Crater Lake might have the clearest water in America, but lately only the luckiest of tourists have been able to see it.

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This popular destination, which celebrates its centennial as a national park on Aug. 25, gets so socked in with wildfire smoke that the water is often not visible from the rim.

"It’s the best lake I never saw," remarked a disappointed Diane Barcelo of Upland, Calif.

Smoke has been chasing Barcelo and other tourists away from many mountain resorts, resulting in low turnouts during what is typically the busiest time of the year.

Barcelo and her family spent a few minutes at the lake Wednesday before they decided to leave. "The smoke was so strong we could barely breathe," she said.

Dominie Lenz, general manager for Crater Lake Park Concessions, said the smoke is sporadic. In general, skies are bright blue in the morning, before afternoon winds bring on the haze.

"The smoke can completely eradicate the views of the lake," she said.

Despite the smoke, the lodge remains full, although the campgrounds have seen fewer guests and some boat tours of the lake have been canceled.

The Prospect Hotel, whose guests often frequent the lake about 30 miles away, reports business has been off 25 to 30 percent.

"One day we had one full page of cancellations," said front desk clerk Flo Wright. "We depend on the summer months to get us through the winter months. It’s a sad, sad thing."

Some guests, who had scheduled to stay four or five days, opted out after a day or two because of the inversion. "We had a lot of guests go to the lake, come back and said they couldn’t see it," said Wright.

Ken Stevenson, owner of Fish Lake Resort, said business has been down 30 percent because of the smoke, forcing a cutback in staff of 30 percent.

"We’re not seeing the transient, out-of-town traffic like we normally do," he said.

Business was already down in the spring because of cooler weather, picked up in June, then plummeted after the smoke hit in July.

Stevenson said other lakes in Southern Oregon are also seeing fewer tourists. "At Willow Lake the other day, we only saw three groups of people," he said.

The effect on tourism from the smoke is spilling over into other popular destinations.

"A lot of B&Bs in Jacksonville are having cancellations because of the smoke," said Sandi Torrey, spokeswoman for the Jacksonville Visitor’s Center. "The amount of foot traffic in town is definitely down for the last two weeks."

Torrey said she bumped into a couple from the San Francisco Bay area who abandoned plans to go to Crater Lake, then decided to go to Shasta before they found out it was smoky there as well. "They gave up and decided to head back to the Bay area," she said.

Chris Johnston, assistant general manager at Howard Prairie Lake, said the tourist industry is down in general, and his business is off about 3 percent.

But he couldn’t attribute it directly to the smoke. In fact, he has had only four families cancel because their children had asthma.

The Ashland Springs Hotel has noticed only a few cancellations and a slight downturn in walk-in business.

"It’s hardly even noticeable," said general manager Dennis Godfrey. It hasn’t affected us much at all."

The Britt Festivals report above average sales this summer, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival has had normal ticket sales.

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com