Visitation to Crater Lake during the 1970s averaged nearly 540,000 per year. The highest totals were 606,636 in 1976 and 617,479 in 1977 when Bicentennial-related travel contributed to rising visitation levels throughout the National Park System. The lowest visitation of the decade occurred in 1975 when only 427,252 persons entered the park as the result of the water contamination crisis that closed the park for 21 days. Other factors that affected visitation levels during the 1970s were sporadic gasoline shortages and the rising cost of fuel.
In July 1977 the National Park Service conducted a visitor use study of the park. Included in the study was an analysis of existing visitor use patterns. Among the findings of the study were:
Crater Lake is principally a day-use area, with approximately two-thirds of its yearly half million visitors staying less than four hours. Visitation occurs mainly in the summer, with 75 percent arriving from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
For most visitors, a stop at Crater Lake is a part of a north-south trip which includes visits to other areas. Although the average visitor remains a short time, he has deliberately ventured off the main travel routes just to see the lake. Almost 80 percent of the visitors are West Coast residents, over half of these from California.
For the small percentage of people remaining overnight (15 percent), about two-thirds of those camp in Mazama Campground, approximately half utilizing recreational vehicles. The 12-site Lost Creek Campground offers primitive camping and receives relatively light use, while Crater Lake Lodge and Cabins accommodate approximately one-third of the overnight demand.
Backcountry use is still minimal, with the Pacific Crest Trail receiving the heaviest use. Winter use is also minimal (but steadily increasing), consisting mainly of regional residents sightseeing. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing is largely concentrated around park headquarters and the Rim Village, while snowmobiling is restricted to the park road from the north entrance to the caldera rim.
Heaviest day use activity is centered around Rim Village and Rim Drive, which affords many scenic overlooks. Rim Village now contains the main interpretive facility, Sinnott Memorial, and most of the support facilities, including a cafeteria, cabins, lodge, and store. During the summer, approximately 500 people a day hike down to Cleetwood Cove and take a launch for a guided tour around the lake.
Limited information is provided at the entrance stations, and geologic interpretation is provided on the rim at Sinnott Memorial through personal services and exhibits. Approximately 20 interpretive waysides are located on the Rim Drive and more on the approach roads. Grayback Ridge Motor Nature Road offers an interpretive tour relating the theme of Evolution of a Landscape.
The typical day visitors arriving from the south will proceed to the Rim Village, park their vehicles, and proceed to the rim for their first view of the lake or to the concessioner facilities and then to the viewing areas. They may attend one of the talks in the Sinnott Memorial and view the exhibits in the exhibit building.
Depending upon the remaining time available, they may stop at other viewpoints, take a boat tour, or proceed on to their next destination.
Visitors entering the park from the north receive information at the North Entrance Station and proceed toward the rim. At the road junction with the Rim Drive, they may choose either the longer route to the left with its numerous overlooks and viewpoints of the lake or the shorter route to the right along the west side of the lake to reach the Rim Village. [72]
