CRATER LAKE National Park Cultural Landscape Recommendations: Park Headquarters at Munson Valley

CONTEXT Physiographic Castle Crest Wildflower Trail is located southeast of the Administrative plaza on the east edge of Munson Valley, at a toe slope of Castle Crest Ridge. A branch of Munson Creek begins at the north portion of the site and runs south, eventually joining the main creek tributary. Cultural and Political The Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, originally known as the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden or Nature Trail, is accessible via footpath southeast of the main entrance to the Administrative plaza. Access is also possible from Rim Drive eastbound towards Vidae Falls. This portion of Rim Drive creates the south boundary of the garden area. The property is owned and managed by the National Park Service.	Crater Lake National Park and Vicinity, USGS Map, 1956. Scale = 1:62,500
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE "In order that visitors unable, through lack of time or physical strength, to visit all parts of the park may see and enjoy as many varieties as possible of the exquisite wild flowers that abound in out-of-the-way places, wildflower gardens have been constructed in several of the national parks."(1) Visitor accessibility was the incentive behind construction of the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden east of the Administrative plaza in 1929. Chief naturalist Ansel Hall (1923-1930), of the NPS Research and Education Branch, may have directed the layout of the .4 mile loop trail and organized the presentation of interpretive information. The trail contained at least 29 interpretive stops through an area of forest, swamp, wet-meadow, and grassy slope featuring native wildflower display and an occasional glimpse of wildlife through the spring and summer seasons. Boy Scouts constructed the trail and attached aluminum identification labels to plant materials adjacent to the trail.(2) At an approximate construction cost of $160.00, the unpaved trail featured five log bridges and four rustic benches. Establishment of the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden in 1929 may have been part of an NPS interpretive program to provide accessible and educational nature trails. Other gardens developed at this time include a garden at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley and an area adjacent to the Museum and Administration building at Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. Both garden designs used transplanted materials from other areas in the parks to exhibit a "profuse" array of native flowers and to attract wildlife. In contrast, park records indicate that plant materials of the Castle Crest garden were not imported but are indigenous to the site. Trail construction and interpretive devices constitute the only design elements of the site. Research to-date suggests that the historical significance of the Castle Crest Trail is a designed landscape associated with NPS interpretive programs of the mid-1920s to mid-1930s, and the work of naturalist and forester Ansel F. Hall. Hall's NPS career (c.1920-1938) included terms as senior naturalist and chief forester, and chief of the Field Division. His vision for environmental education in national parks combined a deep feeling for youth and nature. Hall's "plans" were ready for implementation when the New Deal public works programs were formed. He brought private funds and public involvement to the parks as he developed the first museum association at Yosemite and organized Eagle Scout trips in park areas. Although further research is required to properly assess the historic contexts and significance of the Castle Crest Wildflower garden, the site possesses many of the design features and qualities from the original design. Additional field investigation is required to assess the site boundaries and the extent of historic materials present at the site. Suggested research topics include: Boy Scouts of America; history of interpretation in the National Park Service; and the history of accessible design, general and NPS.	Natural features of the Castle Crest Wildflower Trail. No scale. Park naturalist at the footpath access to the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden from the Administrative plaza, c.1930. (CRLA Park files)
PLANT LIST OF THE CASTLE CREST WILDFLOWER GARDEN Trees Abies lasiocarpa subalpine fir Abies magnifica shastensis Shasta red fir Pinus albicaulis whitebark pine Pinus contorta lodgepole pine Pinus monticola western white pine Tsuga mertensiana mountain hemlock Shrubs Arctostaphylos nevadensis pinemat Manzanita Dicentra formosa Pacific bleeding heart Eriogonum umbellatum sulfer eriogonum Gilia aggregata skyrocket gilia Haplopappus bloomeri rabbitbrush goldenweed Kalmia polifolia microphylla alpine bog kalmia Luzula glabrata smooth woodrush Pachistima myrisinites myrtle pachistima Penstemon rydbergii Rydberg's penstemon Ribes erythrocarpum Crater Lake currant Salix eastwoodiae eastwood willow Sambucus racemosa v.microbotrys Pacific red elder Sorbus sitchensis v.cascadensis Sitka mountain-ash Spirea densiflora subalpine spirea Vaccinium caespitosum dwarf blueberry Ground Covers Aconitum columbianum Columbia monkshood Agoseris aurantiaca mountain dandelion Agrostis hiemalis ticklegrass Agrostis idahoensis Idaho bentgrass Anaphalis margaritacea common pearl-everlasting Anemone occidentalis western windflower Calamagrostis canadensis bluejoint Castilleja miniata scarlet paintbrush Crytogramma acrostichoides parsley fern Deschampsia autropurpurea mountain hairgrass Dodecatheon alpinum Alpine shooting star Epilobium angustifolium fireweed Epilobium brevistylum barbey Filix fragilis brittle fern Grimmia alpestris gray-green moss Habenaria stricta green bog orchid Hackelia micrantha blue stickseed Hygrohypnum bestii moss Hypericum Scouleri Scouler's St. John's wort Juncus Parryi Parry's rush Letharia vulpina staghorn lichen Ligusticum ligulatus Grayi Gray's lovage (licorice root) Lupinus latifolius KIamath lupine Mimulus Lewisii Lewis monkeyflower Phlox diffusa spreading phlox Pogonatum alpinum haircap moss Polygonum bisfortoides American bistort Pseudoleskea altrovirens light-green moss Ranunculus Gormanii Gorman's buttercup Senecio triangularis arrowleaf groundsel Sitanion Hanseni Hansen's squirrel-tail Tofieldia occidentalis western tofieldia Trifolium longipes long-stocked clover Viola Macloskeyi small white violet Viola purpurea v.venosa mountain violet NOTES 1. Bryant, Harold C. and Wallace W. Atwood Jr., Research and Education in the National Parks. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932, 18. 2. Telephone conversation with CRLA park historian Stephen Mark based on Oral History Interview with former Boy Scout Drew Chick, September 17, 1991. REFERENCES Bryant, Harold C. and Wallace W. Atwood, Jr. Research and Education in the National Parks. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932. Crater Lake National Park. "A Trail Guide to Castle Crest", current pamphlet, n.d. Crater Lake National Park Archives. Park Naturalist Reports, July 31 - August 23, 1929. Crater Lake Oregon. Crater Lake National Park. "Castle Crest Nature Trail", pamphlet, n.d. Crater Lake National Park. "A Delightful Walk" Reflections. Summer 1982, volume 6. Greene, Linda W. Historic Resource Study, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. Denver: Denver Service Center, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1984. Hitchcock, C. Leo and Arthur Cronquist Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1973. "Much Educational Work to be Given at Crater Lake", Gold Hill News. c.1931. Report of Director of National Park Service. 1929. Sontag, William H., Ed. National Park Service: the First 75 Years. Philadelphia: Eastern National Park and Monument Association, 1990. Warfield, Ronald G. Crater Lake: the Story Behind the Scenery. Las Vegas: KC Publications, 1985. Yocom, Charles F. Shrubs of Crater Lake. San Francisco: Crater Lake Natural History Association, Pisani Printing Company, 1964. REFERENCES TO CONSULT Brockman, C. Frank. Evolution of National Park Service Interpretation. 1977. Hall, Ansel F. A Guide to Sequoia and General Grant National Parks. Berkeley: National Parks Publishing house, 1930. -----, Guide to Yosemite: A Handbook of the Trails and Roads of Yosemite Valley and the Adjacent Region. San Francisco: Sunset Publishing house, 1920. -----, Yosemite Valley: An Intimate Guide. Berkeley: National Parks Publication house, c.1929. Mackintosh, Barry. Interpretation in the National Park Service: A Historical Perspective. Washington D.C.: History Division, National Park Service, 1986. Rath, Frederick L. A Bibliography on Historical Organization Practices. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1975. Tilden, Freeman. Interpreting our Heritage: Principles and Practices for Visitor Services in Parks, Museums, and Historic Places. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1957. CONTENTS