The history of Crater Lake National Park can be traced at least as far back as 7,700 years, when archaeologists discovered evidence of sandals and other artifacts buried beneath the ash, dust, and pumice from Mount Mazama’s eruption.

The blue water of Crater Lake as seen from one of the many view areas along Rim Drive, Crater Lake National Park / Rebecca Latson

While Crater Lake inspires awe and wonder in the modern-day visitor, it was even more so for the Native American population, who considered the area a holy place that would bring death to anybody who looked upon it. Thus, Europeans didn’t know of Crater Lake until 1853, when young John Wesley Hillman, barely into his twenties and fresh from a successful trip to find gold in California, financed a prospecting expedition that led them to this circular lake in Oregon. Lack of gold and fear of the unknwn Oregon territory prevented confirmation of this story about a great blue lake. It wasn’t until 1862, when an article penned by another prospector for the Oregon Sentinel, described this "Blue Lake" to the greater public. In 1885, the push to make this lake into a public park was initiated by William Gladstone Steele. Seventeen years later, Crater Lake National Park was established in 1902.

In addition to Crater Lake’s overall history, there is cultural history to be learned. Cultural history? is the history of a particular time or place. Every building, every path, even the road around the lake, has its own attached cultural history.

Rim Drive Cultural History

We may take this paved road and its view areas for granted, but stop to contemplate the design, engineering, and construction of Rim Drive and you'll realize a great deal of planning occurred to bring the road to its fruition.

According to the National Park Service:

Rim Drive is located in Crater Lake National Park in southwestern Oregon. Built by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) and the National Park Service (NPS) with federal work relief funding in the 1930s, the 31.6 mile Rim Drive Historic District and its associated 4.9 miles of hiking trails are at the center of the park’s vehicular and pedestrian circulation system during the busy summer season.

The road is circuitous, aligned around the lake starting from the junction at Rim Village and traversing clockwise to Park Headquarters in Munson Valley. Designed to highlight the natural beauty of the lake, Rim Drive was sited to avoid impinging on the splendor of the setting, the rugged surroundings shaped by the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Mazama, which occurred more than 7,700 years ago. Constructed to primarily provide vehicular access to scenic features, the road provides numerous observation stations, substations, and parking areas with views and constructed vistas of Crater Lake, its geological formations, and surrounding environs.

The approximately 250-acre historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 and is significant for its association with the history and development of Crater Lake National Park. Rim Drive is also significant for its association with landscape architects and engineers who produced an outstanding example of blending naturalistic and functional design elements.

The Rim Drive Historic District can be divided into five segments, corresponding to the chronological order that the road was constructed. The stopping places along each segment were designed to provide information and highlight natural features that were visible from each location. The observation stations were intended as formal stops on a ranger-led caravan of vehicles, and the subsations were intended as stops that motorists could make on their own. The design also included parking areas, where motorists might stop to enjoy the view, although these locations did not offer the optimal illustrations of geological processes and natural features. 

The linear designed landscape also encompasses slope treatments, cuts, fills, planting beds, as well as road-related structures such as retaining walls, culverts, spillways and curbing.

The Watchman Cultural Landscape

One of the most popular view areas in the park is the Watchman Overlook, built next to one of the most popular trails in the park leading park visitors up to the Watchman Observation Station and amazing views of the lake and landscape seen from the summit of Watchman Peak, 8,025 feet (2,446 m) above sea level.

The view of the lake and Rim Drive from the Watchman Observation Station on the summit of Watchman Peak, Crater Lake National Park / Rebecca Latson

According to the National Park Service:

A simple trail was aligned in 1916 up Watchman Peak. By the following year, a simple United States Forest Service cupola-styled fire tower was added, for both educational and fire watch purposes. The observation station was designed and constructed as part of the 1920s Crater Lake Master Plan. Organized interpretive and educational activities on Watchman Peak began during the summer of 1926. 

The Watchman Observation Station and Watchman Trail are significant for their NPS rustic and naturalistic landscape style of construction. This landscape is also recognized for its association with early park master planning. The trail and structure remain outstanding examples of park engineering and landscape architecture design efforts to blend constructed features seamlessly into their surrounding contexts.

The Watchman Observation Station was designed by Francis Lange and constructed between 1931 and 1933. The project was made possible by government emergency public works funding, through the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) and Public Works Administration (PWA).The building incorporated indigenous materials to blend in with its surroundings. Specific aspects of the style included use of native materials, simplicity in design, avoidance of overly perfect construction lines, use of exterior colors such as brown and gray to blend with the setting, and a general look as if the structure was built by pioneer craftsmen. As a fire lookout, the Watchman Observation Station was part of a network of fire lookouts located inside Crater Lake’s boundaries and outside—on U.S. Forest Service lands and elsewhere. As an interpretive site for park visitors, the building housed a museum on the first story and a viewing platform on the second. 

The trail is just under one mile long, providing access for park visitors and rangers from the Watchman overlook parking lot (7600 feet above sea level) to the Watchman Observation Station at the summit (8013 feet above sea level). The trail follows its historic route that begins at the base of Watchman Peak, follows the original alignment of the old Rim Road for approximately 300 yards, then climbs a series of switchbacks up the steep slope of the peak to the observation station at the top.

The Watchman is an outstanding example of park design efforts to blend a trail and structure seamlessly into their surroundings. 

For more stories about Crater Lake history, including Rim Village and Castle Crest Wildflower Trail cultural landscape histories, click here.