A destination on many bucket lists, brilliantly blue Crater Lake is one of Oregon’s natural wonders. Its crater formed 7,700 years ago when Mt. Mazama erupted, and thanks to rainfall and snowmelt over the centuries, it’s now the deepest lake in the United States at 1,934 feet. To experience its stunning vistas, visitors can now fly into Medford’s Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport (MFR) from 11 destinations on the West Coast — including Portland, Los Angeles and San Francisco — for a weekend getaway. Here’s what you need to know about the changes coming to the park this season and beyond.
Your Guide to Southern Oregon Stargazing
This area of cosmic wonder includes portions of Malheur, Lake and Harney counties to the east of larger Southern Oregon cities like Medford, Klamath Falls and Ashland. They are so sparsely populated that the region is also known as the Oregon Outback. And while much of the nighttime world grows brighter every year, as much as 11 million acres of Outback are on track to become an official Dark Sky Sanctuary in 2023. That would be the largest area of its kind, and good news not just for curious humans checking out the Milky Way but also for wildlife that needs the dark to thrive.