Bridge Creek Springs
The purpose of the park is stated in its establishing act signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 22, 1902. The park was to be an area "dedicated and set apart forever as a public park or pleasure ground for the benefit of the people of the United States."
In 1902 the first Superintendent William F. Arant established his first headquarters in the park at Bridge Creek Springs, some six miles from the lake. That month he visited the lake and principal camping places in the park and found large numbers of campers. He reported that no forest fires had been seen, no timber was being cut, and no park property or resources were being destroyed. As a result of conversations with campers and park visitors, Arant observed that there was "a strong sentiment" in "favor of preserving the natural picturesqueness of the reservation" and that all were "generally disposed to protect rather than to destroy." To facilitate visitation to the lake he had surveyed a new five-mile road along the base of Crater Lake Mountain to the rim of the crater, and department officials had approved his plans.
