Crystal Lake Recreation Area is part of the San Gabriel River (formerly Mount Baldy) District of the Angeles National Forest in Southern 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. 39 heading out of Azusa, California at the headwaters of the north fork of the San Gabriel River at an elevation approximately 5,830 feet (1585 m) above sea level. Crystal Lake is the only naturally occurring lake in the San Gabriel Mountains.HistoryThe 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 located down the hill from the lake. The lake has no sycamore trees, so the name was 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. It was a dangerous place for a human to be without a firearm of some sort. Frightful grizzly bear stories abound from the middle 1860s.In 1887, Judge Benjamin Eaton, an early Pasadenan for whom Eaton Canyon is named, visited the pristine little lake and said, "The water is clear as crystal and the found it good to drink." The lake soon became known as Crystal Lake.Historic Photographs of Crystal Lake and the surrounding area from 1907 through the mid-1970s show that the campgrounds have been used by "Singing cowboys" during the era of black-and-white television, which used to feature cowboy shows. Because the campgrounds could be accessed from Angeles Crest Highway prior to the 1978 landslide, which demolished a half-mile section of California State Route 39 four miles (6 km) from Crystal Lake, Hollywood performers and other Los Angeles celebrities and politicians used to frequent the campgrounds because of the easy access across the San Gabriel Mountains.
