CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK — Crater Lake National Park reopened to the public Monday after being closed since March 24 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, visitors took the opportunity to visit the park and see the lake.

Brett and Mary Donley were visiting Tuesday from South Dakota.

“I wanted to come out here,” Brett Donley said from a lake overlook at Rim Village, where he and his wife were taking selfies. “Crater Lake has always been one of my things I’ve wanted to see. I like it. It’s everything I’ve seen in pictures and on television.”

“We’re hoping to come back next year,” added Mary Donley. Unusually, they were the only two people at the typically crowded lake overlook that’s just steps away from the Crater Lake Rim Village Cafeteria-Gift Shop. Like the rest of the park and small portion of Rim Drive that was open Tuesday, it was eerily void of visitors.

The parking lot at the Steel Center Visitor Center in Munson Valley, where visitors normally watch park orientation films and learn about things to do and see in the park, was empty. Less than a half-dozen cars were parked near the Rim Village Cafeteria-Gift Shop with about the same number of vehicles at Discovery Point. In parking areas and along the park’s few open roads, out-of-state license plates were common  and easily outnumbered licenses from Oregon.

Most visitors stopped at the gift shop/cafeteria, where employees for Aramark, the company starting its second season as the park concessionaire, were all wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.

“We’re opening and we’ll see how it works,” said Paul Thornton, Aramark’s district manager. He said the only major change is the cancellation of always popular ranger-narrated lake boat tours. But there are also changes at the historic Crater Lake Lodge, where only lodge guests will be allowed inside as part of an effort to maintain social distancing. Thornton said the lodge could open later this week or next week.

“We’re hoping to have them open sooner than later,” he said of concession facilities at Annie Springs, including another gift shop/restaurant, cabins, gas station and the Mazama Campground. Food concessions will be takeout only. “Everything will be available on a limited basis.”

Thornton said hiring has been challenging because of limited employee housing and uncertainties stemming from the virus. Most concession staff are usually lodged in dormitory-style facilities. Aramark normally hires 200-plus seasonal workers, but Thornton said only about half that number will likely be on duty this summer.

Thornton emphasized Aramark services could be expanded through the summer, depending on safety guidelines. Aramark and Crater Lake park managers are being cautious because some national parks that recently reopened have been inundated with visitors, which has created concerns about spreading coronavirus to visitors and park employees. “We want to make it safe for our team, for our visitors.”

Similar concerns are expressed by Marcia McCabe, Crater Lake’s longtime chief of interpretation who noted, “Maintaining safety for our employees, staff and visitors is our top priority.” Like Aramark, park officials are facing challenges in providing housing for summer seasonal staff.

Because of staff reductions, informational sign boards have been placed outside buildings normally visited by tourists, including the Steel Information Center in Munson Valley and the Kiser Visitor Center and Sinnott Memorial Overlook at Rim Village. Restrooms are available at Rim Village but the park’s vault toilets are currently closed. McCabe said ranger-led programs typically offered during summer months, such as Garfield Peak and Sun Notch hikes, lodge talks and evening campfire programs, will not be provided.

“Every year is different but this year adds extra difficulties,” said McCabe, who is in her 23rd year at Crater Lake. “We’re trying to do the best we can with what we have.”

McCabe and Thornton emphasized that Crater Lake typically opens in stages because of heavy winter snow — 535 inches in an average winter. Although snowfall is far below average, snow remains at varying depths at the park’s higher elevations and along Rim Drive. Nine inches fell last Saturday, the most snow on a June 6 since the park began keeping records in 1931. Saturday’s and Sunday’s snowfall forced park officials to delay the planned reopening of West Rim Drive to the North Junction and the North Entrance Road. It’s expected those sections will be open sometime this week, when snowplows and crews will shift their focus to East Rim Drive.

Park trails remain closed because of snow. Most are typically not open until late June or July.

McCabe said visitors need to exercise caution visiting the park, especially in spring and early summer. “This is the time of year that always makes me nervous,” she said, noting many visitors are not prepared for snow and often disregard warning signs at lake overlooks. Over the years, fatalities have occurred because visitors try to get too close to the rim and fall. “Please, please, please don’t go too close to the edge.”

Visitors Tuesday were enjoying views of the lake.

“I was 280 miles north when I heard Crater Lake was open,” said Jeff Cook, a food salesman from Florida . “It’s impressive. I had no idea what to expect.”

Elsa Porcaro and her family — her husband and daughter as well as her father and three sisters — were traveling by RV on a two-week road trip from Minnesota. Pocaro’s family members took turns being photographed at Discovery Point with the lake and Wizard Island in the background while holding Porcaro’s daughter, Amalia, who just turned 1.

“So far, great!” Porcaro said of seeing Crater Lake and resuming their wanderings.

For updated information visit the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/crla. For information on concession offerings visit the Crater Lake Hospitality website at www.travelcraterlake.com.