---
title: "Crystal Lake recreation site, 57 min from Prince George"
description: "Crystal Lake: recreation site, 57 min from downtown Prince George. Ice fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Toilets, picnic tables, fire rings."
url: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crystal-lake/
markdown: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crystal-lake.md
site: PG Pulse (https://princegeorgepulse.ca), The pulse of Prince George, British Columbia
generated: 2026-10-16T16:44:18.367Z
---

# Crystal Lake

Recreation site, 57 min from downtown Prince George.

[Directions](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=54.4207,-122.61497) [Recreation Sites and Trails BC](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC1122) [Map](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crystal-lake/#map)

## About

> This site provides three DAY-USE ONLY areas along the edge of Crystal Lake (no camping at this site, but nearby Emerald Lake offers camping). Each site offers the basic amenities of 2 tables, 2 fire rings and 1 pit toilet.

From Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue).

## What’s there

### Activities

- [Ice fishing](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=ice-fishing)
- [Canoeing and kayaking](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=paddling)

### Amenities

- Toilets
- Picnic tables
- Fire rings

As published by Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue).

## Getting there

Travel ~65kms north of Prince George, turn right off of Hwy 97 (look for the "McEwan" sign). Keep to the left at the first junction and follow the main access road. The first of three sites is located at 2km. An alternate recreation site, Emerald Lake, is open/available at 3km (keep left past Crystal Lake).

Driving directions from Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue). Forest service roads can be rough or closed: check [DriveBC](https://www.drivebc.ca/) for highways.

## Map

[Read the full list without the map](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/maps/list/?layer=rec-sites)

Tap a marker for details and directions. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

## Nearby

- [Emerald Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/emerald-lake/) Recreation site 0.5 km
- [Crystal Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crystal-lake-ki1wyob/) Lake 0.6 km
- [McEwan Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/mcewan-lake/) Lake 5.7 km
- [Hart Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/hart-lake/) Lake 5.9 km
- [Augustine Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/augustine-lake/) Lake 6.5 km
- [Dominion Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/dominion-lake/) Lake 6.8 km
- [Crooked River Park](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crooked-river-park/) Provincial park 6.9 km
- [Log Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/log-lake/) Lake 7.2 km

- **Drive from downtown**: 57 min, 68 km by road
- **Straight-line distance**: 57 km from downtown
- **Maintenance**: Maintained to Standard
- **Access**: Road, 2 Wheel Drive
- **Good for**: Summer and winter
- **Coordinates**: 54.42070, -122.61497

## Links

- [Recreation Sites and Trails BC page](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC1122)
- [BC freshwater fishing regulations](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/sports-culture/recreation/fishing-hunting/fishing/fishing-regulations)
- [Recreation Sites and Trails BC](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/)
- [Fire bans and restrictions](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/prevention/fire-bans-and-restrictions)

[Wildfires and fire bans](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/wildfire/)

Source: [Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue)](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC1122). Open Government Licence – British Columbia.

Drive time: OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data.

Source read 2 days ago

[Report a problem](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/feedback/?kind=correction&page=%2Foutdoors%2Fcrystal-lake%2F&subject=Outdoors%3A+Crystal+Lake)

## More in Explore

[See all in Explore](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/browse/#explore)

- [Things to do Parks, trails, indoor fun](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/visit/)
- [Indoor fun Things to do on rainy and cold days](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/visit/indoor-activities/)
- [Where to stay Hotels, motels, B&Bs and campgrounds](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/visit/where-to-stay/)
- [History and places The bowl, the rivers, the railway](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/explore/)
- [Lheidli T’enneh Whose land this is](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/indigenous/)
- [Land and resources Forests, mines, geography](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/resources/)

## Data

Machine-readable data behind this page, from the free PG Pulse API (https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/).

### Place data

Source: [BC Parks Data API, Recreation Sites and Trails BC and the BC Freshwater Atlas (BC Data Catalogue), OpenStreetMap](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/bc-parks-data-api-access). Licence: Open Government Licence – British Columbia (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/policy-standards/data-policies/open-data/open-government-licence-bc) for BC Parks, Recreation Sites and Trails BC and Freshwater Atlas places; ODbL 1.0 © OpenStreetMap contributors (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) for OpenStreetMap places and drive times; each place names its own source. Updated 2026-10-14T11:40:15.055Z.
JSON: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/outdoors/crystal-lake

- **slug**: crystal-lake
- **name**: Crystal Lake
- **category**: rec-sites
- **categories**: rec-sites
- **kind**: Recreation site
- **lat**: 54.4207
- **lng**: -122.61497
- **kmFromCentre**: 56.7
- **driveKm**: 67.9
- **driveMinutes**: 56.9
- **offRoadMetres**: _none_
- **elevationM**: _none_
- **areaHa**: _none_
- **lengthKm**: _none_
- **activities**: ice-fishing, paddling
- **amenities**: Toilets, Picnic tables, Fire rings
- **seasons**: summer, winter
- **lake**: Crystal Lake
- **park**: _none_
- **closure**: _none_
- **advisories**: _none_
- **description**: This site provides three DAY-USE ONLY areas along the edge of Crystal Lake (no camping at this site, but nearby Emerald Lake offers camping). Each site offers the basic amenities of 2 tables, 2 fire rings and 1 pit toilet.
- **directions**: Travel ~65kms north of Prince George, turn right off of Hwy 97 (look for the "McEwan" sign). Keep to the left at the first junction and follow the main access road. The first of three sites is located at 2km. An alternate recreation site, Emerald Lake, is open/available at 3km (keep left past Crystal Lake).
- **page**: <https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crystal-lake/>
- **source**: Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue)
- **sourceUrl**: <https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC1122>
- **licence**: Open Government Licence – British Columbia (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/policy-standards/data-policies/open-data/open-government-licence-bc)
- **fetchedAt**: 2026-10-14T11:40:15.055Z
- **onShore**: _none_

#### links

| label | url |
| --- | --- |
| Recreation Sites and Trails BC page | https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC1122 |


#### nearby

| slug | name | category | categories | kind | lat | lng | distanceKm | kmFromCentre | driveKm |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| emerald-lake | Emerald Lake | rec-sites | rec-sites, campgrounds, boat-launches, swimming | Recreation site | 54.42256 | -122.60758 | 0.5 | 57 | 68.5 |
| crystal-lake-ki1wyob | Crystal Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 54.41566 | -122.61826 | 0.6 | 56.1 | 69.3 |
| mcewan-lake | McEwan Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 54.42901 | -122.52804 | 5.7 | 58.7 | 93.7 |
| hart-lake | Hart Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 54.4686 | -122.65333 | 5.9 | 61.6 | 70.7 |
| augustine-lake | Augustine Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 54.36233 | -122.62709 | 6.5 | 50.1 | 59.6 |
| dominion-lake | Dominion Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 54.45206 | -122.70498 | 6.8 | 59.6 | 71.8 |
| crooked-river-park | Crooked River Park | provincial-parks | provincial-parks, campgrounds, swimming | Provincial park | 54.47323 | -122.67132 | 6.9 | 62 | 74.5 |
| log-lake | Log Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 54.35568 | -122.60835 | 7.2 | 49.6 | 61.2 |

_Nested fields (links) are in the JSON version._

---

Markdown version of https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/crystal-lake/. Guide for AI agents: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/llms.txt. Free API: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/