Illustration 19. “Crater Lake Road Survey,” House Doc. No. 328; 62d Cong., 2d Sess., 1911. From Steel Scrapbooks, v. II, CLNP library.
Three years later Congress agreed to appropriate $7,500,000 for roadwork within the national parks, of which Crater Lake would receive a portion to improve the sharp curves and steep grades that had been permitted when roads were first constructed there. The thirteen miles from the lodge to Kerr Notch, for instance, had many bad curves and two, long, abrupt grades. [31] Additional roadwork needed in the area involved macadamizing of the uncompleted portions of the Medford and Fort Klamath roads leading to the park and their eventual dust-proofing with oil. Despite work that needed to be done on it, the new rim road was definitely capturing the imagination of visitors, one who ascended to the summit of Cloudcap finding it
an experience that we prize more than any other at Crater Lake. The road is part of the new highway which now completely encircles the lake. . . . This road was only about half finished at the time of which I write, extending from the summit of Cloud Cap on the east to the peak of the Watchman on the west. It was built with moderate grades and wide turns, broad enough everywhere for easy passing. It does not closely follow the lake at all points. . . . The distance from the Lodge to Sand Creek Canyon is about seven miles; here the road branches off to Kerr Notch on the rim, four or five miles farther, at which point the ascent of Cloud Cap begins. A splendid new road . . . climbs to the summit in long, sweeping grades ranging from five to twelve per cent, yet so smooth and well engineered as to require only high gear for a moderately powered car. [32]
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