Rim Drive - Crater Lake National Park OR

City:: Crater Lake National Park, OR
Site Type:: Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Started:: 1935
Completed:: 1941

Description

“Rim Drive is a scenic highway in Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. It is a 33-mile (53 km) loop that follows the caldera rim around Crater Lake. Because of the its unique engineering and the surrounding park landscape, the drive was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008…

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. The new road was designed to be 18 feet (5.5 m) wide with 3-foot (0.91 m) shoulders. The new route was surveyed and graded in 1931 and 1932. The road foundation was built up during the following two years. In 1935, the initial paving was completed, and the old roadbed that was not covered by the new road was dug up and the landscape restored. Lane striping was added in 1938. Work on the road drainage, stone masonry guardrails, and observation points continued until 1941. Despite the difficult topography the entire project was completed for two million dollars, a significant engineering accomplishment.” (Wikipedia)