Rim Drive is a scenic highway in Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon, United States. It is a loop that follows the caldera rim around Crater Lake. Due to 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. History Crater Lake lies inside a caldera created 7,700 years ago when the high Mount Mazama collapsed following a large volcanic eruption. Over the following millennia the caldera filled with rain water forming today's lake. In 1886, William Gladstone Steel accompanied a United States Geological Survey party led by Captain Clarence Dutton to survey Crater Lake. During the visit, Steel named many of the lake's landmarks including Wizard Island, Llao Rock, and Skell Head. The lake's natural beauty made a great impression on Steel. As a result, when he returned from the survey expedition, he began advocating that Crater Lake be established as a national park. On 22 May 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the bill making Crater Lake the Nation's sixth national park. The United States Department of the Interior was charged with developing road access and visitor services for the park. This was a difficult job because of the park's remote location at the summit of the Cascade Mountains. By 1905, a "steep and tortuous" road to the crater rim had been completed. This access road was essential for the future development of the park. In 1913, Congress appropriated funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a road around Crater Lake. The initial road survey identified the northern end of Munson Valley, three miles (5 km) south of the rim, as the best site for the road crew's seasonal headquarters and supply depot. Not only was Munson Valley a central location, the surrounding area provided timber for constructing support facilities. However, World War I slowed down road construction. The road around the lake was finally finished in 1919. In July of that year, the National Park Service assumed responsibility for maintaining the new loop road known as Rim Road. The roadway was only wide and had other serious limitations including sections of road with grades as steep as ten percent. As a result, a major upgrade was needed soon after the original road was completed. Construction The current Rim Drive is a loop built by the Bureau of Public Roads