Crater Lake tour boats start season today

Mail Tribune
Medford, Oregon
June 28, 1997

The boating season begins today at Crater Lake National Park.

Park rangers will lead interpretive boat tours daily for the balance of the summer. The two-hour trips take visitors around the perimeter of the lake.

Daily boat tours are scheduled at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Beginning July 3, nine tours daily will will be scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The tours cost $12.50 for people age 12 and up; $7 for children age 3 to 11; and children under the age of 3 may travel for free but may be expected to sit on a parent's lap.

To ride the boats, visitors must walk a 1.1-mile trail that descends about 700 feet to reach the lake. Visitors also must walk the trail to return to their vehicles after the tour.

Park managers said visitors should allow at least an hour to drive from the park headquarters to the trailhead and walk down to the boat dock at Cleetwood Cove.

Kent Taylor, the park's chief of interpretation, said visitors will enjoy the tour more if they come prepared with a visored hat and plenty of sunscreen. Overcast weather can be chilly at high altitude, so visitors may also want to bring a jacket, Taylor said.

Interpretive programs about the geology and natural history of the lake will begin Sunday at the Mazama Campground amphitheater.

For more information about the boat tours, call 594-2255. For details of the interpretive programs, call 594-2211.