CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Forest Service · San Gabriel Mountains National Monument · CA

Crystal Lake

5Heads up5 fires, nearest 13 mi

Wildfire

Peak fire · 13 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026

Wildfire

Lac-169556 fire · 16 mi away · updated Oct 14, 2026

Wildfire

Lac-373293 fire · 21 mi away · updated Oct 16, 2026

Wildfire

Lac-373651 fire · 21 mi away · updated Oct 16, 2026

Wildfire

Scenic fire · 21 mi away · updated Oct 14, 2026

Fires: NIFC/IRWIN via MTJP wildfire tracker · Oct 16, 2026

ReservableOut of season; bookable November 1 through April 15.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night: $20From, per site
Sites: 196131 on recreation.gov

Photographs of individual campsites · USFS

40 ftLongest rig

5,700 ftElevation

21 ftWater · Cedar Creek

10.1 miN of Glendora, CA

58%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices

In the agency’s own words

Crystal Lake is open, however, campsites are no longer available for reservation on Recreation.gov. Campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Located near the lake at the Crystal Lake Recreation Area and San Gabriel Canyon at an elevation of 5,600 feet. The climate is nice. Areas for tents are provided. Motorized boats are not allowed on the lake. There is no swimming in the lake.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 196
Hookups: None
Longest rig: 40 ft
Paved pads: 114 of 196
Accessible sites: 10
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: 130 of 134 sites

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Drinking water: Yes; WATER SPIGOT on 2 of 137 campsite records

Source: counted from this campground’s own campsite records, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Lake; Fishing; Hiking
Night sky · 1172nd darkest of 1,201 in CA: Bortle 5

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:11 UTC

recreation.gov lists 131 of the 196 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.

Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.

Booking windowFrom November 1Out of season now. Bookable for November 1, 2026 through April 15, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 16, 2027.recreation.gov

A night$20plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$48DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service

A night$20

Standard Nonelectric$20

These are next season’s rates, Nov 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026. The campground is between seasons now.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What a stay costs

One nightDerived$28

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$48

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Oct 1, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 16:11 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

205 records

All 205 records

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 131 of the 205 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.


A	001	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
A	002	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
A	003	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
A	004	standard nonelectric	27 ft		$20
A	005	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
A	006	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
A	007	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
A	008	standard nonelectric	20 ft		$20
A	009	standard nonelectric	16 ft		$20
A	010	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
A	011	standard nonelectric	32 ft		$20
A	012	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
A	013	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
A	014	standard nonelectric	20 ft		$20
A	015	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
A	016	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
A	017	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
A	018	standard nonelectric	30 ft	yes	$20
A	019	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX69	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX70	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX71	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX72	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX73	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX74	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX75	not stated			$20
AREA CRYSTAL LAKE	XXX76	not stated			$20
B	020	standard nonelectric	25 ft	yes	$20
B	021	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
B	022	standard nonelectric	25 ft	yes	$20
B	023	standard nonelectric	30 ft	yes	$20
B	024	standard nonelectric	15 ft		$20
B	025	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
B	026	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
B	027	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
B	029	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
B	030	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
B	031	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
B	032	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
B	033	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
B	034	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
C	035	standard nonelectric	28 ft	yes	$20
C	036	standard nonelectric	30 ft	yes	$20
C	037	standard nonelectric	30 ft	yes	$20
C	038	standard nonelectric	40 ft	yes	$20
D	041	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
D	042	standard nonelectric	20 ft		$20
D	043	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
D	044	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
D	045	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
D	046	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
D	047	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
D	048	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
D	049	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
D	050	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
D	051	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
D	052	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
D	053	standard nonelectric	20 ft		$20
E	054	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
E	055	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	056	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	057	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	058	standard nonelectric	24 ft		$20
E	059	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	060	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	061	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	062	standard nonelectric	24 ft		$20
E	063	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
E	064	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	065	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	066	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
E	067	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	068	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
E	069	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	070	standard nonelectric	40 ft		$20
E	071	standard nonelectric	38 ft		$20
E	072	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	073	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
E	074	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	075	standard nonelectric	32 ft		$20
E	076	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	077	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	078	standard nonelectric	32 ft		$20
E	079	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	080	standard nonelectric	38 ft		$20
E	081	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	082	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	083	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	084	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
E	085	standard nonelectric	32 ft		$20
E	086	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	087	standard nonelectric	26 ft		$20
E	088	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
E	089	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	090	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
E	091	standard nonelectric	35 ft		$20
E	092	standard nonelectric	25 ft		$20
E	093	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	094	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
E	095	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
F	096	type not stated
F	097	type not stated	30 ft
F	098	type not stated
F	099	type not stated	30 ft
F	100	type not stated	25 ft
F	101	type not stated	25 ft
F	102	type not stated	20 ft
F	103	type not stated	25 ft
F	104	type not stated	30 ft
F	105	type not stated	25 ft
F	106	type not stated	20 ft
F	107	type not stated	20 ft
F	108	type not stated	20 ft
F	109	type not stated	20 ft
F	110	type not stated	12 ft
F	111	type not stated	20 ft
F	112	type not stated	20 ft
F	113	type not stated	15 ft
F	114	type not stated	20 ft
F	115	type not stated	30 ft
F	116	type not stated	30 ft
F	117	type not stated	30 ft
F	118	type not stated
F	119	type not stated
F	120	type not stated
F	121	type not stated
F	122	type not stated
F	123	type not stated
F	124	type not stated
F	125	type not stated
F	126	type not stated
F	127	type not stated
F	128	type not stated
F	129	type not stated
F	130	type not stated
F	131	type not stated
F	132	type not stated
F	133	type not stated
F	134	type not stated
F	135	type not stated
F	136	type not stated
F	137	type not stated
H	162	type not stated
H	163	type not stated
H	164	type not stated
H	165	type not stated
H	166	type not stated
H	167	type not stated
H	168	type not stated
H	169	type not stated
H	170	type not stated
H	171	type not stated
H	172	type not stated
H	173	type not stated
H	174	type not stated
H	175	type not stated
H	176	type not stated
H	177	type not stated
H	178	type not stated
H	179	type not stated
H	180	type not stated
H	181	type not stated
H	182	type not stated
I	183	standard nonelectric			$20
I	184	standard nonelectric			$20
I	185	standard nonelectric			$20
I	186	standard nonelectric			$20
I	187	standard nonelectric			$20
I	188	standard nonelectric			$20
I	189	standard nonelectric			$20
I	190	standard nonelectric			$20
I	191	standard nonelectric			$20
I	192	standard nonelectric			$20
I	193	standard nonelectric			$20
I	194	standard nonelectric			$20
I	195	standard nonelectric			$20
I	196	standard nonelectric			$20
I	197	standard nonelectric			$20
I	198	standard nonelectric			$20
I	199	standard nonelectric			$20
I	200	standard nonelectric			$20
I	201	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
I	202	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	203	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
I	204	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	205	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	206	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	207	standard nonelectric	22 ft		$20
I	208	standard nonelectric	22 ft		$20
I	209	standard nonelectric	20 ft		$20
I	210	standard nonelectric	26 ft		$20
I	211	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	212	standard nonelectric	26 ft		$20
I	213	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	214	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
I	215	standard nonelectric	26 ft		$20
I	216	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	217	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
I	218	standard nonelectric	28 ft		$20
I	219	standard nonelectric	22 ft		$20
I	220	standard nonelectric	27 ft		$20
I	221	standard nonelectric	30 ft		$20
Z	300	type not stated	30 ft	yes
Z	301	type not stated	35 ft	yes
	XXX67	not stated	30 ft		$20

The agency files 9 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It doesn’t classify them at all. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Oct 1, 2026

25 of 205 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate34.32556, -117.83722

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone626-335-1251

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Deer Group CampSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 0.5 mi Coldbrook CampgroundSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 2.4 mi

Jackson FlatsSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 3.3 mi

Buckhorn CampgroundSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 4.6 mi Southfork CampgroundSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 4.9 mi Big Rock CampgroundSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 5.5 mi

Getting there

From Azusa, take Highway 39 north for twenty-five miles, through San Gabriel Canyon. Follow the signs to Crystal Lake. When you come to Crystal Lake Road, turn right to Crystal Lake. Stop at fee station.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today57°Sunny1% rain

Tonight43°Mostly Clear1% rain

Saturday58°Sunny

Saturday Night40°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Glendora, CA

Source: National Weather Service, LOX forecast office · Oct 16, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 37°F, day 64°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 25°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°20°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: WRIGHTWOOD, CA (USC00049822), 12 miles away and 300 ft higher

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Watch

San Gabriel Mountains National Monumentrollback

Roadless

San Gabriel Add2,527 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area

Roadless

Westfork4,407 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area

Roadless

Sheep Mountain21,098 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Sep 30, 2026

Who answers for this land

Crystal Lake is in California’s 28th congressional district. Its representative, Judy Chu (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 131 of the 196 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 3.7 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 1,201 rated federal campgrounds in California · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026