Parking
Enter Vidae Falls Picnic Area from East Rim Drive, 3 miles east of park headquarters. Park in the first three spaces on the right by the Crater Peak trailhead sign.
Overview
About Crater Peak Trail
Why go
- A volcanic summit with views toward Union Peak and the Klamath Basin.
- The route changes from forest to open grassland.
Heads up
- The trail loses elevation before the steep summit climb.
- Snow can delay access, and Crater Lake is not visible from the summit.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Crater Lake map
Full mapElevation6,463–7,247 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 Crater Peak 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
Vidae Falls Picnic Area and Crater Peak0:00 / 0:24
“Vidae Falls Picnic Area is coming up, a small stop reached by a short access road from East Rim Drive. Use this for a picnic break; the waterfall pullout is a separate stop.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Crater Lake Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Vidae Falls
- Dutton Ridge Pullout
- The Lodge They Had to Rebuild
- Sun Notch Trailhead
- 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 Crater Peak Trail
A forest-to-summit hikeCrater Peak is a 6.
Crater Peak is a 6.5-mile out-and-back from Vidae Falls Picnic Area to the summit of a small shield volcano. Plan on about 3½ hours; the park classifies it moderate to strenuous and lists 765 feet of gain. This is not a steady climb: the route drops along Vidae Ridge before it rises toward the summit. Choose it for a volcanic high point and southern park views, not for Crater Lake—the lake is not visible from the top.
Vidae RidgeFor about two miles, the trail descends through mountain hemlock and Shasta red fir.
For about two miles, the trail descends through mountain hemlock and Shasta red fir. Forest gives way to waving grassland as you continue, and the return makes you climb out of the low section before the summit push. Keep energy for that later rise rather than spending it all on the first miles.
Up the volcanoThe final climb winds steeply toward Crater Peak.
The final climb winds steeply toward Crater Peak. Whitebark pines appear in scattered stands higher on the route, while the summit opens toward the Klamath Basin and Union Peak. The top is a small shield volcano, and the open summit is known for wildflowers; the park does not name species in its trail description. If your main goal is a Crater Lake view, choose a rim-side walk instead.
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.
