New at Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake National Park is one of the most visited sites in Oregon. It's hard to improve on this impressive natural phenomenon but Crater Lake Park personnel seem to have done just that. Two new improvements to the park make it even more user friendly. First, there are now Crater Lake trolley tours around the lake being offered to Park guests. In 2010, the two-hour trolley tour around the lake attracted 7,000 riders in its first season of operation!


The second big change is the Plaikni Falls hike. This newest mile-long hike now offers handicapped guests a wheelchair-accessible trail. Until 2010 the tumbling 35-foot-high falls, which lacked easy access, was known as Anderson Falls. The name Plaikni honors Klamath Indians, who for generations lived in and near lands included in the park. The trail crosses a pumice flat before meandering alongside rocky bluffs. Nearly a mile into the mostly gentle walk, the trail angles uphill through a meadow and riparian area seasonally bursting with native grasses and wildflowers. Just a short distance upstream the Plaikni Trail ends, at the falls.


For this summer's newest info on Crater Lake National Park, download Crater Lake's 2011 newsletter....it's full of fun Crater Lake facts!