Never Touch The Newt! A warning at Crater Lake  

You may have heard that you are to never touch the newt! This is not an old wives’ tale and has scientific rationale. Please read further as I discuss the newt found only in Crater Lake National Park. This is but one of the admonitions at Crater Lake. The unique biome of Crater Lake leads to National Park authorities limiting activities which may affect the species found within the lake and the forest along its perimeter. Since at least 2012, SCUBA diving has been prohibited at Crater Lake National Park

The Mazama Newt

A subspecies of the Oregon newt, the Mazama newt is quite similar from the top, dark brown to blend with mud. If you were to view the Mazama newt from the underside, you would see that it differs from the Oregon newt in that it lacks the obvious yellow belly.

Never Touch The Newt!

Newts have a cytotoxic compound that they excrete to kill prey.  Through evolution and largely because there were no endemic fish in Crater Lake, the Mazama newt excretes tetrodotoxin (TTX) that is markedly lower in toxicity than the Oregon Newt.  While less toxic than the Oregon newt, it is still not recommended to touch the Mazama newt for your safety and for the survival of the newt.  Oils transferred from human hands and fingers may become a barrier on the surface of the newt’s skin making it defenseless against other non-endemic predators like crayfish, Kokonee salmon, and Rainbow trout.

Lets talk about tetrodotoxin (TTX)

TTX is the same chemical compound found in pufferfish. Recall the episode of the television series Bones, where agent Booth gets tongue-tied on the pronunciation of ‘tetrodotoxin’?

In the same episode Angela Montenegro, Booth, and Bones steal a body from a casket to test the corpse for evidence of death by TTX. Check out the Youtube.com video below.

No Way In…and No way Out

How is Crater Lake shut off from migration of fish and other aquatic life?  No rivers or streams flow into Crater Later therefore there are limited possibilities to transport fish to Crater Lake other than a bird, frog or mammal could transport fish eggs from one river or stream to Crater Lake.  Crayfish, salmon and trout were introduced by mankind into the lake about 150 years ago. 

The Caldera

What was once a mountain is now a lake. Crater Lake, located in Oregon, boasts some of the cleanest water you will ever find inside a lake.   Crater Lake was formed through a series of events which began approximately 7,700 years ago. Following a massive volcanic eruption and a collapse of the central portion of Mount Mazama, the caldera which is now visible is 6 miles in diameter and almost 0.7 miles deep.  Crater Lake maintains its volume through evaporation, seepage, rainfall and snowfall. 

Rim Village Visitor Center
Crater Lake National Park, 
Rim Village, OR 97604

Reasons To Go to Crater Lake National Park

The deepest lake in the United States, clean blue water, picturesque lake, and a National Park Lodge. In 2021, the National Park Lodge only permitted registered guests to enter the lodge and dining room. Armbands were distributed to guests at check-in and I was asked to reveal my armband on two separate occasions since it had slid down my wrist and tucked under my sleeve.

Hiking

Watchman Peak Trail

• Distance: 1.6 miles RT
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Time: 1.0 hour
• Elevation Gain: 450 ft.

Garfield Peak

• Distance: 3.4 miles RT
• Difficulty: Strenuous
• Time: 2-3 hours
• Elevation Gain: 1,100 ft.

Plaikni Falls Trail

• Distance: 2.0 RT
• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 1 hour
• Elevation Gain: 140 ft

Mount Scott Trail

• Distance: 4.2 miles RT
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Time: 2.5 hours
• Elevation Gain: 1,259 ft

Pinnacles Trail

• Distance: 0.8 miles RT
• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 30 minutes
• Elevation Gain: 42 ft

Castle Crest Wildflower Trail

• Distance 0.4 miles RT
• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 30 Minutes
• Elevation Gain: 120 ft.

Sun Notch Trail with view of Phantom Ship

• Distance: 0.8 miles RT
• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 30 minutes
• Elevation Gain: 127 ft.

One of The Warnings at Crater Lake

Swimming – It’s Cold!

Cleetwood Cove Trail at Crater Lake

The Cleetwood Cove Trail offers shore access, a trail and ledge jumping.

• Distance: 2.2 miles RT
• Difficulty: Strenuous
• Time: 2.0 hours (longer if you swim while at the base of trail)
• Elevation Gain: 750 ft.

While this trail is rated strenuous, I would not have described it as such. Yellowstone’s Canyon Brink of the Lower Falls is quite similar to yet much shorter than Cleetwood Cove. This steep trail descends to a point on Crater Lake where SCUBA diving is prohibited but swimming is encouraged.  Be among the brave to jump into the lake from a nearby rock or ledge.  The temperatures are comfortable in September and quite frosty in May.  Among the top 10 deepest lakes in the world, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States.  Have you jumped in?   Would you? And yes, I did jump in back in 2021 and have a few videos of the event.

Combine Cleetwood Cove with Wizard Island by Boat

The only access to Wizard Island is by boat tour offered during the summer. The summer dates have not been posted as of July 08, 2022. Parking, hike down and maintaining enough energy to hike back up the steep Cleetwood Cove trail will all need to be factored in when planning the Wizard Island Excursion. Check the following webpage to plan your tour.

https://www.travelcraterlake.com/things-to-do/boat-tours/wizard-island-tours/