Cleetwood Cove Trail

Don't let the short distance fool you — Cleetwood Cove is basically a staircase disguised as a trail. You'll drop roughly 700 feet in just over a mile, switchbacking down a steep, loose volcanic slope with increasingly jaw-dropping views of Crater Lake's impossible blue water. The trail is fully exposed with no shade, carved into pumice and cinder that shifts underfoot like walking on gravel-covered marbles. At the bottom, you'll hit the rocky shoreline of the deepest lake in America, where the water is so clear you can see boulders thirty feet down. This is the only legal access point to the lake's surface and the departure point for boat tours to Wizard Island. The descent is a breeze; the climb back out — gaining the equivalent of a 70-story building — is where the 'strenuous' rating earns its keep. Strong hikers who want to touch that legendarily blue water will find this short gut-punch completely worth it.