Ranger-guided snowshoe walks at Crater Lake National Park in Crater Lake, Ore., are underway for the winter season even as the U.S. Department of the Interior has listed the park among 20 public lands people can explore this winter.
A department blog highlighted public lands that are “winter wonderlands.” Among the public lands highlighted in the blog were Crater Lake National Park, which gets a yearly average of 43 feet of snow; Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri, and Devils Tower National Monument in Devils Tower, Wyoming.
“America’s public lands offer some truly beautiful sites to visit during the winter season,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a post on Twitter.
The ranger-guided snowshoe walks at Crater Lake National Park will take place through April 30, starting 1 p.m. and lasting two hours on Saturdays, Sundays and most holidays, a Dec. 19, 2022, news release said. The walks also will be daily from March 25 through April 1. Snowshoes are free. Snowshoeing experience isn’t required.
The walks “cover 1 to 2 miles of moderate-to-strenuous terrain,” with routes varying, the release said.
“Most walks begin at Rim Village and explore the forests and meadows along the rim of the lake,” the release said. “Along the way, participants discover how winter affects Crater Lake and the park’s plants and animals.”
People can call the park’s visitor information line at 541-594-3100 for information and to reserve space on a tour. The park entrance fee is $20 per car, according to the release.
Observing and photographing wildlife along a 10-mile auto tour are among activities available at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, its website said. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the refuge Aug. 23, 1935, “as a refuge feeding and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.”
“Abundant populations of trumpeter swans, bald eagles, songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, deer, coyote, snakes and hundreds of other species utilize the wetland, forest and grassland habitats on the refuge,” the website said. “The refuge contains 7,440 acres along the eastern edge of the Missouri River floodplain.”
Devils Tower National Monument is 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, its website said. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The tower is known as “Bear Lodge.”
