East Crater (Indian Heaven)
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
This page is marked as Off trail. The route or sections of the route may be dangerous and hard to follow and is not recommended for beginning hikers without an experienced leader. Beginning hikers should check out our Basic Hiking Information page. |
- Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
- Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
- Latitude, Longitude: 45.9981, -121.78884
- Elevation: 5200 feet
Description
East Crater is a shield volcano located in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Inside the crater is a seasonal lake and meadow. The crater rim is covered in red volcanic rock. There is also a small lake on the west side of the crater that is worth a stop on the way up or down.
No formal trails ascend to the crater rim, but it is a fairly easy off-trail hike. A good route to the top is to start southwest of Junction Lake on the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking towards the rim going east. There is less undergrowth in this area making the ascent easier. Some of these slopes were scorched by a lightning-caused fire in 2017.
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