20231119_123017Big Bear Lake (November 2023)

When one thinks of snow and skiing, the last place one would imagine to do so is in southern California. However, Big Bear Lake is just the place to go: situated high in the San Bernardino Mountains, it’s a popular destination that draws over 100,000 people every year to ski, canoe, and overall enjoy the nature just a few hour’s drive from the city. My family and I had a short trip to Big Bear Lake last November just before Thanksgiving, and it was a quick, but lovely getaway from Los Angeles.

First inhabited by the indigenous Serrano people for 2000 years, Big Bear Lake came to be in 1845 when fur trapper-explorer Benjamin Wilson passed through and trapped grizzly bears for pelts– as a result of the abundance of grizzly bears then-living in the area, Wilson appropriately named the land “Big Bear Lake.” However, the place did not experience economic boom until the Gold Rush from 1861 to 1912– from there, roads were built leading into the mountains, and soon became a popular destination not only for hiking and winter sports, but also for hot springs discovered there. Today, it attracts city people to enjoy a piece of that lakeview nature, for the great outdoors outside of the urban sprawl and pollution.

Big Bear Lake is located about 101 miles (162 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, and 25 miles (40 kilometers) from San Bernardino, the nearest big city to it. As mentioned, the lake is located in the mountains and requires driving the last 30 miles (48 kilometers) up a winding, cliff road to get there. It’s about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Los Angeles, although depending on traffic and holidays, it can even take an upwards of three to four hours to make it there!

My family and I left early at 8h30 to make the drive over– aside from a brief bathroom stop in Highland, we drove directly to Big Bear up the mountainside where we saw some incredible fall foliage throughout the San Bernardino Mountains. Especially as much of San Bernardino County is just dry desert, it’s hard to believe that it could be this green! Absolutely stunning.

We arrived into Big Bear Lake’s village by 11h30, and we got lunch at a Nepali/Tibetan restaurant located just off the main drag of Village Drive. The food was actually pretty good, as we were hungry and enjoyed a vast array of chicken and vegetarian momos, lamb curry, and palak paneer. Not to forget warm, delicious garlic naan– it was so good, we even ordered seconds! Despite being touristy, Big Bear Lake surprisingly has a diverse amount of restaurants to cater to just about every palate, from Mexican to German to Japanese, etc. Heck, the town even serves Hawaiian poke– fresh raw fish!

20231119_114526Chicken and veggie momos


20231119_114909Lamb curry, palak paneer, and garlic naan

After lunch, we had a brief gander at a small park by the lake front. It wasn’t snowing yet during our visit in late November, but it was still really cold at 50°F/10°C, not to forget windy. Following that, we headed to the Castle Rock trailhead for a hike: despite it only being 2 to 3 miles (3.2/4.8 kilometers) round trip, it was not an easy hike, as you start uphill right away, and it’s continuously uphill until you get to the iconic Castle Rock– from there, you can rock scramble to the top to get sweeping views of Big Bear Lake, which is brilliantly blue. I’m by no means an experienced climber, but I managed to scramble up to get the photos and views– but I don’t think I’ll do it again!

20231119_125813Hike to Castle Rock


20231119_132057Castle Rock


20231119_133409Views at the top of Castle Rock

We headed back towards the Village, making a couple of stops along the way. First was to Boulder Bay, where we stopped for views of the lake and the eponymous boulder in the middle of it– we also saw plenty of charming lake houses that I’m sure cost a fortune to rent out! Next was to Alpine Slide, an amusement park with rides like tobogganing and snow tubing. All of us paid $9 USD for a ride up the gondola to then toboggan downhill, which was short, but fun!

20231119_142348Boulder Bay


20231119_143410Hello, Louie!


20231119_151011Riding the Alpine Slide

Finally, we headed over to our hotel in the mid-afternoon, where we were able to check in early and rest a bit before heading into town for dinner. We settled on an Italian restaurant, which was packed at 17h30 when we went, but we were lucky to snag the last table inside without a reservation. We ordered a few salads and a plate of crab cakes to share, and I ordered a mushroom truffle pasta as my main– to be honest, I didn’t taste much (if any) truffle flavor, and overall, my dish was just-okay. Not the best Italian food I’ve had, but it did the trick to fill us up.

20231119_183911Mushroom truffle pasta

We were absolutely exhausted after dinner, so we returned to our hotel and rested for the remainder of the night. More of our time in Big Bear was to come the following day, and I’ll recap it soon. Stay tuned for Part 2! 🙂

— Rebecca

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Published by Rebecca

Blogger, world traveler, poet, foodie, part-time penguin. Welcome!

40 thoughts on “Destination: Big Bear Lake, California (PART 1)”

    1. The tobaggan was decently fast, although we could control the speed to go fast or slow. We did not pan for gold, as I didn’t know there was that option! Thanks for reading, Rebecca; Part 2 will be up soon!

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  4. Fun! I’ve heard of Big Bear but I’d never seen photos until now and I didn’t really know anything about it. It looks like the perfect little getaway, and the alpine slide looks like a lot of fun. And, of course, I’d enjoy the hike to the viewpoint!

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  7. For those who live in LA, it’s only natural that they need an escape from all the hustle and bustle and this looks like a wonderful place for a weekend getaway, especially as you get to ride the Alpine Slide – it looks so much fun. It’s incredible that you also get a chance to ski down its impressive slopes.

    When I think of Southern California, I envision a place where sunny days abound and golden-sand beaches are punctuated by surfers taking on the epic waves. So I didn’t expect that the list would include snow-filled fun all winter long. You live and you learn!

    Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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    1. Yes! It goes to show that southern California is so diverse in its topography, from warm sandy beaches to snow-capped mountains. It offers a bit of everything to satisfy everyone! Thanks for reading, Aiva 🙂

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  8. Fantastic views – the water is so blue! I smiled when you mentioned the restaurant was full at 17.30 – it always strikes us that Americans eat so much earlier than we do in Europe. We would usually go out to eat at 19.00 or 19.30, and even that is earlier than many people, especially in Spain! In rural parts of the US we’ve found that restaurants are getting ready to close around 20.00 when we would expect to be just tucking into our main course, so we have to adjust 😀

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    1. Haha, the inverse speaks to me! When I lived in Europe, it would astound me that restaurants wouldn’t open for dinner until 19h00; I would be starving by then! 18h00 is standard dinner time for Americans, and I tend to eat around that time (although sometimes 17h00 is the norm). Cultural differences collide!

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  9. I had no idea there could be snow in Southern California! Even though the weather was warmer for you, it does look like an amazing place to relax and get your nature fix! Boulder Bay looks beautiful and very peaceful, and the Alpine slide seems like such a fun thing to do!

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  11. Apart from the mediocre pasta, everything looks so good in your photos! I love how nice the weather was when you hiked the Castle Rock, and at the lake. But I’m most drawn into the momos. During the early months of the Covid pandemic, my housemate and I made them. It was fun!

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  13. The whole area looks very pretty Rebecca and great that you had such clear skies and views even though it was so cold. I appreciated the historic overview to put the place into context. It looks like you had a fun break, looking forward to reading more. While I fear my Alpine slide days are behind me the Nepalese food looks fabulous, we’d be all over that. Louie looks like he’d be fun to hang out with for a beer or two.

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  14. This looks like a very scenic area of California, and a great choice for a weekend getaway! Your experience of the alpine coaster has made me wonder whether I should investigate the one that has recently popped up near Edinburgh. Thanks for sharing 🙂

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  18. Such a beautiful deep blue, it looks like a great place to hike and spend some time. I’m familiar with many of the Native American tribes in the west but hadn’t heard of the Serrano people. Are they still at all in the area?

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