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37-547: Rim Drive is a scenic highway in Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon , United States. It is a 33-mile (53 km) loop that follows the caldera rim around Crater Lake . Due to its unique engineering and the surrounding park landscape, the drive was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Crater Lake lies inside a caldera created 7,700 years ago when

74-522: A 100-foot (30 m) cascade. Vidae Falls has a picnic area and a trailhead to a cinder cone called Crater Peak. The final two miles (3 km) of Rim Drive passes by the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden. The half mile long Castle Crest Nature Trail takes visitor through a wetland wildflower meadow. The wildflower display is at its peak in July and August. Rim Drive terminates a half mile from

111-508: A great impression on Steel. As a result, when he returned from the survey expedition, he began advocating that Crater Lake be established as a national park . On 22 May 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the bill making Crater Lake the Nation's sixth national park. The United States Department of the Interior was charged with developing road access and visitor services for the park. This

148-532: A mix of transportation types, including road, waterway, rail, bicycle or on foot. In Europe and other countries around the world, they are often marked with brown tourist signs with the individual route symbol or name, or both. In the United States, a scenic route may also refer to a type of special route of the U.S. highway system that travels through a particularly beautiful area. These special routes, which boast "Scenic" banners are typically longer than

185-469: A sheltered viewpoint built into the caldera cliff 900 feet above Crater Lake in southern Oregon , United States . It is located near the Rim Village Visitor Center in Crater Lake National Park . The structure includes a small natural history museum with exhibits that highlight the geologic history of Mount Mazama and the formation of Crater Lake. The building was officially dedicated as

222-399: A video program that shows how Mount Mazama was created, how the mountain collapsed, and how the lake formed. The Sinnott Memorial Observation Station is built on Victor Rock, an outcropping on the cliff face of Crater Lake's caldera wall, approximately 50 feet below the crest. The structure was the first in the park to use log and stone masonry construction. The structure's rustic style set

259-449: A visitor or tourist with a better insight on that theme. Being popular in Europe, they can cover anything from an individual city, a wine growing region, Dutch tulip fields, Swiss Mountains, to Norwegian Fjords. Subjects can be architectural, historical, or cultural. Examples of theme routes: Sinnott Memorial Observation Station The Sinnott Memorial Observation Station is

296-655: Is the last observation point on the Rim Drive loop with a view of the lake. After leaving Kerr Notch the road cuts across the east face of Dutton Ridge offering a view of the Klamath Basin from near the East Rim Summit. Rim Drive then descends to the Sun Notch trailhead where visitors can hike to another viewpoint overlooking the lake. Rim Drive continues along the outer edge of Sun Meadow to a parking area in front of Vidae Falls,

333-425: Is the trailhead for the only hiking trail down into the crater. The National Park Service maintains a marina for boat tours at Cleetwood Cove. Beyond Cleetwood Cove, on East Rim Drive there are a series of seven turnout-parking vista points. These turnouts retain almost all of their original stone masonry and have views of Crater Lake. The first of these view points is located above Grotto Cove, about halfway around

370-769: The Blue Ridge Parkway are built especially for tourism purposes. Others may be roadways enjoyed by local citizens in areas of unique or exceptional natural beauty, such as the Lake District . Still others, such as the Lincoln Highway in Illinois are former main roads, only designated as "scenic" after most traffic bypasses them (termed scenic highway in the United States). Some tourist routes, such as Great West Way , can be described as ' multi-modal ', able to be followed by

407-598: The Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service with help from the Civilian Conservation Corps . The new road was designed to be 18 feet (5.5 m) wide with 3-foot (0.91 m) shoulders. The new route was surveyed and graded in 1931 and 1932. The road foundation was built up during the following two years. In 1935, the initial paving was completed, and the old roadbed that was not covered by

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444-464: The National Park Service assumed responsibility for maintaining the new loop road known as Rim Road . The roadway was only 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and had other serious limitations including sections of road with grades as steep as ten percent. As a result, a major upgrade was needed soon after the original road was completed. The current Rim Drive is a 33-mile (53 km) loop built by

481-532: The National Park System built for recreational driving through scenic or historic areas. Unlike most scenic routes, National Parkways are built with a buffer of park land along both sides of the roadway. They also may have large satellite parks or recreation areas built periodically along their length. Most National Historic Trails are commemorative motor routes which follow historic pathways. Theme routes are special theme-based tours, aimed at providing

518-689: The National Register of Historic Places as Sinnott Memorial Building No. 67 . The Sinnott Memorial was funded by a $ 10,000 appropriation from the United States Congress . It was intended to honor Nicholas J. Sinnott who represented eastern Oregon in the United States House of Representatives from 1913 to 1928. As chairman of the House Public Lands Committee, Sinnott had actively supported Crater Lake National Park. He died in 1929 shortly after retiring from Congress. While

555-592: The Nicholas J. Sinnott Memorial Observation Station and Museum ; however, it is commonly known as the Sinnott Memorial Overlook or Sinnott Viewing Area . It is architecturally significant because it was the first National Park Service building constructed specifically as a museum and the first structure built in Crater Lake National Park using rustic stone masonry construction. It is listed on

592-660: The Rim Village visitor area which is also a historic district. The Sinnott Memorial overlook is located in Rim Village. Leaving Rim Village, the speed limit is reduced to 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). Visitors reach the Discovery Point viewing area in just over one mile (1.6 km). From there, it is five miles (8 km) to the junction with the North Entrance Road . Between these two way points visitors pass over

629-502: The "parent route". There is only one route in the country that remains with the official scenic designation: U.S. Route 40 Scenic in Maryland . Scenic byways in the United States , also include state, National Scenic Byway , National Forest Scenic Byways and Bureau of Land Management Back Country Byways programs which designate roads or routes as scenic byways due to some unique characteristics. National Parkways are scenic roads in

666-538: The 12,000-foot (3,700 m) high Mount Mazama collapsed following a large volcanic eruption . Over the following millennia the caldera filled with rain water forming today's lake. In 1886, William Gladstone Steel accompanied a United States Geological Survey party led by Captain Clarence Dutton to survey Crater Lake. During the visit, Steel named many of the lake's landmarks including Wizard Island , Llao Rock, and Skell Head. The lake's natural beauty made

703-501: The 7,350 feet (2,240 m) West Rim Summit. The section of Rim Drive between Rim Village and the North Entrance Road is known as West Rim Drive . This part of the road is used heavily during the summer because it is the direct route between the park's north and south entrances and passes by the Rim Village visitor area and the park headquarters at Munson Valley. It also offers classic views of Crater Lake and Wizard Island along

740-594: The Castle Crest parking area, at the Munson Valley Road junction near the park headquarters and visitor center. Rim Drive has two access points. The south access begins at the park headquarters in the Munson Valley Historic District sixty miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon . The road to Munson Valley is open year-around. However, snowfall in the park is heavy and winter storms make driving in

777-606: The Crater Lake area unpredictable. The park's north entrance is nine miles (14 km) north of the Rim Drive junction across an area known as the Pumice Desert . From the north entrance, it is 119-mile (192 km) to Bend, Oregon . The North Entrance Road is closed in the fall and does not re-open until the following summer. In the Crater Lake area, winter lasts eight months with an average snowfall of 533 inches (1,354 cm) per year, and many snow banks remain well into

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814-485: The Sinnott Memorial was to serve as an observation point, Congress also intended the building to be a museum. In fact, it was the first museum building constructed in a national park at the specific direction of Congress. The structure was designed by landscape architect Merel S. Sager, a pioneer of the rustic style of park architecture. To ensure a spectacular view, Sager chose a site on Victor Rock, 900 feet above

851-504: The architectural standard for future buildings constructed at Crater Lake National Park. To get to the Sinnott building, visitors follow a short, stairstep trail from Rim Village to the entrance. The entrance door opens to a 40 foot by 40 foot observation room. On the north side of the room, an open-air balcony offers visitors a spectacular view to the lake. The balcony is covered by a cantilever log roof. The museum exhibits are located in

888-427: The center of the observation room and around the walls. The exhibits highlight the geologic history of Mount Mazama and the formation of Crater Lake. There is also a hidden 12 by 14 foot workroom adjacent to the museum space. A door on the east side of the room leads to the exit stairs which is hidden from view by a stone wall. The building is constructed of heavy, native stone and concrete with log beams supporting

925-409: The lake from Rim Village. The next viewing area is Skell Head, about a half mile from Grotto Cove. The next five vista points are spread over the approximately seven miles. These stops are Cloudcap, Cottage Rocks, Sentinel Point, Reflection Point, and Kerr Notch. Each site has views of the lake and surrounding landscape include Mount Scott . Kerr Notch, located 21 miles (34 km) from Rim Village,

962-419: The lake. Construction of the observation station began in the fall of 1930. During construction, Sager spent hours in a rowboat on the lake, ensuring the building blended perfectly into the caldera cliff. As a result, the building provides a spectacular view of Crater Lake and surrounding caldera and mountains, but is virtually invisible from the lake below. The building was finished the following summer. It

999-528: The natural environment. This was successfully accomplished. The road is built with gentle curves and there are no switchbacks despite the rugged terrain. Rustic stone guardrails were constructed along curves, at drainages, and at most of the Rim Drive viewpoints. While the observation points and turnouts provide views of the lake, the road itself cannot be seen from most of the observation points. Because of its unique history, engineering, stone masonry, associated hiking trails, and vistas of Crater Lake, Rim Drive

1036-409: The new road was dug up and the landscape restored. Lane striping was added in 1938. Work on the road drainage, stone masonry guardrails, and observation points continued until 1941. Despite the difficult topography the entire project was completed for two million dollars, a significant engineering accomplishment. One of the main goals of the Rim Drive construction project was to blend the road into

1073-409: The northern end of Munson Valley, three miles (5 km) south of the rim, as the best site for the road crew's seasonal headquarters and supply depot. Not only was Munson Valley a central location, the surrounding area provided timber for constructing support facilities. However, World War I slowed down road construction. The road around the lake was finally finished in 1919. In July of that year,

1110-592: The road under the accumulated snow. During the summer, the National Park Service charges a $ 30 fee for private passenger vehicles entering the park. In non summer months the fee is $ 15 for private passenger vehicles. Commercial vehicles are charged between $ 25 and $ 200 depending on the vehicle's capacity. Scenic highway A tourist highway or holiday route is a road that is marketed as being particularly suited for tourists . Tourist highways may be formed when existing roads are promoted with traffic signs and advertising material. Some tourist highways such as

1147-488: The road. Short trails from parking areas lead to the other four observation points ( Sinnott Memorial , Discovery Point, Watchman Lookout , and Merriam Point). In addition to the main viewing areas, there are 15 turnout vista points along the road. Heading northwest from the Crater Lake National Park headquarters in the Munson Valley Historic District , it is three miles (5 km) to Crater Lake rim and

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1184-445: The roof. The structure's footprint is somewhat irregular because the building was designed to merge the cliff. The stone walls are load-bearing with rough rock exposed on the outer walls to blend with the surrounding landscape. In the 1930s, the building's roof was re-built with asphalt and lead flashing to stop leaking. In 1961, flagstone paving was added to the interior floor and the exterior entry patio area. The entire structure

1221-409: The summer. While the park headquarters and visitor center at Munson Valley and the Rim Village cafeteria are open year-around, Rim Drive is only open during the summer due to the heavy snowfall. In most places, the road is covered by more than 20 feet (6.1 m) of snow with drifts as deep as 60 feet (18 m) in some areas. Sensors buried in the roadway help snow removal crews locate the center of

1258-492: The way. Continuing north on Rim Drive past the North Entrance Road junction, visitors traverse the back side of Llao Rock. This is the beginning of East Rim Drive . The next turnout for viewing the lake is approximately two miles beyond the North Entrance Road junction. Viewpoints along East Rim Drive are generally not crowded except at the Cleetwood Cove parking area which is at the north end of Crater Lake. Cleetwood Cove

1295-460: Was a difficult job because of the park's remote location at the summit of the Cascade Mountains . By 1905, a "steep and tortuous" road to the crater rim had been completed. This access road was essential for the future development of the park. In 1913, Congress appropriated funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a road around Crater Lake. The initial road survey identified

1332-571: Was dedicated on July 16, 1931. Horace M. Albright , the director of the National Park Service, attended the dedication ceremony along with William Gladstone Steel and many other dignitaries. Once it was open, the public quickly made it one of Crater Lake's most popular viewing areas. Prior to the park's centennial in 2003, the Sinnott Memorial Building was completely renovated and the museum exhibits updated. The new exhibits cost $ 425,000, and include easy-to-understand displays with

1369-796: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 30 January 2008. In addition, the American Automobile Association has named Rim Drive as one of the "ten most beautiful roads in the United States". Rim Drive is located high in the Cascade Mountains. At its lowest point, Rim Drive is 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level. The road reaches almost 7,900 feet (2,400 m) at its highest point on top of Cloudcap. Rim Drive has eight main viewing areas with roadside parking. Four of these observation points (Pumice Point, Skell Head, Cloudcap, and Kerr Notch) are located just off

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