wizard island

There is nothing like it!! A natural wonder, in the midst of deep, deep water that is the bluest blue!!! What a beautiful sight.

Wizard Island is the volcanic cinder cone rising from the caldera that forms the bottom of Crater Lake and gets its name from its resemblance to a pointy sorcerer’s hat. Rising 760 feet (232m) above the surface of the lake, it is the iconic geological formation that has probably been included in virtually every image ever made of Crater Lake. Excellent views of Wizard Island can be had from a number of locations along the rim with some of the best at and around Sinnott Memorial Overlook in Rim Village and from Discovery Point and Wizard Island Overlook, 1.3 mile (2.1k) and 4.0 miles (6.4k) west on Rim Drive from the Sinnott Overlook respectively. During the short summer when the boat tours are running, it is possible to visit the island for fishing, hiking and picnicking but this is probably best left for multi-day visits or a return trip as the process of getting to the boat dock to the island and back would leave little time to see the rest of the park on short visits; however, if this is your goal, reserve tickets well in advance for one of the two boat tours, with quite limited seating, that stop at the island to avoid disappointment. If one wishes to get a better look at Wizard Island, as well as other feature of the park from lake level, a more practical option may be to take the two hour volcano boat tour around Crater Lake which cruises up close to the island. While same day tickets are possible, reserving tickets well ahead of your visit will help to avoid disappointment. Even though the boat tour is only two hours, the whole adventure will take much longer as one needs to drive 10.7 miles (17.2k) from Rim Village to the Cleatwood Cove trailhead and hike down 1.1 mile (1.8k) to the boat dock; the real challenge is the hike out, a strenuous 700 foot (213m) climb up, over the same 1.1 mile (1.8k) trail taken down.

Wizard Island is a cinder cone located inside Crater Lake. Wizard Island is located to the southwest side of the lake. Wizard Island can be enjoyed in various ways. First, of course, is the view from the lodge. Second, is the view from one of the trails that circles around the rim of Crater Lake. Third, is from a boat. A computer terminal, located in the lodge, can be used to make reservations for the boat ride. Travelers will need to drive to the northern rim of Crater Lake, where there is a large parking lot, and then they will need to take a zig-zag trail to the dock. From, the dock, a boat will take tourists to a dock on Wizard Island, and let tourists out for a couple of hours (and then pick them up). Fourth, is the hike on Wizard Island to the top of the cinder cone. Once on top, tourists will enjoy the curiously twisted trees that populated Wizard Island, and will also enjoy gazing into the crater in the center of the cinder cone. The crater is not dangerous, and it is not deep. If you wanted to scoot down to the center of the crater and then inch your way up again, it would be easy to do in the time frame of several minutes. And fifth, one more beautiful aspect of Wizard Island takes the form of the other sights that can be enjoyed from boat that takes you to Wizard Island and to other parts of the lake. The tour guide provides a narration using a loudspeaker. The tour guide is also a careful listener, and he paused to answer questions from elementary school children on the boat.Wizard Island is best known to most people as a feature of fine art photographs of Crater Lake. In particular, I like photographs of snow-covered Wizard Island in the winter. What I also enjoyed, was the hike to the top of Wizard Island, and the appealing "crunch, crunch, crunch," sound of the red-colored gravel, as I hiked along the trail that spirals around the cinder cone and takes you to the top. The weather-beaten curiously twisted trees on Wizard Island make for fine photos, especially when the background includes the deep blue waters of Crater Lake, and the curved shore of Crater Lake, situated at the base of a steep cliff.I rank my the hike to the top of Wizard Island, as one of the finest natural-landscape experiences in North America. The accompanying photos show: (1) Withered tree atop Wizard Island; (2) View of Wizard Island from rim of Crater Lake; and (3) View of geologic feature residing in Crater Lake, taken during boat trip to Wizard Island.

Great fun! This is a must do if you go to Crater Lake. You get the best of both worlds since you have to take the boat to get to the island then get a few hours to explore and hike to the summit for a great view of the lake.

RECOMMENDATION: book the 3 hour island experience when visiting. It is not a tour but a park ranger is on site. You are on your own to hike, walk, or just sit on the island and enjoy the views. To appreciate the best views, hike to the top of the caldera. The trail winds up the volcano gradually with switchbacks and places to rest including shade.Your tour boat will circle the island before docking. No services on the island. There is a restroom at the dock.

I wish I took the time and spend 4 hours on the island. Next time for sure. The boat ride around the island made me realize how much fun it would've been to get off and explore for a few hours.

We have visited Crater Lake a number of times, latest being September 2014. The breathtaking views of scenic Wizard Island is amazing, it is a volcanic cinder cone which forms an island. The height of it reaches 6,933 feet.

The views you can get from the water are only available by ... getting to the water! The only ways to do that are to do the Wizard Island tour/drop off (only one place you can do that.... here!), or to do the boat tour (3 hours). The late shoulder season (1 week long) only allows either Wizard Island stop OR the boat tour, and happens late in the season. Buy your tickets the day before (during shoulder season, only day of), and get ready to brag about the bluest, clearest, most amazing fresh water anywhere. More beautiful than any picture you've seen can express. And worth it.

A visit to Wizard Island makes for a worthwhile destination because it affords you with a 360 degree view of Crater Lake from inside the caldera. If you want to spend some time exploring Wizard Island, pick the boat cruise that stops on the island to let off passengers and returns about 5 hours later to pick you back up. On the day that we visited the island, we packed a sack lunch and hiked to the top of the island and down into the cinder cone on top. The 360 degree panorama from the top of the island really gives you a feel for the dramatic eruption of over 7700 years ago. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water, and wear sunscreen, and have a layer for wind or rain, depending on the weather. Others on our cruise brought fishing poles and were successful in catching lake fish.

I'm glad that we hiked down to the water and took the boat. I don't think I'd have felt like I fully experienced crater lake without touching the water. I was really looking forward to hiking on Wizard Island.The reality was a bit disappointing. There was no place there to just hang out. My two teenaged son's came with my husband and I but I didn't want to force them to hike. I envisioned leaving them at a picnic area while we hiked and then came back to play in the water. Instead we found a rather barren rocky shore. The kids waited on a fallen log.The hike was more difficult as the uneven rocky ground was challenging. It would be all too easy to turn your ankle and we ended up scrambling over quite a few rocks to get to Fumarole Bay. I also wanted to conserve some energy for the hike uphill back to the car.On the positive side, it was beautiful and I'm glad we went. To do it again I'd consider just taking the boat tour and not get off on the island.

The Wizard is a Volcano in a Volcano... You can't hike better places.It takes a bit to get to the top of Wizard Island......First you will most likely have to book a month out.. Maybe more if your going on a weekend.You will have to hike down into Crater Lake.. It is a path.. Going down is nothing.. BUT going up is tough.. Its a 2.2 mile RT and about 750 elevation. TIP!! Make plenty of stops going up and enjoy the view.. Bathrooms at the end of the trail.You will take the boat (only 37 people) about a 30-40 minute ride to the island.. Last chance for bathroom at base of Wizard Island.You will be on WI for three hours!! So bring water.. And even a lunch. It takes 25-40 minutes to hike to the summit.The sooner you make it up...the longer you have to enjoy..I won't give anything away.. But it was so Awesome up there... Best views in park.. TIP!!! Take a moment to understand what your hiking on.. Don't forget to look down at what you walking on.. Put the camera down for a few minutes and enjoy it with your eyes!!The hike down is only 20-25 minutes.. Be at boat when you are supposed to be... Don't ruin it for others.. You can fish on WI. Two trails on Island.. One to go fishing and swimming...one to the summit..Out of 37 people only 10 went to the summit (I don't understand that) and only 4 of us stayed on top more than 10 minutes.. We stayed an hour..Two of us were all by our selves on top for 35 minutes.Not to many people can say they were on the Wizard all by them selves!!It is also about 2.2 mile RT. And is about 700 elevation. But the switch backs made it easier.Little shadeBeware!!! You still have to hike up the Crater to get back to your car.. We took 6 hours from car to car.But we were not in a hurry.. And we were there an hour before boat left. TIP!! Don't forget to check in at parking lot.. And boat...TIP!!! You don't have to go to Wizard Island to go down the Crater..

we could not get tickets on line despite multiple attempts. We stayed in queue exactly 24 hrs at a akiosk at the Crater Lake Lodge prior to the next tour and only then were able to get tickets for Wizard Island drop off. The island has its own beauty separate from the lake. The hike to the top is 1.1 miles and around 725 feet of elevation gain which can be accomplished in less than 40 minutes. We had great views of the lake and surrounding cliffs from the top of the island. There is also an additional flat athough extremely rocky 1 mile hike to Fummarole Bay where you can swim. Bring your lunch as there are plenty of great spots for picknicking.

Beautiful island in the middle of crater lake. It is a steep decline to get to the bottom to get over to the island so wouldn't recommend for those with health concerns and strenuous activities. Very blue water and sooooo clean! Peaceful place to explore nature!

Hiking Wizard Island was one of two highlights for me on our recent family trip to Crater Lake. Wizard Island is only accessible by the boat tours run by the park service. They have a half day and a full day tour with drop-off. We chose the half day and really for the typical family this is perfect.Full-day might be appropriate for someone wanting to stay and fish or wanting to hiking both primary trails and dawdle with a camera.So the adventure starts at the parking lot because the boats are 700 feet below you. There is a 1.1 mile trail (Cleetwood Cove Trail) that snakes down the unstable crater wall. This is the only trail to the lake itself in the entire park. The going down is not the issue ... coming back up at the end of the day was a little taxing.An interpretative ranger accompanies each boat to talk about the lake and the history. The ride to island drop-off is relatively short so was the talking. You pass Devil's backbone, Steele Bay and LLao Rock.On the island, there are two trails: to Fumarole Bay and to the summit of the cinder cone (mini-volcano) that basically created Wizard Island. My family chose the summit. The trail starts out very rocking as you scamper over chunks of volcanic rock but then settles into a trail zigzagging up the cinder cone on a footpath of ash and cinders.The view from the top was spectacular. We picnicked on a large rock at the top and just soaked in the scenery. We had a mixed blessing as the day was overcast and the hike was very temperature comfortable. Of course, on the way back in the boat it started raining on us. I left the emergency ponchos back in the hotel room ... I'm not going to live this one down.My 8 year old and 13 year old comfortably hiked both Wizard Island and the trail up and down to the boat dock. Be aware that you are up at altitude ... between 6200 and 6800 feet.Note that we were here the first week in July and the mosquitos at the parking lot nearly carried me away. However the deet worked as advertised. I never considered that I would need bug spray in July at the rim of the Caldera and luckily just had some spray in my backpack.I consider this a must do event for any family who loves the outdoors.

Nice 3 hour visit to the island. Would not recomment to anyone that has trouble with walking on uneven areas and slopes.