Crater Lake National Park is a vital element in a diverse regional recreation complex. Many visitors stop at the park as part of a north-south trip to various parks and scenic areas in Oregon and northern California. In southern Oregon, Crater Lake has historically been the leading visitor draw. Approximately 60% of the park's visitors are from Oregon and California. Annual park visitation reached a plateau of a half a million in the early 1960s, but can fluctuate as much as 25% from year to year. In 1996 park visitation was in excess of 525,000. However, the park is principally a day use area, with the majority of visitor use (greater than 75%) occurring between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Day use accounts for about 80% of visitation, with two-thirds of the day users spending less than four hours in the park. Three quarters of all visitation comes during a five-hour period in the middle of the day (10 A.M. to 3 P.M.) and occurs predominately from Rim Village to Mazama Village. Less than 15% of park visitors remain overnight, and less than 5% stay two or more nights. However, during the two peak months of July and August, camping and overnight lodging facilities operate near capacity.

The development and level of concessioner and NPS visitor services and facilities have generally mirrored and been tailored to visitation levels and visitor characteristics.

Visitor access through what is now the Mazama Village and the Munson Valley headquarters area to Rim Village was facilitated by the development of a road in 1905. In the subsequent decades the road was ultimately upgraded to a paved surface to the rim and lodge. Designated parking in Rim Village along the road to the lodge (Rim Village Drive) first occurred in 1926 and was a desired component of the visitor experience.

In 1907, as a result of the signing of the first concession contract, two campgrounds were developed in the park. Camps Arant and Crater were constructed at Annie Springs and at Rim Village, respectively. The Annie Spring campground remained in existence until 1969, and Rim campground, with 54 sites, evolved into a popular overnight facility that remained until 1975. The latter campground was a favorite among visitors because they could sleep among the trees and wake up to a beautiful sunrise over the lake. However, the short summer season on the rim and the impact of the campground on the natural resources of the area ultimately led to its abandonment.

The central portion of Crater Lake Lodge was completed in 1915 to provide for visitor overnight accommodations. A large wing to the lodge was added on in the 1920s to further meet visitor overnight needs. It was a major attraction to visitors with its spectacular views of the lake and rustic architecture. However, the quality of lodging and dining varied over the years depending on the concessioner and the terms of the concession contract.

The cafeteria building, rental cabins, community house, Kiser Studio, promenade, and Sinnott Memorial were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s to provide for increased overnight and day use visitation. The rental cabins were removed in 1985.

The cafeteria building was built in 1928 to house food services and camper supplies. The cafeteria building was expanded in the 1950s and again in the 1970s to accommodate a perceived market for additional food, gift, and sundry sales. The community house was built as a social gathering place for campground and lodge visitors. It was used for interpretive exhibits, informal evening get-togethers, and as an auditorium for evening interpretive programs, dances, and other forms of entertainment. Kiser Studio was constructed in 1921 and served as the headquarters and salesroom for the renowned photographer, artist, and conservationist, Fred Kiser. He rendered and sold hand-colored photographs of the park and the northwest at the studio. In 1928 it became the visitor contact station at Rim Village and has housed a variety of exhibits over the years. The Sinnott Memorial was built over Victor Rock, a popular site to see the lake. It was constructed of large rocks that blended in well with the caldera wall and was a prototype of rustic architecture in the national park system. It has been used as a museum, a contact station, and a viewing point. Visitors continue to be attracted to the Sinnott Memorial because of its pleasing and unusual architecture and the outstanding view of the lake it provides. The promenade, consisting of the stone parapet and path along the caldera wall, the associated connecting trails, and the native vegetation landscaping, was developed in the early I 930s. It was a designed landscape that reduced the random wandering and trampling of vegetation by visitors. However, it also served as a means of restoring the area to a more natural appearance, provided a pleasing landscape for visitors to enjoy as they walked about the village and viewed the lake, and was a means of connecting the various visitor facilities in the developed area.

Mazama campground was established in the mid- 1950s and was expanded in the early 1960s. It is a pleasant, shady campground that visitors enjoy. A campground amphitheater is used for evening interpretive programs. A seasonal 40-unit motel was constructed in Mazama Village in 1989 to replace the lodging that was eliminated with the removal of the cold water cabins south of the Rim Village cafeteria. Although the motel lacked the spectacular views of the lake like those available from the lodge, visitors had a pleasant setting to spend the night and were within a short driving distance from views of the lake and the amenities of Rim Village. A conveniently situated camper store built in 1991 provides food, camper supplies, public showers and laundry, and gasoline. The camper store was primarily built to provide services for visitors staying overnight at Mazama Village in the campground and motel. However, certain camper store amenities were located at Mazama Village to make sure that they did not intrude on the central features of the park.

The park headquarters area in Munson Valley was primarily developed during the 1930s and 1940s to provide park administration and housing. When the park headquarters buildings were rehabilitated in the 1980s, the ranger dormitory was remodeled and became the Steel Information Center to provide year-round visitor contact and interpretation for the park.

Boat tours on the lake were initiated in 1907 to provide an opportunity for visitors to better experience the lake and caldera. The boat tours were initially conducted below Rim Village to Wizard Island and Phantom Ship. Several different trail alignments from Crater Lake Lodge and the cafeteria building were constructed to the lakeshore and the boat tours in the 1 900s and 1920s. At the start of the boat operation there was one boat with a couple of tours per day. Several rowboats for visitor fishing and travel to Wizard Island were added in the early 1920s. NPS naturalists provided the first interpretive boat tours in 1931. They were all-day excursions that included docking at Wizard Island and hiking to the top of the volcanic cone. The boat tour enterprise was relocated to the Cleetwood area in 1960 on completion of a new south-facing trail. The new trail allowed for the expansion of seasonal use of the trail and boat tours and provided for a more enjoyable visitor walk because it was less steep, shorter, and safer. By 1972 four boats were in operation but the rowboats were phased out because of the hazardous wind conditions at the north end of the lake. The number of boat tours has increased from five in 1976 to the current level of nine plus a Wizard Island pickup. In addition, parking, restroom, storage, and limited food service facilities were developed in the 1 960s to meet the greater levels of visitor use and to enhance the visitor experience.

Two other concession services that warrant addressing are recreation equipment rental and transportation to the park. The rental of cross-country skies and snowshoes at the cafeteria building was attempted several times but was relatively unsuccessful because of the limited number of nonequipped visitors. In the early 1900s concession transportation to the park from Medford and Klamath Falls was a necessary and convenient service provided to visitors arriving in southern Oregon by train. This service continued until the late 1970s when extensive availability and use of the automobile and bus by visitors usurped this means of transportation.