Originally Posted by
Old Hooker
Interesting fact - Crystal Lake is the only natural lake in the San Gabriel Mountains. The constant source of water had been some springs up near the old campground and general store that were redirected into a pipe that fed the lake and sustained water levels. We had looked into doing a restoration and reconfiguring the old pipe into a waterfall/stream of sorts for aeration and optics.
Unfortunately seismic movements have caused the springs to shift and would require drilling to regain the water from the ground. We met with the Angeles Forest folks but they pretty much saw recreation as a nuisance and would just as soon see a gate across San Gabriel Canyon. That's one of the reasons why the road has never been cleared to reach Angeles Crest Highway. Ultimately USFS is really only interested in their "cash cow" - ground leases on Mt. Wilson for all the media/communications antennae arrays.