Big Bear Ranger District

Description:

• Visiting the Ranger District is significantly enhanced if visitors stop by the Big Bear Discovery Center upon arrival to the area. The Center is both a portal to the forest and a destination in itself. Guests visit for naturalist-led interpretive programs, evening nature lectures, hiking information, purchasing of permits, and for the enjoyment of constantly changing exhibits. Several detailed maps, describing 22 adventures on the mountaintop, are available for $1.50 each at the Big Bear Discovery Center. You can also purchase guides to mountain bike trails, off-highway vehicle roads and hiking trails at the Center.

  The Big Bear Valley has some of the most stimulating and picturesque hiking trails in all of Southern California. They range from the paved Alpine Petal Path, so smooth and relatively flat that it's easily accessible for hikers, joggers, skaters, strollers and even wheelchairs. Others, however, are conservatively rated as strenuous. The more difficult trails are recommended for only the most physically fit and experienced trekkers.

  One of the best places to view wildlife in Big Bear is the Stanfield Cut-off, the causeway that crosses the eastern portion of Big Bear Lake. All year watch for white pelicans, coots, great blue herons, and mergansers, and in winter watch for bald eagles.

  The District has a series of gentle riding trails that connect with the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. Equestrians can find overnight accommodations at Greenspot and Big Pine Flats Equestrian campgrounds.

  There are six family campgrounds (three reservable) with features that include handicapped accessible sites, hot showers, drinking water, and nearby fishing opportunities. The District also has the largest number of group campgrounds in the San Bernardino National Forest. The twelve group areas accommodate numbers as low as 15 and as many as 60. All but two group areas are reservable.
  
  Aspen Glen, Grout Bay, and Meadow's Edge are the three picnic sites. Drinking water on site, nearby fishing opportunities and handicapped accessible sites are found at Grout Bay and Meadow's Edge only. Generally, the picnic areas are equipped with tables, stoves or barbecues, and vault toilets.

  Big Bear Lake is an angler's delight. Lake populations include trout, largemouth bass, and other game fish. Hunting is permitted at certain times of the year; waterfowl can be hunted on Baldwin Lake. All fishing and hunting is regulated by the California Department of Fish and Game.

  Recreations on Big Bear include a variety of camping and fishing options, motorized vehicular use, picnicking, swimming, canoeing, bird watching, nature study, wildlife and wildflower observation.

  Forest visitors on the San Bernardino, Cleveland, Angeles and Los Padres National Forests of Southern California are required to purchase an Adventure Pass and display it on their vehicle when parked in the Forest. The cost is $5 per day or $30 per year and can be purchased in any Forest Service office or over 350 businesses throughout Southern California.

  The Big Bear Ranger District is located in the San Bernardino Mountains approximately 15 miles north of San Bernardino. It is located in Skyforest on Highway 18, a quarter-mile east of the Lake Arrowhead turnoff (Highway 173).