Crater Lake was created when an ancient volcano exploded, and the hot lava sealed the top of the volcano, leaving the crater basin.  Formed around 7,700 years ago, it is located in southern Oregon and currently has an active volcano.  It also features a “volcano within a volcano” as Thom illustrated in this plein air (the island in the lake is a small volcano).  Crater Lake is the deepest lake in North American (around 1,932 feet) and the seventh deepest in the world.  It holds over 4.6 trillion gallons of water, and experts say the last eruption of this volcano happened anywhere from 800-4000 years ago.

If you've ever traveled to the Northwest portion of the United States, you understand the shear beauty that only God is able to create. Nowhere else on earth is the drama of nature so evident than in the lush green forests surrounding the deep velvet-blue waters of Crater Lake.

— Thomas Kinkade