Crater Lake Lodge

A historic lodge perched on the rim of Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park, originally opened in 1915. Rebuilt and reopened in 1995 after extensive restoration.

Perched on the rim of a volcanic caldera nearly a thousand feet above the deepest lake in the United States, Crater Lake Lodge has a turbulent history that mirrors the geological violence of its setting. Construction began in 1909 after Portland developer Alfred Parkhurst was convinced by park advocate William Gladstone Steel to build a lodge at the rim. The project, designed by R.N. Hockenberry and Company, was plagued from the start. Building materials had to be hauled over primitive park roads during a construction season limited to just three summer months, with average annual snowfall of 533 inches burying the site for eight months of each year. When the lodge finally opened on July 16, 1915, it was a far cry from luxurious: the exterior was covered in tar paper, interior walls were finished with thin beaver board, there were no private bathrooms, and the only electricity came from a small generator. The roof leaked from day one and the foundation, built on uneven volcanic rock, was unstable.

The lodge deteriorated for decades. By the 1940s structural dilapidation was outpacing repairs, and in the 1950s supplemental columns had to be placed under sagging ceiling beams while steel cables were installed to keep the walls from spreading apart. In spring 1989, structural engineers declared the risk of continued operation unacceptable, and the lodge was closed and condemned. A massive fifteen-million-dollar rehabilitation began in 1991. The Great Hall was carefully dismantled, the rest of the building was gutted and rebuilt with a modern steel support structure, and the lodge finally reopened on May 20, 1995. Rim Village, including the lodge, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Guests and employees have reported four distinct entities haunting the lodge. The most frequently seen is a man in old work clothes who appears near the main staircase or in the hallways. Witnesses describe him as looking solid and real at first glance, but he always vanishes the moment anyone speaks to him, leading many to speculate he may be connected to the lodge's difficult and dangerous original construction. On the second and third floors, the sound of a little girl's footsteps and giggles echoes through the corridors at night, and some guests have glimpsed a child in doorways or at the end of hallways who disappears when approached. A Chinese man has been seen on or near the elevator, vanishing as soon as he is noticed. Given that Chinese laborers were commonly employed in Oregon construction projects during the early 1900s, some believe this apparition may be connected to the lodge's building phase.

In the Great Hall, a large rocking chair has become the subject of repeated staff reports. Employees swear the chair shifts position when no one is around, with the movement described as the small rocking motion of someone having just sat down. Beyond these specific manifestations, guests have reported an oppressive, menacing presence that seems to pervade certain areas of the lodge at night, causing difficulty sleeping and vivid nightmares. Park rangers have described the broader Crater Lake area as a ghost and goblin park, noting unexplained campfires on Wizard Island that leave no evidence of fire, smoke, or ash when investigated. The Klamath people have long regarded the lake as sacred ground caught between two powerful spirits, Llao of the underworld and Skell of the sky, and traditional warnings discouraged looking at the water. Crater Lake Lodge, open seasonally from mid-May through early October, welcomes visitors to its seventy-one rooms and the Great Hall with its massive native stone fireplace, where the rocking chair keeps its silent vigil overlooking the impossibly blue water below.