Crater Lake National Park, OR
About 400,000 years ago, Mount Mazama started its life like any other volcanic mountain. Over many, many years, a time frame too vast for the human mind to comprehend, the mountain grew to a height reaching about 11,000 ft. (3,400 m). Then around 5700 BC, the mountain collapsed into itself in a great volcanic eruption which created the mountain caldera we see today.