Marker Name: Bottomless Lake?
Marker Text: Early visitors to Crater Lake wondered how deep the mysterious lake was. What was the bottom like: was there a bottom at all?
In the summer of 1886, the U.S. Geological Survey sent Capt. Clarence E. Dutton to find the answers. Dutton’s party hauled three boats by wagon from Portland, and carefully lowered them down the caldera wall. Using a lead weight and wire, the boatmen plumbed the depths. From this point “watchmen” kept the boat crews on course and plotted their locations.
On the opposite side of the lake the lead touched bottom at an astounding 1996 feet (608 m), or 333 fathoms! The sounding wire also detected submarine valleys and hills, including a volcano taller than Wizard Island.
Modern measurements set the maximum depth of Crater Lake at 1932 feet (589 m) -- the equivalent of 240 swimming pools eight feet deep. No lake in the United States is deeper.
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