Rim Drive is a scenic highway in Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon, United States.

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.

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

As a result, when he returned from the survey expedition, he began advocating that Crater Lake be established as a national park.

The United States Department of the Interior was charged with developing road access and visitor services for the park.

Not only was Munson Valley a central location, the surrounding area provided timber for constructing support facilities.

The roadway was only 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and had other serious limitations including sections of road with grades as steep as ten percent.

[6][7] The current Rim Drive is a 33-mile (53 km) loop built by the Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service with help from the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Because of its unique history, engineering, stone masonry, associated hiking trails, and vistas of Crater Lake, Rim Drive was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 30 January 2008.

[1] In addition, the American Automobile Association has named Rim Drive as one of the "ten most beautiful roads in the United States".

Viewpoints along East Rim Drive are generally not crowded except at the Cleetwood Cove parking area which is at the north end of Crater Lake.

Rim Drive then descends to the Sun Notch trailhead where visitors can hike to another viewpoint overlooking the lake.

Rim Drive continues along the outer edge of Sun Meadow to a parking area in front of Vidae Falls, a 100-foot (30 m) cascade.

[6] The final two miles (3 km) of Rim Drive passes by the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden.

The half mile long Castle Crest Nature Trail takes visitor through a wetland wildflower meadow.

The south access begins at the park headquarters in the Munson Valley Historic District sixty miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon.

However, snowfall in the park is heavy and winter storms make driving in the Crater Lake area unpredictable.

[10] In the Crater Lake area, winter lasts eight months with an average snowfall of 533 inches (1,354 cm) per year, and many snow banks remain well into the summer.