Crater Lake: The Deepest Lake in the United States

An astronaut on the International Space Station took a photo of Crater Lake, in the state of Oregon in the United States, on June 26, 2017. It was late June, but snow still covered most of the land around the lake, and clouds made dark shadows on the water.

The lake sits in a huge hole at the top of an old volcano. About 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, a volcano called Mount Mazama exploded and fell in. Today, rain and snow feed the lake, and no rivers flow into it or out of it.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. It is 592 meters deep. The first person to measure it was a scientist named Clarence Dutton. His team used piano wire and heavy weights, and their result was only about 16 meters different from modern measurements.

In 1902, the lake and the land around it became Crater Lake National Park. In 2016, more than 750,000 people visited the park. Many of them came to fish.