Crystal Lake Camp Grounds Camp Ground Conditions

Camp Ground Conditions as of 06/Oct/2020 -- The CAMPGROUND ARE OPEN

Crystal Lake is overnight camping is currently OPEN

The turn off from the main highway in to the camping grounds is located at North 34 degrees, 18.870 by West 117 degrees, 50.203 at 5131 feet.

There was extensive damage to the camping grounds and the facilities at Crystal Lake due to fires, beetle infestations, flooding, and vandalism. Individual camp sites, trails, and the campground's water distribution network were damaged to various degrees. The Forest Service has been doing an extremely good job working on restorations and making the camping facilities safe and clean.

All of the damage has been repaired thanks to USFS efforts and thanks to a series of volunteer efforts from the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders crews, the volunteers that join them, and a variety of other volunteer organizations which donate their time and effort in to maintaining, building, and repairing hiking and nature trails such as the Angeles Volunteer Association.

• BBQ and Fire Pits -- Nearly all of the camping sites have either a metal fire ring or a BBQ box on a stand. Some sites have both. About 50% of the BBQ boxes and fire rings have been cleaned out to the point where they can be used.

  

• Visitor Center -- The U. S. Forest Service Visitor Center has been cleaned out with brush removed and trees trimmed from around the property and parking lot. The Center looks pretty good and it will be a great place for campers and other visitors to organize their forest activities.

• Hiking Trails and Nature Trails -- A detailed description of the hiking and nature trails in the Crystal Lake Recreation Area can be found elsewhere on this web site. Currently about half of the hiking trails have been restored to fully safe usage with about half of the remaining trails needing only minimal work. The remaining trails -- such as Golden Cup and Soldier Creek -- need extensive work to make those trails safe again.

• Cafe and Trading Post -- The Crystal Lake Cafe and Trading Post is privately owned and operated. The Cafe provides hot meals, sandwhiches, and other good as well as provides typical items that one might need when camping in the forest.

• Water Distribution -- The distribution network consists of three large overflow tanks which holds water that feeds pipes which lead to distribution boxes after a network of water filters. The water system distribution network has some leaks so water is not available yet at most camp sites however some sites have water, and water is available at the Visitor Center.

• Parking Lots -- Much of the roads and parking lots of the camping grounds have been resurfaced, including the parking area for the lake. The Visitor Center parking lot is due to be resurfaced some time this year.

• The Lake -- The steps leading down to the lake were flooded however a construction crew cleaned the steps by hand about a year ago. The water level at the lake is very low.

• Toilets -- The USFS has installed a large number of new buildings containing non-water-flush toilets. The old existing toilets built with rocks and wood which are the water-flushing kind are locked.

• Trash Dumpsters -- Most of the trash dumpsters around the main camp grounds are new and there are quite a lot of them. It's not known how often the trash dumpsters will be emptied when the grounds are open however there's enough dumpsters available that campers should have no difficulty finding one.

The volunteers of the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders are currently working on a schedule of repairs to the remaining hiking trails and nature trails. The Angeles Volunteers Association is also volunteering to perform the repairs to the Visitor Center that are required.