Crystal Lake Camp Grounds Emergency Services

Emergency Services as of 06/Oct/2020 -- The CAMPGROUND ARE OPEN

There are police and U. S. Forest Service patrolls to assist in keeping the peace and making the area safer for campers, hikers, bikers, climbers, and picknickers however because this is the wilderness, medical assistance will be delayed.

Law enforcement patrols the whole area so their response times can be anything from a few seconds to generally as much as 15 minutes depending upon where their patrol cars are located at any given moment.

The USFS maintains radio and telephone contact with law enforcement officers, and presumably any problem -- with medical emergencies or other campers -- can be handled by police when they're called by the Forest Service Rangers or trained volunteers staffing the Visitor Center.

The campgrounds does not maintain any stationed Forest employee and there is no medical staff located at the campgrounds.

The Rincon Fire Station (PDF)crew of first responders presumably have crew who are trained in medical emergencies however they are stationed about 12 or 13 miles from the center of the Crystal Lake camp grounds. There are no guarentees that medical help will be available.

When the Visitor Center is staffed by Forest Service employees or volunteers, there may be people on hand with emergency medical training -- but most probably not.

The Cafe has a working telephone for emergencies only and while the USFS Visitor Center has both a radio and a telephone, the Visitor Center will usually be closed except on weekends, and even then the Center may be closed, so visitors should expect to have no easy access to emergency services and should plan their outings accordingly. In any event it is always a good idea to have a medical kit in your vehicle and in your backpack.

The Off Road Vehicle Area located around mile marker 27 on Highway 39 will have a Forest Service employee generally Saturday and Sunday, and medical assistance and law enforcement assistance can be acquired there, as can assistance with disabled vehicles.