page_title: Crystal Reservoir
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Crystal Reservoir / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: A nature trail bridge below the Morrow Point Dam in the Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park, Colorado The river to the right is the Gunnison River. The confluence of the Cimmarron River and the Gunnison is at left. Two fishermen are at top center of the photograph. This is an HDR image created from 4 original digital image captures.
context_page_description: Crystal Reservoir is a 340-acre artificial reservoir on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the lake was created in 1976 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of a larger plan to impound the upper section of the Gunnison for the generation of hydroelectric power, water storage, and public recreation. Crystal Reservoir is managed by the National Park Service as an element of the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Located at the far western end of Curecanti, Crystal Reservoir is the smallest, least developed, and least accessible of the three reservoirs within the park.
context_section_description: Crystal Reservoir is part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, a National Park Service administered area responsible for developing and managing recreation facilities on the three reservoirs of the Aspinall Unit. 
  
   Recreational opportunities at Crystal include boating (hand-carried craft only), camping, and hiking.  There are two small developed areas near the reservoir, Mesa Creek Trailhead and Crystal Creek Trailhead.  Mesa Creek Trailhead is located immediately west of Point Morrow Dam, and can be accessed from a one-mile road running north of U.S. 50 at Cimarron. 
   Hand-launched watercraft can be launched into Crystal from Mesa Creek.  A single boat-in campsite is located approximately 4 miles west of Mesa Creek at the mouth of Crystal Creek.  Mesa Creek is also the trailhead for the Mesa Creek Trail, a fairly to moderately strenuous 1.5 mile round trip that crosses the reservoir on a footbridge and travels west along the north shore. Though Mesa Creek is a day-use facility, developed campsites are available at nearby Cimarron.  Crystal Creek Trailhead is located on Colorado Highway 92, 24 miles west of Blue Mesa Dam and offers access to the 5-mile (round trip) Crystal Creek Trail.  Moderately strenuous, Crystal Creek trail does reach the water but ends at an overlook 1800 ft. above the reservoir.
caption: Bridge over Crystal Reservoir at Mesa Creek Trailhead near Cimarron.
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