As a result of the rim area development in the 1920s park visitor facilities and accommodations became centered in what was referred to as Rim Village. A Park Service circular for 1930 described the physical development of the village:
A large majority of visitors first reach the rim of the lake at the Rim Village. This is the main focal point of park activities, containing the lodge, post office, cafeteria, general store, studios, a rental cabin group, auto service, emergency mechanical services, ranger station, etc. From the Rim Village a number of the most important trails take off, including the spectacular new trail, just completed, down the crater wall to the lake shore, where launches and rowboats are available for pleasure trips and fishing excursions. This fine trail is 6 feet wide and on a holding grade of 12 per cent, permitting its use by people unaccustomed to much physical effort. For those who prefer not to walk, saddle horses and saddle mules are available for this and other trail trips. The trail to the summit of Garfield Park, directly overlooking the lake and giving a magnificent panorama of the Cascades, also takes off from the Rim Village, as does the trail to the Watchman, and another trail to Anna Spring.
A fine free camp ground, equipped with hot and cold shower baths and modern sanitation, is located here on the rim; its community house, comfortable with fireplace and with a small dance floor, is the center of evening recreation. A near-by cafeteria and general store cares for campers as well as for users of the rental cabins which are grouped near by. [27]
The introduction of modern snow removal equipment in the park during the winter of 1929-30 aided the increasing park visitation. In 1930, for instance, the equipment permitted opening of the park on April 14, the earliest date for travel to be checked in the park’s history. The new removal equipment allowed the park to publicize its intention to keep the park open until December, thus affording visitors the opportunity to view the lake throughout the fall season. [28]
The Crater Lake campgrounds became increasingly popular attractions for park visitors during the late 1920s. In 1927, for instance, Superintendent Thomson reported that 70 percent of the park visitors “took care of themselves in one or more of the ten campgrounds.” The Rim Campground was the most popular, an average of 300 people using it each night. [29] By 1930 the number of visitors using the three principal park campgrounds were:
| Rim | 5,129 | 14,373 |
| Anna Spring | 568 | 1,829 |
| Lost Creek | 240 | 739 |
|
5,937 |
16,941 |
In addition a number of visitors used less structured camping places along the roads at White Horse, Cold Springs, and Sun Creek. [30]
Since the mid-1920s medical problems involving visitors and park employees had been referred to Dr. R.E. Green in Medford. With the increase in park visitation, however, it became imperative that a doctor and nurse be stationed in the park during the travel season. Accordingly, a three-year contract was awarded in 1930 to Dr. Fred N. Miller, head of the medical service at the University of Oregon at Eugene, to provide such services at Government Camp from June 15 to September 15 each season. [31]
During 1931 various new visitor facilities and services were introduced that served as further inducements to park travel. These included the introduction of naturalist-conducted boat trips on the lake and automobile caravan tours, launching of a new boat on the lake, construction of twenty new tourist cabins near the cafeteria and new docks at the bottom of the lake trail, location of a new organized campground at White Horse Creek, dedication of the Sinnott Memorial, and development of new trails to Garfield Peak and on Wizard Island. [32]
