in the frame to show the scale of the caldera. The lake view depends on the weather.

The overlook is named for John C. Merriam (1869-1945), a geologist, zoologist and paleontologist. Beginning in 1926, he helped establish nature interpretation at Crater Lake and helped secure Carnegie funding for the educational exhibits at Sinnott Memorial. The underwater Merriam Cone is a separate feature, named for the same scientist.

Crater Lake fills the caldera left when Mount Mazama collapsed after a major eruption about 7,700 years ago. Sandals and other artifacts buried beneath the ash and pumice show that people had visited the area before the eruption; they don't prove anyone lived permanently on the mountain.

Merriam Point is one stop along the 33-mile Rim Drive, whose 30 overlooks were designed between 1931 and 1938. At North Junction, West Rim Drive runs six miles to Rim Village; East Rim Drive heads toward Cloudcap and more overlooks, trailheads and waterfalls. The North Entrance Road and Rim Drive are seasonal: significant snow can close them before the usual November 1 winter shutdown, and it often takes until mid-July for all of East Rim Drive to open in spring.