Munson Valley Historic District is the headquarters and main support area for Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon.

The district has eighteen contributing buildings, including the Crater Lake Superintendent's Residence which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and separately listed on the NRHP.

Crater Lake lies inside a caldera created 7,700 years ago when the 12,000-foot (3,700 m) high Mount Mazama collapsed following a large volcanic eruption.

The team carried a half-ton survey boat, the Cleetwood, up the steep mountain slope and lowered it 2,000 feet (610 m) into the lake.

During the visit, Steel named many of the lake's landmarks including Wizard Island, Llao Rock, and Skell Head.

The development program began in 1927, and was overseen by the National Park Service's Landscape Engineering Division, headed by Thomas C. Vint.

[4] Between 1927 and 1930, a park warehouse, mess hall, bear-proof meat-house, comfort station with employee restrooms and showers, four small cottages, and two utility buildings were built.

In addition, many small features such as flagstone walks, rustic signs, stone bridges, and drinking fountains were incorporated into the landscape.

Maintenance became the primary concern of the park staff, as Civilian Conservation Corps manpower disappeared with the onset of the war.

Many landscape features including curbing, planting beds, and walkways had to be removed in order to widen narrow roads to accommodate snow plows.

The traffic island near the upper group of cottages was also removed along with several utility buildings in the maintenance area to allow space for snow plows to turn around.

While most of the buildings have been remodeled, they still reflect the rustic style of architecture which is the common design theme that makes the Munson Valley headquarters complex historically unique.

These buildings all share common structural design elements that typify the park's rustic style of architecture including massive stone masonry, rough-sawn board siding, stained timber beams, dormer windows, and steep pitched roofs.

The buildings in the historic district are excellent examples of the rustic style of architecture, and represent one of the National Park Service's most successful development programs.

In the Crater Lake area, winter lasts eight months with an average snowfall of 533 inches (1,350 cm) per year,[full citation needed] and many snow banks remain well into the summer.