Shortly after passing through the Annie Spring Entrance Station you will encounter Mazama Village. Mazama Village is one of two areas in the park where services are provided. The only major campground in the park is located here (198-site Mazama Village Campground). Lodging is also available at the 40-unit Mazama Village Motor Inn. The Mazama Village Store has convenience store items, a coin-operated laundry and showers, firewood, and unleaded gasoline.

Visitor Services (summer only)

• Mazama Village Campground
• Mazama Village Motor Inn
• Mazama Village Store

The primary visitor service in this section of the park is the William G. Steel Information Center (open year-round). Information, backcountry permits, exhibits, maps and publication sales, an audio-visual program, and first aid can be obtained at the center. The other developments in Munson Valley are for park support personnel.

If you approach Munson Valley from the north (accessible only from late June to October), the easterly portion of the Rim Drive is a left-hand turn just past the Steel Information Center. Continuing straight ahead (south) takes you to Mazama and the Annie Spring Entrance Station. If you approach Munson Valley from the south, you encounter the junction with the Rim Drive. Proceeding north-west, you begin the clock-wise portion of the Rim Drive, and access to the Rim Village. Turning east takes you around Crater Lake in a counter-clockwise direction and is the quickest route to The Pinnacles section of the park.

A short distance (east) of this road junction on the Rim Drive is the delightful Castle Crest Wildflower Trail. While this is a short .4-mile loop trail, the tread is uneven and is not suitable for wheelchairs. When flowers are in bloom the profusion of colors is spectacular. The trail passes from forest, to wet meadows, crosses a tributary of Munson Creek, and finally passes a small dry slope exposing the visitor to a wide assortment of Northwest wildflowers.

Visitor Services

• Steel Information Center

The hub of development at Crater Lake National Park is concentrated in Rim Village. The historic Crater Lake Lodge (extensively remodeled in 1995 after a 6-year closure), Sinnott Memorial Overlook, Rim Village Visitor Center, and Gift Shop/Cafeteria are all located at Rim Village.

The views of Crater Lake from the Rim are certainly the highlight of Rim Village. A path follows along the Rim from Discovery Point to Crater Lake Lodge (2.6 miles round-trip). An extension of this trail proceeds from Crater Lake Lodge to the top of Garfield Peak (3.4 miles round-trip). Walking a portion of any of these trails affords the visitor views of Wizard Island, The Watchman, Hillman Peak, Mt. Thielsen (located outside of the park to the north), Cleetwood Cove (located at the base of the North Rim, nearly 6 miles distance), Mt. Scott, and Garfield Peak. A short walk to Sinnott Memorial, with a small museum and ranger-talks during the summer, gives a spectacular view 900 feet down to the lake's surface. Information may be obtained and books may be purchased at the Rim Village Visitor Center, with daily ranger talks during the summer meeting at the flagpole.

Crater Lake Lodge

Winter lasts for eight months at Crater Lake National Park. At an elevation of 7,100 feet, snow lingers long into the "summer". While access to the Rim Village is open year-round, most of the facilities are buried under the 533 inches of snow Crater Lake receives each year (on average). The Rim Village Gift Store/Cafeteria are the only services open in winter. Ranger-led snowshoe walks are offered on weekends and holidays.

Visitor Services in the summer

• Rim Village Visitor Center
• Sinnott Memorial Overlook
• Rim Village Picnic Area
• Crater Lake Lodge
• Rim Village Gift Shop/Cafeteria (open year-round)

The 33-mile Rim Drive encircles Crater Lake, with each mile giving a very different perspective of the lake, rim, and surrounding terrain. Open only during the summer from late June to mid-October, there are numerous overlooks, many with interpretive signs. The only access to the lake itself is via a steep trail to Cleetwood Cove, where boat tours of the lake are offered. Numerous picnic areas can be found along the Rim Drive, as well as hiking access to Garfield Peak (from Rim Village), Lightning Springs (west side), Cleetwood Cove (north side), Mount Scott (east side), Sun Notch Viewpoint and Crater Peak (south side). Both Kerr Notch and Sun Notch Viewpoints are particularly spectacular viewpoints, with views down to Phantom Rock and across the lake to Wizard Island. To protect the fragile meadows, please stay on the established trails!

Spring Opening of the Rim Drive

If you visit the park during spring, you will find Rim Drive still closed. It closes each year in mid-October due to the heavy winter snows. "Spring Opening", or the clearing of snow from Rim Drive around the lake before summer, usually begins in mid-April. During the first phase of this operation, our road crews clear 15 miles of roadway along the west side of Crater Lake reaching the park's north entrance by mid-June. The second phase completes the opening of Rim Drive all around Crater Lake by early July. If left to melt out naturally, many sections of Rim Drive might remain closed until the end of July or early August!

The work involves several hazards for our staff. In most places the road is covered by more than 20 feet of snow. Drifts as high as 60 feet must be cleared from the road behind Watchman Peak. Rim Drive is located aside sheer cliffs that drop off hundreds of feet. Snow completely obscures the roadway, and the edges of the cliffs are not always evident. Obstacles such as large trees and boulders fall on the road during winter and are hidden with the snow drifts. Sensors are used to pinpoint a wire buried in the center of the road in areas where the route is not apparent under the snow. Large bull-dozers called Cats push snow away from the route until the road has only about 5 feet of snow above it. When the Cats are through, large snowblowers remove the remaining snow down to the road surface. Clearing 1/4 mile of Rim Drive per day is considered a fast rate. Only a few hundred feet of roadway are cleared on many days. Major winter storms with high winds and heavy snows continue to strike the park through May, often delaying road clearing progress for several days.

It is our desire to make the park roads accessible to visitors for the longest season possible, but we are limited to the park's severe winters and the hazards of clearing snow from Rim Drive. We can't rush the "Spring Opening" operation and jeopardize the safety of our staff. Although you may be inconvenienced by the length it takes for us to reopen Rim Drive every spring, we hope you can understand the impact of winter on the park, and appreciate the efforts and bravery of our hardworking road crew.

The Pinnacles can be reached in the summer from the Rim Drive on a paved, 6-mile road. These eerie spires of eroded ash, rise from the edges of Sand and Wheeler Creeks in pinnacle-fashion. Once upon a time, the road continued east of the turn-out, to the former East Entrance of the park. A path now replaces the old road and follows the rim of Sand Creek (and more views of pinnacles) to where the entrance arch still stands.

Along the drive to The Pinnacles is the 16-site, tents only, Lost Creek Campground. An alternate route back to the Rim Drive, is to take the Grayback Road (one-way, westbound only, gravel).

Please note: Hours of operation vary seasonally.
See Park newspaper (Reflections), available at entrances, for current times.