This panorama of Crater Lake was taken by James Blakeway. Perched at the crest of the Cascade Mountain Range in the state of Oregon, Crater Lake National Park is one of the snowiest inhabited places in America, receiving an average of 44 feet of snow per year. Open year-round, the park protects the deepest lake in the United States, Crater Lake, known for the purest water on earth and depths up to 1,943 feet. The lake rests inside a caldera formed about 7,700 years ago, when a 12,000-foot-tall volcano collapsed following a major eruption. Today, the volcano''s outer slopes are blanketed with old-growth forests and harbour a variety plants and animals, including several rare species.