Crystal Lake Camp Grounds Water, Electricity, Telephone

Water, Electricity, Telephone as of 29/May/2010

When the Crystal Lake Recreation Area opens to the public, water will be available in many of the camp sites. Currently water is working in most of the campground however there are leaks within the distribution network which the Forest Service is working to fix.

Electricity has been restored to most of the area thanks to an effort by California Edison who replaced power poles and lines that had burned in the series of fires. Electricity, however, won't be available for the general public's use (with a possible exception at the open air ampitheature where power may be provided.) Electricity has been brought in to help provide power and service to the U. S. Forest Service's Visitor Center.

When the camp grounds open nearly every camp site will have running water available either at the site or within easy walking distance. A network of faucets, pipes, and even a few sinks exist in most of the camping ground areas.

There is a telephone available outside of the Visitor Center which will probably not be repaired when the camp grounds open because Verizon says they can not make a profit repairing and running it. Cell telephone companies have been asked to provide a tower however it seems unlikely that cell telephone access will be provided any time soon.

There are also numerous streams located within the Crystal Lake camp grounds canyons, some of them with high volumes of water that runs all year around. The USFS and other agencies recommend and warn against drinking the water since medical problems can result however boiling the water for at least 1 minute and then letting the water sit covered for at least 3 minutes is usually recommended by outdoor professionals to make water reasonably safe to drink.