Paulina Lake

The caldera that holds Paulina Lake collapsed after more than 500,000 years of volcanic activity — and the lake that settled into it has never quite stopped moving. Fed by snowmelt, rainfall, and hot springs along its northeast edge, Paulina Lake covers 1,531 acres and drops to 250 feet at its deepest point. Its only outlet, Paulina Creek, drains westward through a gorge it carved in the caldera's west wall. No inlet streams. Just what falls from the sky, rises from the earth, and flows out the one narrow cut.