Parking
Start at the Pacific Crest Trail parking lot on North Entrance Road. Follow the PCT to the Bald Crater Loop junction; the approach and its return are included in the 20.3-mile round trip.
Overview
About Bald Crater Loop Trail
Why go
- A rare wetland and insect-catching plants break up the forest circuit.
- Mostly rolling grades keep the challenge in the distance, not a summit climb.
Heads up
- The complete outing is about 20 miles once the PCT access is counted.
- The PCT approach includes an exposed stretch through burned ground.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Crater Lake map
Full mapElevation5,440–6,499 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
2 active Crater Lake alerts
- ClosureCleetwood Cove Trail closed for rehabilitationCleetwood Cove Trail is closed to the public during construction to rehabilitate the trail and marina.Official details
- CautionPinnacles Road restricted to hikers and bicyclistsPinnacles Road is open only to hikers and bicyclists because of a road construction project; motor vehicles cannot use it.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Crater Lake Tour Guide
Your drive to Bald Crater Loop Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Red Cone and Bald Crater Trailhead0:00 / 0:26
“You're approaching the Red Cone and Bald Crater trailhead on North Entrance Road.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Crater Lake Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Where the Blue Comes From
- Leaves That Catch Insects
- The Landmark That Drifts
- Pumice Point Overlook and Picnic Area
- 58 audio storiesacross Crater Lake’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Mule Deer, Common Raven, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 34 trails, 49 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Bald Crater Loop Trail
What you’re walkingBald Crater Loop is a 20.
Bald Crater Loop is a 20.3-mile round-trip backcountry hike from the Pacific Crest Trail parking lot on North Entrance Road. It follows the PCT about 3.2 miles to the loop, circles Bald Crater on a roughly 13.9-mile corridor, then retraces the same access. The loop rolls through lodgepole pine forest and an open burned stretch, and passes Sphagnum Bog; it circles the crater rather than climbing to a summit. Allow about 11 hours for the full outing with short breaks. The 20.3-mile total already counts the PCT access both ways.
The long approachFollow the PCT west from North Entrance Road to the Bald Crater Loop junction.
Follow the PCT west from North Entrance Road to the Bald Crater Loop junction. North of Red Cone the tread crosses exposed, burned, relatively flat ground before the circuit returns to a more forested, gently rolling route. The junction is where the loop leaves the PCT; note it, because you use the same approach to return to the road.
A wetland in pumice countryThe route passes Sphagnum Bog, which is technically a fen: water moves through it rather than…
The route passes Sphagnum Bog, which is technically a fen: water moves through it rather than sitting still. Peat averages about six feet deep over pumice, and the wetland is thought to have formed around 4,000 years ago. A 2007 BioBlitz recorded about 160 species here, including sundews and bladderworts that catch insects. Stay on the trail. The plant mat can hide deep pools, and the wet ground is fragile.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Crater Lake
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.
