Crystal Lake Camp Grounds Water, Electricity, Telephone, Toilets

Water, Electricity, Telephone, Toilets as of 24/Nov/2011

There are currently no showers and no flushing toilets at Crystal Lake. There is one toilet facility which is heated however it has been closed and iut is not known whether it will be opened neat year.

Currently drinking water is working in only some areas of the campground due to leaks the distribution network which the Forest Service is working to fix. Water is available at the Visitor Center where there is a faucet.

The drinking water is pulled from an underground stream called Soldier Creek which gravity-fills three huge water tanks and then eventually comes to the surface South of the tanks near Pinyon Ridge trailhead and forms the open-air part of Soldier Creek which continues to flow down the mountain to join up with the North Fork of the San Gabriel River.

Deer Flats Group Campground do not yet have drinking water.

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.

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.

There are a large number of modern, environmentally-happy toilets at Crystal Lake which replace the ancient stone toilet buildings. There is no running water in them however the facility at the open-air ampitheature has the ability to be heated since it has electricity and heaters.

Trash dumpsters have been improved in the campgrounds during the restoration effort such that finding one should no longer be a problem, and they are of modern design so that bears should have less difficulty opening them.