We recently visited Crater Lake and had to stop in to see the haunted Crater Lake Lodge built on the very edge of the crater rim. As I was researching the lodge I ran across countless mysterious and spooky stories that occurred in or around Crater Lake National Park. I was fascinated and was in research mode for weeks! Some stories are fact, some have been embellished over time, and some… you’ll just have to decide for yourself.

Spooky Stories List:

1. Crater Lake’s Origin Story
2. Ghostly Campfires
3. The TRUTH about the Lost Gold Mine (John Hillman and Isaac Skeeters)
4. Old Man in the Lake
5. Haunted Crater Lake Lodge
6. Crater Lake Monster
7. Bigfoot Sightings
8. UFO Sightings
9. Accidental Deaths
10. 1933 Auto Crash into the Lake (Doris Sparks and Andrea Mardelle)
11. Plane Crashes
12. Sudden & Public Suicides (Mr. Cornelius and Brian Thomas)
13. 1952 Unsolved Crater Lake Murders (Charles Culhane and Albert Jones)
14. Mysterious Disappearances (Charles McCullar, Glenn Allen Mackie, Sammy Boehlke, Cameron Blake Parnell)
15. Miraculous Survival

FOIA Update:

The FBI FOIA request I made came back denied, because… Glenn Allen Mackie is still considered a missing person. That MUST mean that the remains found in 2007 were NOT Glenn Mackie. I searched the Doe Network and NAMUS for the John Doe but it’s not listed – meaning that the remains were likely matched to someone else.

Article Clippings:

Valuable Crater Lake Resources:

Searchable Text of the Smith Brothers’ Chronological History of Crater Lake

Crater Lake UFO Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii0w9Z-Z-M4

Oregon UFO Chase FAA Recordings:  https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18473/faa-recordings-deepen-mystery-surrounding-ufo-over-oregon-that-sent-f-15s-scrambling

Haunted Crater Lake Book Sources:

News Sources:

• https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/oregon/sinister-story-crater-lake-or/
• https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2009/10/more-few-ghost-stories-swirl-about-crater-lake-national-park4821
• https://www.gildshire.com/paranormal-mysteries-crater-lake/
• https://coffeehousewriters.com/oregons-crater-lake-mysteries/
• http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/smith-chronological-history-of-crater-lake/sources-and-articles-of-interest/ghost-and-goblin-park/
• https://liveandlearnjourney.com/the-mysteries-of-crater-lake/
• https://www.ranker.com/list/crater-lake-creepy-stories/christopher-shultz
• https://weekinweird.com/2013/03/14/creepy-crater-lake-legends-lost-gold-history-mystery/
• http://offbeatoregon.com/1309e-skeletons-of-crater-lake.html
• https://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/crater-lake-new-archives/2002-2/2002-10/
• https://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/crater-lake-new-archives/2002-2/2002-02-4/
• https://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/smith-chronological-history-of-crater-lake/the-history-from-1900-to-1949/smith-history-98/?hilite=plane+crash
• https://wreckchasing.websitetoolbox.com/post/f6f-crash-in-crater-lake-national-park-4017937
• http://www.georgewright.org/07brock.pdf
• http://larryeifert.com/craterlakefoundation.org/cultural-history/smith-brothers/b-aircraft.htm
• https://www.mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com/story/2013/10/07/history/skeletons-of-crater-lake-national-park/1457.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Hillman
• https://www.ijpr.org/show/as-it-was/2013-10-15/historians-track-crater-lakes-mysterious-side
• https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/12/myth-mysteries-and-monsters-at-oregons-cursed-crater-lake/
• http://npshistory.com/morningreport/incidents/crla.htm
• https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16079/airliners-and-f-15s-involved-in-bizzare-encounter-with-mystery-aircraft-over-oregon
• https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a34840416/crater-lake-murders-julian-smith/