Take a Boat Tour of Crater Lake & Hike to the Top of Wizard Island

Wizard Island is located in the middle of Crater Lake National Park. In order to get out to there you have to book a tour through the commercial concierge. Tickets were fairly pricey, but included a full boat tour of Crater Lake, plus 3 hours on the island itself. Half the tour is before you reach the island, with the remaining half after they pick you up.

To start, you need to hike the steep 1.1 miles down from the rim along the Cleetwood Cove Trail. This wasn't so difficult in the morning, but hiking back out in the afternoon with 3 kids was more of a challenge. There are plenty of benches to stop and rest, so just take it slow and plan extra time if you are worried.

Once you arrive on the island, the 2 mile trail heads northeast, but soon starts switch backing up the mountain. Its is fairly steep and rocky, but we took it slow and the kids did great. Once at the top, there's a path around the the rim of the crater.

We packed a lunch and ate at the summit with beautiful views of the lake all around us! The hike back down is much quicker, although it did take almost the full three hours to hike up, eat lunch & explore, and hike back down.

There are composting toilets near the dock on the island, which we made sure to use before getting back on the boat for the remainder of the lake tour.

Highlights of the boat tour included seeing the Old Man of the Sea and circling the Phantom Ship in the water.