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Tag: big bear lake

  • Here’s where to enjoy the snow over Thanksgiving weekend

    Snow enthusiasts can kick off the winter season over Thanksgiving weekend by hitting the slopes for skiing, tubing and snowboarding.

    Only two Southern California snow spots have opened for the season, but they are inviting the public to don snow gear and breathe in that fresh mountain air.

    Highway 38, a key link to Big Bear is closed for repairs after an intense storm wiped out the road in September.

    But three other routes are available to reach Big Bear Lake: Highway 330 (through Highland), Highway 18 (through San Bernardino and Crestline) and Highway 18 (through the Lucerne Valley).

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A snowboarder takes a jump Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, as he enjoys spring-like condtions at Mountain High Resorts in Wrightwood. The mountain received more than a foot of new snow and has opened five trails and three lifts. Colder temperatures are expected next week. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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Big Bear Snow Play

Big Bear Snow Play is open after recent storms brought fresh snowfall  — enough to run three full-length snow tubing runs for the Thanksgiving weekend.

“The timing is perfect for those looking for something to do this Thanksgiving,” Big Bear Snow Play Director of Operations Scott Voigt said in a Monday, Nov. 24, news release.

Tubing is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. At night, glow tubing starts Friday, Nov. 28, and is from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and holiday nights.

Big Bear Snow Play is at 42825 Big Bear Blvd, in Big Bear Lake.

For information, call 909-585-0075 or click here.

Big Bear Mountain Resort

Big Bear Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake has not yet opened for the season and does not know when it will be welcoming guests, resort spokesperson Justin Kanton said in a Wednesday, Nov. 26, email.

The resort — which includes Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and Snow Valley — hopes to know more in the next week, he wrote.

Mountain High Resorts

Though the Big Bear-area resorts aren’t expected to be open this weekend, Mountain High Resorts in Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains is already doing business.

The resort reported 12-16 inches of snow, with a total of 14 inches of snow expected over a seven-day period for this week. Two lifts and five trails will be open over Thanksgiving weekend.

Jordan B. Darling

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  • Small earthquake cluster hits near Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County

    A series of small earthquakes hit near the Big Bear area in San Bernardino County starting late Saturday night into Sunday morning.

    The earthquakes — which maxed out at magnitude 3.5 before sunrise Sunday — had an epicenter in the San Bernardino Mountains about four miles north of Big Bear Airport.

    The epicenter was about 29 miles northeast of downtown San Bernardino, 27 miles southeast of Hesperia and 40 miles northwest of Palm Springs.

    The first earthquake was magnitude 3.3, which struck at 11:15 p.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

    It was followed by a magnitude 3.4 at 2:51 a.m. The magnitude 3.5 temblor followed at 3:41 a.m.

    An aftershock of magnitude 2.5 was reported at 5:54 a.m., followed by a magnitude 2.6 quake at 6:20 a.m.

    “Weak” shaking — or a Level Three on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale — was felt in the Big Bear area, according to the USGS. In general, that’s enough to be felt quite noticeably by people indoors, but many people may not recognize it as an earthquake. The vibrations in such shaking may feel like a truck has passed by.

    The last time the Big Bear area was hit by major earthquakes was in 1992. On June 28, 1992, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit about 4½ miles southeast of Big Bear Airport, causing severe shaking in the Big Bear area.

    No lives were lost in the Big Bear earthquake of 1992, the USGS said, but there was substantial damage and landslides in the area, and that quake was widely felt around Southern California and in parts of southern Nevada and western Arizona.

    The Big Bear earthquake of 1992 was the second of a one-two punch of temblors that occurred on the same day. Three hours earlier, and about 20 miles to the east, the powerful magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake struck.

    The Landers earthquake had an epicenter more than 25 miles northeast of Palm Springs, and resulted in severe shaking in Yucca Valley, and strong shaking in Twentynine Palms, according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

    A sleeping 3-year-old boy died after being struck by a collapsing chimney in the Landers earthquake.

    Those earthquakes were preceded by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake on April 22, 1992, in Joshua Tree National Park. That quake began a sequence of triggered quakes that migrated north in the following months, culminating in the Landers and Big Bear earthquakes of June 1992.

    Rong-Gong Lin II

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  • Line fire flare-up tips California over a grim milestone: 1 million acres burned in 2024

    Line fire flare-up tips California over a grim milestone: 1 million acres burned in 2024

    The flare-up of the Line fire worsened Monday as evacuation orders expanded and firefighters lost some ground on containment of the San Bernardino County wildfire.

    The new acres charred also pushed California across a grim milestone: 1 million acres burned in 2024.

    The Line fire, which has been burning in San Bernardino County for almost a month, began spreading faster over the weekend due to abnormally warm temperatures that sucked moisture from vegetation and the air, according to Cal Fire. Containment of the fire slipped from 83% to 78% as of late Monday.

    “Firefighters had expected some movement” of the fire, but its behavior “exceeded expectations,” said Cal Fire in a Monday update.

    The Red Cross opened a new evacuation shelter at Apple Valley Conference Center on Monday to support those affected by the Line fire, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. The center is at 14975 Dale Evans Parkway. The evacuation shelter at Redlands East Valley High School, 31000 E. Colton Ave., remained open.

    The Line fire has now burned a total of 43,459 acres — which along with previous fires, including the ongoing Bridge and Airport fires — has pushed the total acres burned in California this year to 1,000,181 as of late Monday, according to Cal Fire.

    This surpasses by far the total acres burned during the same time period last year — 293,362 — but is roughly on par with the five-year average for the period.

    The devastating Park fire in Northern California contributed significantly to the milestone, burning almost 430,000 acres between July 24 and Sept. 26 when it reached full containment. It is the fourth-largest fire in California history, according to Cal Fire.

    So far this fire season, a total of 1,433 structures have been destroyed, and one fatality has been reported, the agency said.

    The Line fire has damaged or destroyed five structures and resulted in four firefighter injuries. The suspected arson fire started on Sept. 5, and an arrest has been made.

    On Sunday, residents in Seven Oaks and the Barton Flats area were ordered to evacuate because of the immediate threat of the fire. On Monday this order was expanded to include Angelus Oaks and the community of Big Bear Lake, including Moonridge, Sugarloaf and south Erwin Lake.

    Clara Harter

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  • As weather conditions improve, firefighters make progress battling Southern California wildfires

    As weather conditions improve, firefighters make progress battling Southern California wildfires

    Amid a record-breaking heat wave, firefighters in Southern California have struggled over the last week to contain three large wildfires that have scorched more than 100,000 acres.

    The arson-sparked Line fire has chewed through 38,000 acres in the San Bernardino Mountains between Highland and Big Bear Lake, prompting the evacuation of several mountain communities. The Bridge fire consumed nearly 53,000 acres in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, destroying more than a dozen structures. And the Airport fire swept through 23,000 acres in Orange and Riverside counties.

    The three blazes are still largely uncontrolled, but an incoming cold front and cloudy weather this weekend are expected to offer some reprieve, officials said Saturday. Much of Southern California saw temperatures ranging from the high 60s to mid-70s throughout the day.

    Many parts of the region are expected to see a double-digit drop in temperatures, extensive cloud cover and a chance for light rain over the next few days, according to the National Weather Service. In one of the most drastic swings, downtown Los Angeles is forecast to see high temperatures in the low 70s, a nearly 40-degree drop from its high of 112 degrees Sept. 6. There is even a slight chance for light rain Wednesday and Thursday.

    These milder conditions — along with increased humidity — are also expected to extend farther inland near the wildfires.

    “As we’ve seen the last few days, there’s been a pretty good cooling trend from the excessive heat wave that we saw persist for almost a week,” National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis said. “This provides some really nice relief, especially after these fires have been going out of control.”

    The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection credited high moisture levels with slowing the Line fire, which was 25% contained as of Saturday but continued to creep into dry vegetation while making occasional runs along slopes. Favorable wind conditions also helped keep the Bridge fire — the largest active wildfire in California — within its current footprint but it remained only 3% contained Saturday. The Airport fire was only 9% contained.

    Patchy fog and drizzling rain could help firefighters in these hot spots as well.

    “We’re calling it more of a drizzle to light rain,” Lewis said. “That’ll likely impact these lower elevation areas. It’ll help dampen the fuels and potentially help put out some of the smaller spot fires.”

    Meanwhile, communities stretching from the San Gabriel Mountains to Lake Elsinore remain under a smoke advisory from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The air district has encouraged residents to take precautions to protect themselves from dangerous levels of air pollution, including remaining indoors and keeping windows closed as wildfires have released large plumes of smoke and ash, which continue to hover over nearby communities.

    Last week, several air monitors in the Inland Empire detected fine-particulate pollution levels above the federal health limits, including Riverside, Ontario and Fontana. An air monitor in Big Bear City recorded the highest level with a daily average of 372 parts per million, more than 10 times higher than the federal health standard.

    The pollution has eased in many areas. However, communities in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains were still experiencing unhealthy air quality, according to the air district.

    Tony Briscoe

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