# Remember Crystal Lake?



## letsgohuntin

Im sure many of you south Ga folks have great memories of weekends spent at Crystal Lake. Take a look at it now, it's just sad to see it like this. The part that is still holding water is down where the old caves used to be.


----------



## Jranger

An old quarry?


----------



## Oldstick

Yes, I do remember.  And we went even once when my kids were little, and they had a blast with all the water slides.  That would have been about 15 years ago, so I know it was still open then.  I remember you would always see the guy who owned it, he always had that cowboy hat on.

Is it that low because of the drought or has it just gone down hill for lack of maintenence?


----------



## letsgohuntin

For those of you who are not from this area, Crystal Lake was a huge lime sink and water park about 18 miles west of Fitzgerald near Irwinville.

It was a huge weekend get away, basically "the beach" without leaving the area. It had a water park with slides, campgrounds, and white sand beaches. The water was very clear, and chasing the many fish was a favorite of kids.


----------



## Buck

Wow! even this North Georgia boy was there many years ago...  That's a pretty sad sight right there..  Is this due to the drought?


----------



## letsgohuntin

greers57 said:


> Is it that low because of the drought or has it just gone down hill for lack of maintenence?



The email that I got the pic in said it was the drought. If I remeber right , it was spring fed.


----------



## turtlebug

That is so odd.  I was thinking about that place the other day.  Used to be a weekend getaway when I was in high school.  Keys to a car meant weekend trips there.  It was a blast.

That's just sad.


----------



## Muddyfoots

Man.!!! I remember it well....


----------



## BOWHUNTER!

Isn't that the same lake that Jason Vorhees was drowned?


----------



## letsgohuntin

turtlebug said:


> That is so odd.  I was thinking about that place the other day.



Same here! Just yesterday I started to post on here asking if anyone knew whatever happened to Crystal Lake and then I got this email today!

Also, do yall remember Holiday Beach... it was near Douglas I think.


----------



## curtis lowe

jujujuju jhjhjhjh jujujuju jhjhjhjh.


----------



## Wishin I was Fishin

i dont remember, but it looks like Crystal Puddle now


----------



## whenders

Some of us guys would play hooky back in the 60's and go spend the day there. Later in life took my family there many times.
Can't remember any names but there has been several drownings over the years.


----------



## deedly

Did it used to be named "Tripps Beach" ?


----------



## Sultan of Slime

I remember it use to have swingsets in the water so you could jump out of em.It was the redneck riviera in the 80's.


----------



## jmfdakaniterider2

deedly said:


> Did it used to be named "Tripps Beach" ?


 That's in Cochran Ga!!!!


----------



## jmfdakaniterider2

letsgohuntin said:


> Same here! Just yesterday I started to post on here asking if anyone knew whatever happened to Crystal Lake and then I got this email today!
> 
> Also, do yall remember Holiday Beach... it was near Douglas I think.



Went to see George Jones at Holiday Beach And found out why they called him NO SHOW JONES!!!!


----------



## Deer Fanatic

Crystal lake is closed now,and has been for several years.I spent many a day there.There was a drowning there and after that it was closed down.


----------



## curtis lowe

deedly said:


> Did it used to be named "Tripps Beach" ?


----------



## Tomboy Boots

turtlebug said:


> That is so odd.  I was thinking about that place the other day.  Used to be a weekend getaway when I was in high school.  Keys to a car meant weekend trips there.  It was a blast.
> 
> That's just sad.



Thats REALLY odd...just last night my daughter and her boyfriend came over and she wanted to show him old photo albums... And there were pictures from when my daughter was about 5 or 6 yrs. old, going down the water slide with a huge smile on her face. She was saying how she loved it, how much fun she had. I still have a pink crop top bought from the gift shop that says "Crystal Lake", fringed on the bottom and sleeves, never wore it.


----------



## deedly

jmfdakaniterider2 said:


> That's in Cochran Ga!!!!



10-4,,  I got confused


----------



## Researcher31726

Yep, I remember Crystal and holiday both. Wow.
Sue


----------



## Red Man

letsgohuntin said:


> Same here! Just yesterday I started to post on here asking if anyone knew whatever happened to Crystal Lake and then I got this email today!
> 
> Also, do yall remember Holiday Beach... it was near Douglas I think.



Yep, I spent my share of time at Crystal lake. Still go buy every couple of weeks on my way to visit family. I grew up in Douglas and remember Holiday beach very well. Before it was Holiday Beach it was 5 private ponds with excellent fishing. Now it's an upscale housing subdivision called Bay Meadows.


----------



## biggsteve

*a must read!*

any of you guys got access to a metal detector?  now, that the lake is dry would be a good time to search for all those rings, bracelets, and necklaces that were lost in the water.  plus, imagine how many old coins rolled out of little pockets when the kiddies went down the water slide.  this is what many beach combers dream about!  everybody, over the years, has lost jewelry one time or another while at a park.  imagine the tons of stuff that's there, just inches below the surface of the sand!  hurry now.  p.s.--i'll take a 10% finders fee for givin' you the idea!--steve


----------



## Snakeman

letsgohuntin said:


> Also, do yall remember Holiday Beach... it was near Douglas I think.


No way I could forget Holiday Beach.  I met the Snake Charmer (my wife) while working at Holiday Beach 30+ years ago.

I remember going to Crystal Lake before there was a "water park" there.

The Snakeman


----------



## maker4life

Now that's a blast from the past . I spent several weekends dragging those heavy sleds up the big slide in the lake that seemed to be miles high back then . It may have taken twnty minutes to get to the top but those three seconds going down were well worth it .It also always amazed me to get up high then look down and see all the fish at the bottom of the slides , I bet there were some pretty nice bass in that lake .


----------



## KDarsey

jmfdakaniterider2 said:


> That's in Cochran Ga!!!!




Nope...........Eastman,Ga.


----------



## ALLBEEF

Been there several times - and my grandmother use to tell about going over there when she was just a little girl in the 1930's!!


----------



## SGADawg

I remember Crystal Lake well.  I got my first kiss there from the lady I later married!  35 years later we're still going strong.

Great memories of Holiday Beach, waterskiing, camping, going to concerts at the Opry House.  As previously stated, it's all private now, sold for building lots.  Still some good fishing if you can get an invite from a resident.


----------



## letsgohuntin

biggsteve said:


> any of you guys got access to a metal detector?  now, that the lake is dry would be a good time to search for all those rings, bracelets, and necklaces that were lost in the water.



Ya know I 'll bet you are right... there are probably many rings,bracelets,etc laying around that place. Wonder if the owner has thought of that?  



maker4life said:


> It also always amazed me to get up high then look down and see all the fish at the bottom of the slides , I bet there were some pretty nice bass in that lake .



There were some very nice bass in there at the time. I remember camping there one time, and after the park closed in the evening you could go down to the lake which was totally deserted. The bass would then come up around the docks and you could see them well through the clear water. 

I'll bet there is still plenty of fish in that end that's still holding water. It appears to still be fresh water, at least it doesn't look stagnant.


----------



## Allen Oliver

I live about 1/2 mile from Crystal Lake. I too spent a lot of time at the Lake growing up. 4th of July was always a big party. Remeber those Fire works shows DeerFanatic?? Good Old days. Here is Picture my Dad took last year.


----------



## RBaldree

*Crystal Lake - SAD*

There are a number of different reasons and explainations for the demise of Crystal Lake, but I too grew up very close to there, two of my siblings worked summers there in the 80's, and my spouse worked for the owner in his pecan business as well. I cannot count the number of times I swam in those waters, and in later years slid down the slides and the like. Great fireworks on the 4th too. A.N. even had that little air strip so you could fly a small plane in and land right there.

What I have been told is that the whole thing is shut down since a summer several years ago when some folks in Atlanta got a bright idea to bring busloads of inner-city kids down to the lake, and a boy drowned. Then, just a couple of weeks later, the same thing happened again.

Remember the floating rafts out in the water, where the water was 10-12 feet deep? Imagine a crowd of 30-40 kids thrashing and playing around that float? Now, in your memory remember it again and tell me if there were exactly the same number of kids as there were before. That was the dilemma presented to the lifeguards. There were no parents watching, and the bus drivers were in the concession stand trying to stay cool. Just having a sign saying that you aren't responsible doesn't make you not responsible, it just makes a lawyer start salivating.

Now, it is a ghost town till the lawsuits and the insurance finish gutting each other and the owner, and I seriously doubt it will ever be back..

The old legend about the place said there was a hole in Crystal Lake that went all the way down, and no one had been able to plumb the bottom of it. The color and temperature of the water told me that the hole extended down to the aquafer, where there was a crystal clear stream of cold water running from Appalacia down to North Florida. Seems like it is all that is left now. Between the drought and the pivot irrigation systems pulling water out of the ground faster than it can be replaced, many many people are having to re-dig old wells and try to keep up with a water table dropping like a stone.  

You can see the results of them bringing in sand for years, trying to keep the beaches white sand, and then having that sand get tracked into the water (and carried home in my swimsuit).


----------



## Doyle

I also swam there as a teenager.  That is where I ruined my left ear drum - an injury that to this day makes scuba diving difficult and free diving impossible.


----------



## GrandSlamHunter

It was a popular place back in my high school years. Also took my kids there when they were small. It's a shame today's youth can't enjoy it.


----------



## wild_linesides

Looking at that picture reminds me of a spring lake that was near me called "Blue Springs". (Screven County, next to Savannah River)It too, is now dry. Lots of rumors circulate as to the demise of the springs, but maybe its just the natural cycle of a spring. There is also a lake near Blue Springs that is also now dry, and has been for several years, that was supposedly spring fed.


----------



## White Stag

man... a lot of childhood memories in that place of church trips gone by...


----------



## TMAC

I remember going there. Many moons ago.

Tripps beach is in Eastman.


----------



## GoFish

Came across this thread while doing a search.  How does the lake look now after all the rain we got over the weekend?

I'll go old school on ya'll.  

How many remember Johnson's Lake near Alma, GA?


----------



## fishbit

I remember hearing...."Turn around, Do Not Attempt to swim across the lake"


----------



## Keebs

fishbit said:


> I remember hearing...."Turn around, Do Not Attempt to swim across the lake"



Yeah, quiet a few times a day you'd hear that!
I grew up a few miles from there too -- nothing like packing a cooler & basket & going for alll day long - - man, I miss that place!!


----------



## Wiskey_33

Doesn't look like it's gettin' any better.


----------



## cujo

Does anyone know the names of any cave divers who might have explored this sink?
I think a sneak dive might be in order here.


----------



## Keebs

cujo said:


> Does anyone know the names of any cave divers who might have explored this sink?
> I think a sneak dive might be in order here.



If you could just get me PERMISSION to go on the place, I would love you forever & a day!!  From what I am told, someone from the Irwin County Sheriff's dept. rents the trailer out there & the gate stays locked.
I have always *heard* that there have been divers that went down, but at least one didn't come back, one came out somewhere on the Alapaha River - - but I've never talked to anyone that actually did a dive.


----------



## SouthGaTrophyHunter

Spent many days there too. That was one of the coolest places you could of ever had growing up. White sand, clear cool water, and all those old oaks standing all over, oh almost forgot about all the girls that would hang out there. Even partook in a few adult beverages, even though we were all underage. 

Anyone remember all the road blocks they used to have out there?


----------



## Doc_5729

*Crystal Lake myspace page*

Looks like a local started a myspace page. 

Saw two photo albums. Looks like it was a nice place.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=165463584


----------



## Jim Thompson

chh chhh chhh, hah hah hah


----------



## Wiskey_33

Jim Thompson said:


> chh chhh chhh, hah hah hah



Exactly what I was thinking.


----------



## whitetaco02

Spent quite a few days there myself!


----------



## Rabbit Runner

with all the rain that we have got the last few days here in irwin county, the ol lake may just fill back up.


----------



## JohnBenoit09

I know the man who lives down there personally and could get permission to go out there. I've worked with the guy not to long ago. I was even offered to hunt the many 8,000 acres


----------



## Colonel K0rn

Mr. Bobby Pennington, who was my middle school principal in Perry, GA was the owner of the land, if I'm not mistaken. He had the whitest teeth of anyone that I've EVER seen. And this was before Zoom whitening was available. 

I wondered what happened to it when I was wanting to take my kids out for a weekend getaway, and I couldn't find it. I guess business literally "dried up". Guess I know now.


----------



## Rugby1974

*Cb*

Wow..a blast from the past.  I grew up in South GA, and went there often. I am in Atlanta now. Are there any comparable places to go to now anywhere in Georgia? The Beach at Clayton County International Park and Lake Lanier just don't compare.


----------



## huntingonthefly

Snakeman said:


> No way I could forget Holiday Beach.  I met the Snake Charmer (my wife) while working at Holiday Beach 30+ years ago.
> 
> I remember going to Crystal Lake before there was a "water park" there.
> 
> The Snakeman



Worked there about 28 yrs. ago when Raymond Dingman had it


----------



## MustangMAtt30

Some friends of mine got hacked up out there by a dude in a hockey mask.......so I am trying to forget Crystal Lake.


----------



## nhancedsvt

I was just thinking of that place not too long ago. A summer daycare I was at used to go there several times during the summer. It was one of the coolest places ever. Brings back a lot of old memories.


----------



## ArmyTaco

How about Jay Bird Springs? Remember that one?


----------



## Strych9

Tomboy Boots said:


> Thats REALLY odd...just last night my daughter and her boyfriend came over and she wanted to show him old photo albums... And there were pictures from when my daughter was about 5 or 6 yrs. old, going down the water slide with a huge smile on her face. She was saying how she loved it, how much fun she had. I still have a pink crop top bought from the gift shop that says "Crystal Lake", fringed on the bottom and sleeves, never wore it.




Imagine that!


----------



## Steve T

our son is now 20 we went when he was 3 or 4 and lost him, we had all the lifegards looking for him he was at someones picknic eating there food very scary day we still talk about that today but it was a nice place


----------



## bam_bam

Isnt part of it a hunting club now?


----------



## JohnBenoit09

yeah there are thousands of acres and only a man his father and the mans sons hunt it a fews times a season. the guy i know lives on the property for free watching over the place


----------



## letsgohuntin

Steve T said:


> our son is now 20 we went when he was 3 or 4 and lost him, we had all the lifegards looking for him he was at someones picknic eating there food very scary day we still talk about that today but it was a nice place



oh wow I bet that was a nightmare!


----------



## MustangMAtt30

Tomboy Boots said:


> I still have a pink crop top bought from the gift shop that says "Crystal Lake", fringed on the bottom and sleeves, never wore it.



This post is useless without pictures.


----------



## GAX

Ahhhh.. The memories.. Went there every Just about every Sunday.. Girls, beer, sun, and water..

Hunted it a coupe of times in the late 80's....

Old man Adcock... I guess he's still keepin' the drugs flown in there...


----------



## Danuwoa

Had some fun times there as a kid.


----------



## reeves1

*Crystal Lake Remembrances*

Crystal Lake and its surroundings were one of my favorite haunts around 1950-1952, my last two years of high school. Two cousins and myself went there dozens of times. We loved to fish Crystal Lake, and usually did so at the deep end. Caught a lot of nice bass there, and some bream. In the winter, we tramped through the woods around it squirrel hunting. There used to be a fisherman's shack at a fishing hole on the Alapaha river way back in the woods, and we camped there some, catching mostly catfish and gar. There was another sink back in the woods called "Devil's Den," which was a spooky place, but didn't seem to have any fish in it. The last very small sink we frequented was south of Crystal Lake a bit, and was called "Deep Hole," or "Opal Lake," I don't exactly remember which. It had fish in it, but the fish were starved and too thin to eat. We went there mostly for the adventure. I imagine it's called "Dry Hole" now. People swam at Crystal Lake back then, but occasionally something in the water would cause an annoying itch, so it wasn't too popular at the time. I remember one time we built a diver's helmet out of an old water heater tank, a bicycle pump, and a piece of hose, and talked one among us to be the diver. Needless to say, it didn't work, and our volunteer almost drowned. I returned to the lake many years later for a looksee, but it was so messed up it made me sick. I haven't been back, as I would rather remember it as the idyllic place it was when I was growing up. By the way, anyone wanting to know more about the lake should look up the section in "History of Irwin County" about "Bone Lake" for the way-back history of the lake.


----------



## LLove

i gotta be honest.. i had no idea this was a real place i thought it was just the basis for the jason voorhees movies..  
sounds like it used to be a cool place tho


----------



## Keebs

LLove said:


> i gotta be honest.. i had no idea this was a real place i thought it was just the basis for the jason voorhees movies..
> sounds like it used to be a cool place tho



LL, it really was!


----------



## Hut2

Been there a ton in the 70's & 80's! People from all over the s.e. went there. My wife's from close to Tampa,Fl. and she went with a church group back in the 80's.There's another spring fed lake several miles n. on the ten mile stretch called Colemans Pond. Not as big but very deep. People drowned there too. All gated up & all now but in 99 we put our boat in there with my dept finder & showed 68 ft. around where it is fed. But, Devil's Den is in N. Ben Hill Co.on Hwy 90 .It is sad to see those lakes dry up though. If they could only talk of the thousands that visited .How bout Poor Robins clear & would make yo teeth chatter it was so cold .


----------



## Keebs

Hut2 said:


> Been there a ton in the 70's & 80's! People from all over the s.e. went there. My wife's from close to Tampa,Fl. and she went with a church group back in the 80's.There's another spring fed lake several miles n. on the ten mile stretch called Colemans Pond. Not as big but very deep. People drowned there too. All gated up & all now but in 99 we put our boat in there with my dept finder & showed 68 ft. around where it is fed. But, Devil's Den is in N. Ben Hill Co.on Hwy 90 .It is sad to see those lakes dry up though. If they could only talk of the thousands that visited .How bout Poor Robins clear & would make yo teeth chatter it was so cold .


Talk about cold, how about (I know I ain't gonna spell it right) Osiwissee????


----------



## ArmyTaco

Is that what Fed Jay Bird Springs? I remember going to Crystal Lake when I was a kid. Also Jay Bird Springs and the pool would be so cold even in July and August it would take your breath away. I am only 22 and remember both those places.


----------



## Keebs

ArmyTaco said:


> Is that what Fed Jay Bird Springs? I remember going to Crystal Lake when I was a kid. Also Jay Bird Springs and the pool would be so cold even in July and August it would take your breath away. I am only 22 and remember both those places.



Naw Osiwissee is in Southern Wilcox County, another cold spring fed water hole.


----------



## holton27596

I spent many an evening at jaybird springs back in the 70s.


----------



## Rosebud

I have not been on this site before and I'm not sure that I'm doing it correctly.  I remember Crystal Lake from back in the 50's.  I remember the old pavilion, the one that had the duck pin bowling alley, the dance floor, and the skating rink upstairs.  I spent many happy hours there.  I remember that they got a juke box that played records and also had a movie of the performing group that was shown on a TV size screen on top of the box.  I don't know what it was called and I think that when TV got popular it probably put an end to this instrument.

My Dad, who was born in 1914, said that the lake was known as Bone's Pond in the early days because it was owned by a man whos last name was Bone.

If anyone has any pictures of the old pavilion, I would love to have some copies.  If you could scan some and send them my way I would appreciate it.

I remember that the water level in the lake would change from year to year.  Sometimes the water would come up to the back of the pavilion, which had a long concrete wali going out into the lake.  At other times, it would be a long way down the walk to the water.  Lots of good times there.


----------



## mauser64

Hung there during my days at ABAC in the early 80's. 

Now for a REAL blast from the past, who remembers Misty Waters off Panola (or Candler) rd in the ATL?


----------



## ChiefOsceola

Our farm is only about 6 miles from there.  Crystal Lake is just one of the many lakes that make up the Alapaha River around there (it's undergroup and pops up in places and makes these lakes).  Some of the other Alapaha lakes around there are Sandhill Lake and Coleman's Pond.

Does anyone remember Malone's Lake in Dublin?  Talk about a redneck riviera!  That was the place to be in the 80s though!


----------



## Nicodemus

holton27596 said:


> I spent many an evening at jaybird springs back in the 70s.



Me too, in the late 60s and early 70s. That was the first actual swimmin` pool I ever bailed off in. We always swam in the river or the creek.


----------



## Rosebud

I know that I put a post on the Crystal Lake thread about the old pavilian, the one with the skating rink upstairs.  Did I do something wrong?  The post seems to have been removed.


----------



## Rosebud

Well, now the post seems to be back.


----------



## Oldstick

Nicodemus said:


> Me too, in the late 60s and early 70s. That was the first actual swimmin` pool I ever bailed off in. We always swam in the river or the creek.



I think Jaybird is still open, or re-opened,  at least I know we went camping there about 4 or 5 years ago.


----------



## Oldstick

ChiefOsceola said:


> Our farm is only about 6 miles from there.  Crystal Lake is just one of the many lakes that make up the Alapaha River around there (it's undergroup and pops up in places and makes these lakes).  Some of the other Alapaha lakes around there are Sandhill Lake and Coleman's Pond.
> 
> Does anyone remember Malone's Lake in Dublin?  Talk about a redneck riviera!  That was the place to be in the 80s though!



Oh, yeah!!, I was there from Valdosta State about 1980.  One of the the last times I recall girls riding on the back of a truck and making catcalls at me...

:
pop:


----------



## RUTTNBUCK

I wonder if this lake has filled back up with all the rain we have had recently??


----------



## havin_fun_huntin

RUTTNBUCK said:


> I wonder if this lake has filled back up with all the rain we have had recently??



seen a picture of it not long ago.  Its a 20x20 mudhole at best.


----------



## peanutman04

RUTTNBUCK said:


> I wonder if this lake has filled back up with all the rain we have had recently??



I always heard that they used to keep it full by pumping water out of the river into it. If you look on google earth you can see the canals they had dug from the river to within a few 100 yards of the lake.


----------



## mudracing101

peanutman04 said:


> I always heard that they used to keep it full by pumping water out of the river into it. If you look on google earth you can see the canals they had dug from the river to within a few 100 yards of the lake.



This is what i was told too.


----------

