Rim Visitor Center

The Rim Visitor Center is a small ranger and bookstore stop in historic Kiser Studio at Rim Village. Stop in for help planning your time on the rim, a national-park passport stamp, or a look at the old studio. Then step outside: the caldera views are along the promenade, not inside the building.

A stone parapet promenade follows the caldera rim for about one-third of a mile, with three observation bays for the lake view. It gives you a simple way to stretch a stop into a walk without driving to another overlook. The village's broad rim views are the main reason to linger after you have your bearings.

Fred Kiser built this studio in 1921 and enlarged it in 1926. He sold hand-colored postcards made from his Crater Lake photographs here, giving the building a direct link to the early business of showing the lake to visitors.

Rim Village became a National Register historic district in 1997. Its rustic buildings and promenade use native stone and logs; one of the promenade's original boulder-shaped drinking fountains still works. Take a moment to notice that stonework as you follow the rim path.

For geology exhibits, continue to the nearby Sinnott Memorial, a different building and overlook. It opened in 1931 as a trailside museum designed to pair Crater Lake geology with the view. The visitor center is the bookstore and ranger contact point; Sinnott is the place for the outdoor interpretive exhibits.