Wizard Island
{{More citations needed|date=September 2022}}
{{Short description|Volcanic cinder cone}}
{{for|the island in Cosmoledo Atoll in Seychelles|Wizard Island, Cosmoledo}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Wizard Island
| photo = Crater Lake National Park, OR 2006 (6539577313).jpg
| photo_caption =
| elevation_ft = 6933
| elevation_ref = {{cite peakbagger |id=2454 |name=Wizard Island Peak, Oregon |access-date=2008-11-14}}
| prominence_ft = 755
| prominence_ref = (varies with water level)
| location = Klamath County, Oregon, U.S.
| range = Cascades
| coordinates = {{coord|42.9387395|N|122.1455841|W|type:mountain_region:US-OR_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| range_coordinates =
| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis |id=1152566 |name=Wizard Island |access-date=2008-11-14}}
| topo = USGS Crater Lake West
| type = Cinder cone
| age =
| volcanic_arc = Cascade Volcanic Arc
| last_eruption = About 4600 BC{{cite gvp |title=Crater Lake: Eruptive History |vn=322160 |vtab=Eruptions |access-date=2009-01-15}}
| first_ascent =
| easiest_route = Trail{{cite web
| last = Waesche
| first = Hugh H.
| title = The Geology Of Wizard Island
| work = Crater Lake National Park: Nature Notes, Volume VII No. 1
| publisher = National Park Service
| date = July 1934
| url = http://npshistory.com/nature_notes/crla/vol7-1b.htm#2
| access-date = 2014-02-27}} with boat access
}}
Wizard Island is a volcanic cinder cone which forms an island at the west end of Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. The top of the island reaches {{convert|6933|ft|0}} above sea level, about {{convert|755|ft|0}} above the average surface of the lake.
The cone is capped by a volcanic crater about {{convert|500|ft|-1}} wide and {{convert|100|ft|-1}} deep. The crater was named the "Witches Cauldron" by William Gladstone Steel in 1885, who also gave Wizard Island its name at the same time.
{{cite book
| last = McArthur
| first = Lewis A. and Lewis L.
| title = Oregon Geographic Names
| edition = 6th
| publisher = Oregon Historical Society Press
| location = Portland, Oregon
| year = 1992
| page = 957}}
The land area of the island is {{convert|315.85|acre}}.
Formation
Wizard Island was created after Mount Mazama, a large complex volcano, erupted violently approximately 7,700 years ago, forming its caldera which now contains Crater Lake. Following the cataclysmic caldera-forming eruption, which left a hole about {{convert|4000|ft|-2}} deep where the mountain had once stood, a series of smaller eruptions over the next several hundred years formed several cinder cones on the caldera floor. The highest of these cones, the only one to rise above the current lake level, is Wizard Island, which rises over {{convert|2700|ft|-1|}} above the lowest point on the caldera floor and the deepest point in the lake.{{cite web|url=https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/crater-lake/post-caldera-volcanism-and-crater-lake|title=Post-Caldera Volcanism and Crater Lake|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=10 May 2023}}
Another large cinder cone, Merriam Cone, is in the northeast part of the lake. Although Merriam Cone rises about {{convert|1400|ft|-1}} above the caldera floor, its summit is still {{convert|505|ft}} below the average lake level. Its surface features and lack of a crater indicate that Merriam Cone formed under water.
Access
Current public access to Wizard Island is available only during the summer months when boat tours on Crater Lake are in operation. The tours depart from Cleetwood Cove at the north end of the lake, and circle the lake in the counterclockwise direction, stopping at a dock at Governors Bay on the south side of Wizard Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.travelcraterlake.com/things-to-do/boat-tours/wizard-island-tours|title=Wizard Island Tours|publisher=Crater Lake Hospitality|access-date=10 May 2023}}
Passengers on boat trips early in the day may choose to disembark on the island, but must be prepared to spend the entire day on the island if subsequent boats are too full to take on additional passengers. Those on late afternoon boat trips are not permitted to disembark. A final boat is dispatched at the end of each day to pick up any stragglers since overnight camping is not permitted on the island.{{citation-needed|date=May 2023}}
Two hiking trails are available on Wizard Island, one of which switchbacks up the flanks of the cone and circles the crater on top while the other trail meanders from the dock towards the western end of the island.
{{-}}
{{Gallery
| align = center
| File: View from bottom of crater of Wizard Island on Crater Lake.jpg
| Looking up out of the crater of Wizard Island from the bottom
| File: Crater Lake 1997.jpg
| Crater Lake and Wizard Island in 1997
| File: Mazama bathymetry survey map.jpg
| Crater Lake bathymetry survey showing Wizard Island and Merriam Cone
| File: Geologic map of Crater Lake floor.png
| Geologic map of Wizard Island and the lake floor
}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book
| last = Harris
| first = Stephen L.
| title = Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes (3rd ed.)
| publisher = Mountain Press Publishing Company
| year = 2005
| isbn = 0-87842-511-X
| page = 454 }}
{{refend}}
External links
{{Commons category |Wizard Island}}
- [http://craterlake.wr.usgs.gov/ USGS Crater Lake Data Clearinghouse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001204164900/http://craterlake.wr.usgs.gov/ |date=2000-12-04 }}
- [http://craterlake.wr.usgs.gov/bathy_images.html USGS Crater Lake Bathymetry Images]
- [http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-72/site/wiz.htm USGS: Crater Lake, OR: Wizard Island Perspective View]
- [http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-72/site/merrm.htm USGS: Crater Lake, OR: Merriam Cone Perspective View]
- [https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm Crater Lake National Park] (National Park Service)
- [http://www.craterlakelodges.com/Activities-1843.html Crater Lake Boat Tours] (NPS concessionaire site)
{{Crater Lake |state=collapsed}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Cinder cones of the United States
Category:Volcanoes of Klamath County, Oregon
Category:Lake islands of Oregon
Category:Crater Lake National Park