Hours Now Limited at Crystal Lake Area
Citing budgetary restrictions, Angeles National Forest officials have closed the popular Crystal Lake recreation area on weekdays and are limiting its use on weekends to daytime only.
Overnight camping will no longer be allowed at Crystal Lake, north of Azusa on Highway 39.
Peggy Hernandez, ranger for the Mt. Baldy district, said the high cost of running and maintaining the recreation area made it necessary to reduce the hours. The changes went into effect Friday.
In addition, the Manker Campground and Glacier Picnic Area, both near Mt. Baldy Village, and the Little Dalton Picnic Area near Glendora have been closed indefinitely.
U.S. Forest Service officials say these reductions will allow the agency to focus its efforts elsewhere in the national forest.
Crystal Lake is the only natural lake in the San Gabriel Mountains and has long been a refuge for city-dwellers in search of clean air, filled with the scent of pine and cedar trees.
Los Angeles County, in an arrangement with the Forest Service, initially developed a park around Crystal Lake in 1932.
On summer weekends, the road leading into San Gabriel Canyon and on to Crystal Lake can become so jammed, with thousands of vehicles, that authorities limit the number heading into the forest.
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