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Crystal Lake Recreation Area is part of the San Gabriel River (formerly Mount Baldy) District of The Angeles National Forest in California. It consists of a lake, a public campground, and Deer Flats, a group campground. It is located approximately 26 miles (42 km) north on Hwy. more...

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39 heading out of Azusa, California at the headwaters of the North Fork of the San Gabriel River at an elevation approximately 5,200 feet (1585 m) above sea level.

History

The area around Crystal Lake, before there was a campground and resort, was referred to as Pine Flat. The Lake was called Sycamore Lake by R. W. Dawson who lived at Sycamore Flats down the hill. The lake has no sycamore trees, so the name was obviously derived from Dawson's place. The area was a great draw for grizzly bears as they seemed to prefer the lake waters to the stream waters down the hill. It was thus a very dangerous place for a human to be without a firearm of some sort. Frightful grizzly bear stories abound from the middle 1860's.

In 1887, Judge Benjamin Eaton, an early Pasadenan for whom Eaton Canyon is named, visited the pristine little lake and described it. "The water is clear as crystal and the found it good to drink." The lake soon became called by Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake

Crystal Lake is the only naturally formed lake in Southern California. It is snow and spring fed and has no other artificial means of being replenished. Geographically it sits in a bed of decomposed granite and a fissure at its bottom depletes its water during and after the rain and snow season. Because of this its depths vary dramatically from a mean low of 35 feet (10.7 m) to a probable high of 150 feet (45.7 m), depending on seasonal precipitation.

The Lake is settled neatly in a bowl below the granite crags surrounding Mount Hawkins. In its past it had amenities for picnickers, anglers, and swimmers. But in 1969 a severe rainy season flooded the privies on the shore line and the water became contaminated to the point that the swimming facilities were closed. Subsequent rainy seasons flooded the small cabin that served as a summer residence for concessionaires who operated a snack stand from the lower level and patio. By 1990 the facility was demolished.

Over the past four decades, budgeting has limited the Forest Service's ability to maintain the lake and its feeder pipeline. Then years of drought reduced the lake’s water levels which continued micro biological contamination of the water, putting it off limits to any type of swimming at all.

Following a good rainy season, the lake may be stocked with fish, typically rainbow trout from the government hatcheries. Despite high or low water levels, flocks of people line the lake to fish each summer. In the past the concessionaires provided boat rentals from a small dock that was attached to cables that ran onto shore. The dock could be raised and lowered during the year with the varying levels of the water. It was removed after the 1969 rains.

Read more at Wikipedia.org