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Auto-touring Munson Valley Road - Crater Lake National Park
North Entrance Road |
South Entrance Road |
West Entrance Road
Munson Valley Road |
West Rim Drive |
East Rim Drive |
Pinnacles Road
From the Annie Spring Junction
this road runs north to the junction with Rim Drive at
Park Headquarters, and then to Rim Village. The road measures 7.06
miles in length. A long spiral curve less than 2
miles from Annie Spring.
contains the only
bridges in the park, starting with a wooden span about
40' over Annie Creek, and located just a short distance
from the spring. It and the bridge over Goodbye Creek, 1
mile to the north; constructed
in 1955 and 1956. Two parking areas on the north side of this
bridge form the Goodbye Creek Picnic Area, though the
stream separates one set of tables from the other.
Although Route 4 is roughly
the same length as Route 3, it contains more curves of
short radii in having to pass from Munson Valley to Rim
Village, and is effectively part of Rim Drive in that it
allows motorists to complete a full circuit. The road reaches Munson Ridge (the
Cascade Divide) about a half mile beyond the springs and
runs largely on contours to Rim Village.
The two parts of the Munson
Valley Road provide a dramatically different experience
for visitors in terms of what they can see. Large
mountain hemlocks and Shasta red fir line the roadside
of Route 3, but the absence of understory vegetation
provides filtered views into the forest. A parking area
separated from the road a short distance uphill from
Goodbye Creek allows visitors to leave their cars for a
1 mile walk called the Godfrey Glen Trail, a path that
provides them with dramatic views of Annie Creek Canyon
not seen from the road. Steep slopes and distant
ridgelines are pervasive over most of Route 4, with
Castle Crest (a massive ridge below Garfield Peak)
dominating the scene above Park Headquarters. As
motorists climb toward Rim Village, views of the Klamath
Basin and major peaks to the south can be seen.
Munson Valley road of Crater Lake National Park
Please feel free to move or zoom in or out of the map below.
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