Scenic pullout · Crater Lake National Park
A white pumice cliff adds a geology stop to the rim drive.
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
Pumice Point Overlook and Picnic Area“Pumice Point is coming up, with a roadside lake view and a separate picnic area nearby. The overlook is a quick stop rather than a wide-open panorama; trees partly screen Wizard Island and Llao Rock.”
Plays as you drive up to Pumice Point Overlook 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
Pumice Point Overlook is a roadside viewpoint on East Rim Drive, beside the north-rim Pumice Point. It gives you a quick lake view toward Wizard Island and Llao Rock, plus a chance to spot the pale cliff that gives the stop its name. It is an easy add to the drive; trees partly interrupt the view, so it is more of a quick stop than a place to linger.
Pumice Point is a roughly 47-foot pale cliff beneath Grouse Hill. The light band is exposed pumice; from this overlook you are on the formation, so look along the rim for its pale face rather than expecting a view of the whole point from across the water. For a photo, include a strip of the pumice slope in the foreground, with the lake and far caldera wall beyond it.
No hike is required; this is a roadside stop on East Rim Drive. The east rim usually opens in summer and early fall. Late snow can delay spring opening until around mid-July, and snowfall can bring the winter closure around November 1 or earlier; weather shifts the dates from year to year.
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
ChallengingCleetwood Cove Trail2.2 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.1 mi awayA rare walk to the water, with a serious climb back out.
ChallengingBald Crater Loop Trail20.3 mi · 11 hr · 2 mi awayA 20-mile PCT approach to a rolling loop and fragile wetland.
ModerateRed Cone Trail7.2 mi · 3 hr · 2.1 mi awayA long, exposed walk through burned ground north of Red Cone.
ModerateWizard Island Summit Trail2.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 3.7 mi awayA steep volcanic climb to a crater above the lake.
EasyFumarole Bay Trail1.5 mi · 1 hr · 3.7 mi awayA rocky Wizard Island shore walk to a clear, shallow bay.
ModerateWatchman Peak Trail1.6 mi · 1 hr · 4 mi awayA short climb to a 1930s lookout above Wizard Island
ModerateLightning Spring Trail8.4 mi · 4.5 hr · 4.4 mi awayA spring breaks up the long descent from the rim.
ChallengingSmall PCT Loop24.8 mi · 12 hr · 4.4 mi awayRim views and remote PCT miles make this a real loop.
Picnic area · 0.3 mi awayPumice Point Picnic AreaA table stop to break up the north Rim Drive.
Picnic area · 0.7 mi awaySteel Bay Picnic AreaAn easy picnic break above Steel Bay on the north rim.Sight · 1.4 mi awayCleetwood CoveOnly legal shore access, with a strenuous climb back out.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayPalisades OverlookA quick look down to Cleetwood Cove from the East Rim
Sight · 2.5 mi awayMerriam PointThe north road's first lake reveal, with Wizard Island in view.
Scenic pullout · 2.8 mi awayDevil's Backbone PulloutA jagged lava dike cuts from the lake to the rim.
Scenic pullout · 3.2 mi awayGrotto Cove OverlooksTwo roadside overlooks where the view reaches past the rim to Thielsen.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayWizard IslandA cinder cone with a crater, rising from the caldera lake.Parkwolf’s Crater Lake ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
