A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater or caldera, such as a maar; less commonly and with lower association to the term a lake may form in an impact crater caused by a meteorite, or in an artificial explosion caused by humans. Sometimes lakes which form inside calderas are called caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not made. Crater lakes covering active (fumarolic) volcanic vents are sometimes known as volcanic lakes, and the water within them is often acidic, saturated with volcanic gases, and cloudy with a strong greenish color. Lakes located in dormant or extinct volcanoes tend to have fresh water, and the water clarity in such lakes can be exceptional due to the lack of inflowing streams and sediment.

Lava lakes, a rare phenomenon where a volcanic crater can sustainably contain a significant volume of molten lava, are discussed in a separate article.

Crater lakes form as precipitation within the rim fills the created depression. The water level rises until an equilibrium is reached between the rate of incoming and outgoing water. Sources of water loss singly or together, may include evaporation, subsurface seepage, and in places, surface leakage or overflow when the lake level reaches the lowest point on its rim. At such a saddle location, the upper portion of the lake is contained only by its adjacent natural volcanic dam; continued leakage through or surface outflow across the dam can erode its included material, thus lowering lake level until a new equilibrium of water flow, erosion and rock resistance is established. If the volcanic dam portion erodes rapidly or fails catastrophically, the occurrence produces a breakout or outburst flood. With changes in environmental conditions over time, the occurrence of such floods is common to all natural dam types.

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m) deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years.

On June 12, 1853, John Wesley Hillman was reportedly the first person of European descent to see what he named "Deep Blue Lake" in Oregon. The lake was renamed at least three times, as Blue Lake, Lake Majesty, and finally Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is known for the "Old Man of the Lake", a full-sized tree which is now a stump that has been bobbing vertically in the lake for more than a century. The low temperature of the water has slowed the decomposition of the wood, hence the longevity of the bobbing tree.

Yawning Man is an American experimental rock band from La Quinta, California. The band originally formed in 1986, although they released no studio recordings until 2005. They have been noted to be one of the first influential bands in the desert rock scene.

Yawning Man was born in 1986, originally founded by members Gary Arce, Alfredo Hernández, Mario Lalli, and Larry Lalli. At this time, the band started to play marathon jams from the garage to the desert. The word spread of these 'generator parties', and all kinds of people would show up. Their music heavily influenced the likes of John Garcia, Josh Homme, and Brant Bjork to name only a few; who would later form the legendary stoner rock band Kyuss. When Hernandez played in Kyuss on their last album '...And the Circus Leaves Town' they even recorded a cover of Yawning Man's song "Catamaran".

During this time, 30-40 songs were recorded on 2 different demos but no official Yawning Man material was ever released until 2005.Yawning Man's music began to mutate into strange loops with an almost dark / freeform jazz punk sound, and the name of the band just didn't fit the music anymore. The band changed to The Sort of Quartet.