Llao Rock RNA is closed. The road must be taken around the area. The road is closed in the winter. Skip this peak for 6 high points.
(Original Name was “Crater Lake Circumnavigation w/ 7 High Points"; changed 6/6/2020).
Established by Winston Mueller and Jason Hardrath in 2018 to circumnavigate one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.
Choose any starting point so long as you finish where you start and tag all 7 high points. Route involves some route finding and many epic views. The high points provide perspectives of the lake few ever see.
Llao Rock, Hillman Peak, The Watchman, Garfield Peak, Applegate Peak, Dutton Cliffs, and Cloudcap Peak are your checkpoints of the day. Use as much or little of the Crater Lake Rim Drive as suits you in your effort.
You will spend the day bouncing between 6000’ and 8000’, if you live low, it tends to become a factor towards the end of the day.
There is sometimes water (or snow) available along the route (some report at the bottom of Applegate peak), but it is a safe bet (if you are going unsupported) to carry start to finish. There are many great places to cache supplies if going self-supported.
Winston adds: "Our [original gpx] beta for downclimbing the back of the Dutton Cliff is dis-recommended."
27-29 miles depending on the line you take
~ 7500’ of vert
Good luck! Enjoy the views!
Due to the unique “choose our own adventure” style of this FKT route, a group of the first FKT holders chose to jump on a zoom call during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 to chat about their experiences and advice for future attempts over beers. There are nuggets of beta and entertaining stories throughout, enjoy that here:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNQ-ILPbDEs
Audio: https://bit.ly/3dkT7DM
- Submitted by Jason Hardrath
Comments
Here is a more current route write up for the Crater Lake Rim High Route:
Started at 7am with adventure bud @joohm counter clockwise from cloud cap. Beta was solid. Shoes were indeed super full of pumice sand within minutes. Hillman was just as steep as it looked - from where we gave up. Tempted to stop for a swim at cleetwood. If we’d known that the hill after Garfield we going to be that steep would have bailed and swam back. Chicken wing cravings diverted us from the official route. Found a friendly mini van driver to get us back. Two beers in it still feels like the right decision. Great day.
So I feel like there should explanation for why the entire field is flagged...
None of us knew about the Llao Rock seasonal closure, which sounds like it has been in place for several years (before the route was created). There is evidence online that the area used to be posted (in 2014-2016), but that is no longer the case. I was advised of the closure after my run on 10/19/24 while I was still in the Park so I drove back and scoured the perimeter of the area-- there are no signs, nothing on the park maps that are distributed, nothing posted on the park entrance, nothing on the main website (or even on the alerts/current conditions/closure page)-- basically no public notice that I could find that this closure is still in effect.
But yes, apparently the closure is still intended to exist and can be found here:
https://www.nps.gov/crla/learn/management/superintendent-s-compendium.h…
"The Llao Rock Research Natural Area (RNA) is closed to public entry whenever the area is covered by less than one continuous foot of snow. The Llao Rock RNA is located along the northwest caldera rim and encompasses 435 acres.
Justification: Prior to the last decade, Llao Rock received minimal recreational use. However, it has recently become increasingly popular and has even been mentioned in several media sources as a hiking destination. The Llao Rock RNA was designated in 1994 to protect rare plant species and preserve Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) communities, subalpine pumice and ash fields, and an alpine community mosaic. The increased visitor use has led to damage to sensitive resources which the RNA was designated to preserve and protect. The seasonal closure will ensure that these fragile resources are given the appropriate level of protection and further damage is limited. It will also allow for restoration of areas currently impacted by hiking activity."
FKT has now updated this page to provide notice of the closure and the need to reroute.
Technically somebody could still tackle all 7 high points in the winter, which would be pretty epic! And maybe one day, they'll remove the closure altogether.