Crater Lake National Park, Oreg.

An early survey for Crater Lake’s iconic Rim Drive.

Crater Lake National Park was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902 – the nation’s fifth and Oregon’s first (and only) National Park. Despite its pristine natural beauty, the region remained remote and mostly inaccessible until significant improvements were made to the local road network. It wasn’t until 1905 that the first ‘torturous’ road was cut to the crater’s rim! This description of such early efforts was issued in 1913 by the U.S. War Department as part of a Congressional report.

It outlines an Army Corps of Engineers survey performed two years prior in which the feasibility of constructing a road around Crater Lake was explored. The text outlines the difficulty of accessing the park, short working season, estimated costs ($20,000/annually for maintenance!), and other troublesome aspects of the project. Two fold-out sheets are included, both prepared under the direction of Major Jay Morrow of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The map (13.75″ x 18.75″) presents a topographic overview of the park, noting the location of proposed roads with dotted lines and mile markers. An elevation profile (28.5″ x 12.5″) highlights the drastic changes in height as the route circles Crater Lake.

The enclosed recommendation of completing the work before the 1915 San Francisco Exposition (“a visit to this park will be one of the favorite site trips”) was left unfulfilled. The first iteration of the scenic 33-mile Rim Road was ultimately completed in 1919, though motor tourists still had to navigate the steep path – only 12 ft. wide at the time!