picnic area and a trailhead to a cinder cone called Crater Peak. 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 wildflower display is at its peak in July and August. Rim Drive terminates a half mile from the Castle Crest parking area, at the Munson Valley Road junction near the park headquarters and visitor center. Access Rim Drive has two access points. The south access begins at the park headquarters in the Munson Valley Historic District sixty miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon. The road to Munson Valley is open year-around. However, snowfall in the park is heavy and winter storms make driving in the Crater Lake area unpredictable. The park's north entrance is nine miles (14 km) north of the Rim Drive junction across an area known as the Pumice Desert. From the north entrance, it is to Bend, Oregon. The North Entrance Road is closed in the fall and does not re-open until the following summer. 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. While the park headquarters and visitor center at Munson Valley and the Rim Village cafeteria are open year-around, Rim Drive is only open during the summer due to the heavy snowfall. In most places, the road is covered by more than of snow with drifts as deep as in some areas. Sensors buried in the roadway help snow removal crews locate the center of the road under the accumulated snow. During the summer, the National Park Service charges a $30 fee for private passenger vehicles entering the park. In non summer months the fee is $15 for private passenger vehicles. Commercial vehicles are charged between $25 and $200 depending on the vehicle's capacity. References External links Crater Lake National Park National Park Service Park Vision - Crater Lake National Park Crater Lake National Park Roads, Crater Lake, Klamath, OR at the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Civilian Conservation Corps in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Crater Lake National Park Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon National Park Service rustic in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Klamath County, Oregon Transportation in Klamath