Is Crater Lake Haunted? Oregon’s Biggest Mystery
You clicked on this because you want to know the truth: Is Crater Lake in Oregon haunted? You’ve probably already guessed our take on this.
Yes, Crater Lake is haunted. Here we explore why and how:
A War of Two Gods
Is Crater Lake haunted by man or God?
It was 7,7000 years ago, when Mount Mazama, nearly 12,000 feet tall, stood here.
Then one day, the mountain ate itself. The sky went black. The ground roared and fire rained from the sky.
After the eruption, the magma chamber beneath it was empty, forming a depression known as a caldera. All that was left where Mount Mazama stood was a massive crater.
Over the centuries, the crater began to fill with melted snow and rain. Finally, the crater became a lake. A lake so deep and blue that it was like a sky on the ground: Crater Lake.
The indigenous people, the Klamath people, call it Giwas, meaning sacred place, where heaven and hell meet.
The Klamath people believe a battle between two gods formed Crater Lake. Lao, god of the underworld, and Skele, godof the sky, fought a war, which was the eruption of Mount Mazama.
When Skele defeated Lao, he sealed him beneath the water forever, creating Crater Lake.
The Klamath People’s Crater
When Mount Mazama erupted around 5,677 B.C.E., the Klamath people watched the sky go dark, the fire fall from the mountain, and the earth shiver violently.
The people fled the area, but generations later, they returned and resettled the surrounding area. However, they did not live in or near Crater Lake itself. They made the lake a sacred and inaccessible place, visited only for specific spiritual purposes, and only by shamans.
Remember, the Klamath people, the eruption wasn’t a natural disaster, but the site of a battle between two ancient gods. Because of that, they believed that the crater was too spiritually powerful for ordinary people, and access was forbidden.
Lao, god of the underworld, is sealed below the lake along with his host of lesser spirits. The entities would snatch up those who disrespected the lake or spoke its name too loudly. Klamath children were taught that dark spirits or water beings lived in the depths, sometimes rising to the surface as lights.
To the Klamath, Shamans were the mediators between worlds, capable of contacting spirits and having prophetic visions. Even shamans had to go through intense purification rituals before they could enter.
Some Shamans returned, changed, haunted by what they had seen; some never returned at all.
Did you know?
The Klamath believed that at the bottom of the lake, there was no water, but rather forests, trees, and rocks.
Mysterious Disappearances at Crater Lake
Is Crater Lake haunted by those who never left?
There’s a long, twisted history of mysterious disappearances in and around Crater Lake. These are some of the most famous:
BB Bakowski (1911)
A photographer named BB Bakowski vanished while working in the Crater Lake area. Known for scenic images and postcards of the Oregon landscape, Babowski was well-experienced.
Yet, while on a photographic expedition to Crater Lake in February of 1911, he disappeared. His camp and camera equipment were fully intact, but no sign of his body was ever found.
Sammie Boehlke (2006)
On October 14, 2006, 8-year-old Sammie went missing near Cleetwood Cove. According to his father, Kenneth, his son suddenly rushed up a cinder slope, then vanished. A massive search involving more than 200 people was launched. Sammie has never been found.
Remember, Sammie’s father, Kenneth, was right behind him… imagine someone you love running just ahead of you on the trail, and then they’re gone, never seen again, no trace.
Charles McCullar (1975)
On January 29, 1975, 19-year-old Charles McCullar left for a two-day trip to Crater Lake National Park.
When he didn’t return by February 1, his friend reported him missing.
On October 14, 1976, hikers turned in a damaged backpack found in a remote part of the park, which contained a Volkswagen key matching McCullar’s.
Thanks to this, rangers found Charles’s remains but noted weird stuff: the snow at the park earlier had been up to 105 inches deep, the remains were found 14 miles from the nearest trailhead, and only some bones (from the shins and toes) were there; no shirt or camera gear was ever recovered.
Plane Crashes over Crater Lake
In 1945, multiple aviation incidents occurred in Crater Lake, including air crashes and mysterious smoke.
The Military Plane
A torpedo plane reportedly crashed into the lake during World War II. Two torpedo bombers were flying near Mount Scott when one pilot realized the other plane had disappeared.
The missing plane was assumed to have plunged into Crater Lake, but no wreckage was ever found.
The Helicopter
On September 23, 1995, a company-owned helicopter carrying two passengers was traveling to Las Vegas when it crashed and fell into Crater Lake. Tourists on the rim watched the helicopter fly low, circling Wizard Island.
And then, witnesses said that the plane flew into its own reflection, hitting the water at full speed. It’s believed that nobody let off the gas as they approached the water.
Because the helicopter was privately owned, the owners were legally obligated to cover the recovery costs because the crash occurred on federal land.
Sonar was used to survey the lake bottom near the crash site, and divers were sent down to search, but no identifiable debris has ever been found.
The official statement is that the force of the crash obliterated, but again, not one part of the helicopter was found.
The Unsolved Murders of Jones & Culhane
On July 19, 1952, the bodies of Albert J. Jones and Charles P. Culhane, both executives with General Motors, were found in Crater Lake National Park. The two men had been expected at a cabin nearby, but never arrived.
They had been murdered execution style.
The case became one of the largest and longest unsolved homicides in Oregon. To this day, it is unknown who killed Albert J. Jones and Charles P. Culhane.
Crater Lake Mysteries
The lake is beautiful on the surface, but it also holds many secrets. These are the mysteries of Crater Lake:
Haunted Crater Lake Lodge
The Lodge sits directly on the southern rim, at an elevation of about 7,000 ft.
The lodge was commissioned by William Gladstone Steel, often called the father of Crater Lake National Park.
The lodge opened in 1919, but it wasn’t that great. The site was too isolated, and construction costs were mounting, leading many to cut corners. Parts of it were unfinished. Insulation was awful, and the roof leaked from day one, which early guests definitely noticed.
Even the foundation was unstable because sections of the lodge were built on top of uneven rock. Some of the windows didn’t fit their frames, and the plumbing would freeze. When it rained, water would leak through the roof and make huge puddles in the lobby.
In 1989, the lodge was condemned, and $15 million restoration began, before the lodge reopened in 1995.
Manifestations:
- The Presence: Many guests have seen or felt a menacing presence at the Crater Lake Lodge, making it hard to sleep or causing nightmares.
- The Worker: A quiet figure who might belong to the days of the lodge’s construction. He’s described as a man in old work clothes standing at the end of a hallway or near the main staircase. He looks solid and real at first, like someone who might be checking in or heading outside to work, but he always disappears the moment anyone speaks to him.
- The Child: Is Crater Lake haunted by children? Many have heard a little girl in the hallways at night, or childlike footsteps, specifically on the second and third floors. Others have caught glimpses of a little kid in doorways or at the end of hallways.
- The Chinese Man: Seen on the elevator or near its entrances, he vanishes as soon as you notice him.
- The Rocking Chair: In the main lobby, there is a huge rocking chair that employees swear has moved when no one is around. It’s always a small shift as if someone just sat down.
Did you know?
The volcano that formed Crater Lake, Mount Mazama, was part of the same volcanic chain that includes Mount St. Helens in Southern Washington, Mount Hood near Portland, and Mount Shasta in Northern California.
UFOS on the Lake
Is Crater Lake haunted or invaded by aliens? Many have said that UFOs fly in and out of the water.
Some believe that UFOs or interdimensional entities will use bodies of water as entry points.
This started on February 4, 1997, when many people reported 3 unidentified objects speeding across the night sky over the lake. Some said the weird objects disappeared into the water, and speculations of underwater UFO bases at Crater Lake began.
Legends of Wizard Island
Is Wizard Island in Crater Lake haunted?
Said to be Lao’s watchtower and rising like a silent sorcerer in the middle of the lake, Wizard Island is the caldera’s only volcanic cone that’s still visible above the water.
Some have seen smoke or mists rising from Wizard Island at night when no natural source exists. There are also stories of dragon-like forms or shadows sliding beneath the surface near Wizard Island.
Wizard Island is said to be the most haunted spot in Crater Lake due to its isolation and connection to the Klamath.
Campfires have been burning on Wizard Island despite there being no campers, no smoke, no fire pits, and no signs of recent burning.
Sometimes, rangers have seen entire groups of people around a roaring fire on Wizard Island, only to see no one when they investigate.
No people, no footprints, no ashes, nothing.
Strange Lights Over Crater Lake
Before Crater Lake National Park ever existed, the Klamath people whispered stories of fires over the lake at night. They said these lights were the servants of Lao, trying to escape.
When a shaman performed a ritual near the rim, the lights sometimes hovered over Wizard Island before shooting straight into the sky.
Rangers and campers have seen orbs of bluish or white light moving above the water, sometimes vanishing straight down into the water. Some describe them as soft glows, others as bright flashes that reflect in the water but have no source.
The Phantom Canoe
Hikers and boat tour visitors have occasionally seen a glowing, often white canoe on the water with no one inside. Some say the canoe looks tiny and old, carved from a single piece of wood, while others swear it looks more like a long, narrow shadow.
It appears silently, drifts halfway across the lake, and then it’s gone. There is no splash, no ripple, and no sound of anything cutting through the water. Others say they saw the canoe drift behind Wizard Island but never come out on the other side.
No one has ever been able to track it, photograph it, or get close to it, but dozens have reported the phantom canoe over the years. Every sighting ends the same way.
The Watcher on Crater Lake Rim
The Watcher is a tall, dark figure that stands perfectly still at the edge of the caldera.
It appears most often at dusk or dawn, and from far away, it looks like a person admiring the view. But there is something strange about it: The shape is too rigid, too sharp around the edges, and it never moves.
Rangers are the ones who talk about it most. A few have said they saw someone standing dangerously close to the cliff. When they hurried over to check on the person, the figure wasn’t there. It did not walk away, it did not fall, it did not hide behind any trees, it was just gone.
A handful of hikers say they saw the figure turn its head toward them, even though it had no clear features. One group claimed they watched it step straight over the edge and drop out of sight, only for the ground below to be empty when they rushed to look.
Frequently asked questions
How big is Crater Lake?
Crater Lake is about 6 miles wide, surrounded by 2,000-foot cliffs of volcanic rock. At its center, it is 1,943 feet deep, making it the deepest lake in the U.S.
Crater Lake in Oregon is one of the purest bodies of water on the planet.
No rivers flow in or out of the lake, and the only water it receives comes from rain and snow. The only way it loses water is through seepage or evaporation, making Crater Lake a closed system.
What has been found at the bottom of Crater Lake?
Scientists have actually learned a lot about what is at the bottom of Crater Lake.
Sonar mapping has revealed a depth of about 1,949 feet, and the lake floor is busy with volcanic cones, steep underwater cliffs, and old lava flows left by the collapse of Mount Mazama.
Most of the bottom is covered in fine, light-colored sediment that looks almost like an underwater desert.
What lives in Crater Lake?
Crater Lake is extremely deep and cold, so only a handful of species can survive in it.
The Mazama newt is the only vertebrate species truly native to the lake. Because trout were introduced later, the newt population has declined in some areas.
No fish existed in Crater Lake until humans began stocking it in 1888. Today, only two introduced species still survive:Kokanee salmon and the Rainbow trout.
Haunt Us
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