Crystal Lake Park offers 16.7 acres of water body for various activities. Although there is no boat launch for boating, canoeing and kayaking are accessible from the shoreline, which spans 3,000 feet. The average water depth is 9.5 feet and the maximum water depth is twenty feet, holding 217,000 m³ of water, making it a perfect swimming spot during the summer. For fishermen, Crystal Lake is home to many species of fish, including Yellow Perch, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Eastern Chain Pickerel, and Pumpkinseed. Crystal Lake is also home to many plants, ranging from Japanese Barberry shrubs to Cinnamon ferns to Groundnut vines.

 

Once known as Skenker’s Pond, and later Mosquito Pond, the Crystal Lake beachfront was developed into a bathing and swimming area used by the city of Manchester for swim meets. In 1942, improvements were made to the restroom facilities because of an increased popularity of the swimming site, and later on in 1987, one of the bathhouses was renovated. Legend tells about the “Hermit of Mosquito Pond,” a man named Charles Alan Lambert who came to Manchester in the mid 1800’s, and troubled with many woes, decided to live in self-seclusion on Crystal Lake. After buying a plot of land near the lake, he lived in seclusion, growing his own crops to meet his needs. Ironically, his hermitical acts caused many curious people to visit him in the summer season. Crystal Lake Park has accumulated a notable reputation for the “Hermit of Mosquito Pond.”