Two Days at Big Bear — for Molly & the crew

A comfortable forest base camp on a big activity lake: showers, swimming, kayaks, jet-skis, a walkable village, and day-trips. The full family holiday.

Trip plan · Big Bear Lake · San Bernardino Mountains

This is Molly's trip — not sit-in-the-woods-and-chill, but a proper base camp with real comforts and a lake full of things to do. Big Bear is the one spot within ~2 hours of LA that delivers every piece at once: showers and hookups, a lake that actually lets you swim, kayak, and jet-ski, a walkable town, mature pines for the tree tent, and day-trips in every direction.

Big Bear Lake in summer

The base: Serrano Campground

On the quieter north shore near Fawnskin, set in mature Jeffrey and ponderosa pine, Serrano is the comfortable one: hot showers, flush toilets, full RV hookups (Snowberry loop), drinking water, a dump station — and, unlike the dispersed spots, wood campfires are allowed in the provided rings. Ask for a shaded, treed loop (Evening Star / Juniper).

The one time-sensitive thing: Serrano books out for summer. Reserve the day your 6-month window opens on recreation.gov. If it's full, fall back to Pineknot or Hanna Flat (both in the pines, but no showers/hookups).

The water — the whole point for Molly

Big Bear Lake officially allows the full set: swimming (designated areas / within 50 ft of shore), kayak and paddleboard, and jet-skis / waverunners (7am–sunset). Rentals are easy — Big Bear Marina, Holloway's, Pleasure Point. This is the rare local lake that says yes to all of it (most ban swimming or motorised craft).

Big Bear Lake from the east

A loose two-day shape

  • Day 1 — roll in, set up at Serrano, then straight to the water: swim, rent kayaks or a waverunner, laze on the shore. Dinner in the Village (walkable food + shops), campfire back at the ring.
  • Day 2 — morning hike up Castle Rock (~2.7 mi, big lake views) or the Alpine Slide for a hit of fun, more lake time, then home — or trade a half-day for a day-trip (Big Falls waterfall, or the gold-rush Holcomb Valley dirt loop).

The tree tent

Serrano's mature pines give the best hangable trees of any close-to-LA base camp — ask for a treed loop and check your specific site's photos on campsitephotos.com. One note: some developed campgrounds restrict strapping to trees, so confirm at check-in and bring the free-standing backup just in case.

Jeffrey pine + white fir forest, San Bernardino Mountains

Things to do

  • On the lake: swim, kayak/SUP, jet-ski/waverunner, pontoon, fishing (rentals in town).
  • Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain — bobsled-style summer run, right by the lake.
  • Castle Rock trail — short, iconic, granite + lake views.
  • The Village — walkable food, coffee, shops.
  • Big Falls (Forest Falls) — tallest year-round waterfall in SoCal, ~40–60 min day-trip south.
  • Holcomb Valley — 1860s gold-rush history on a graded dirt loop north of the lake (Forester-fine).

Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain, Big Bear

Getting there

From LA: I-10 → SR-330 (“the mountain road”) → SR-18 up to Big Bear, then around the lake to the north shore. About 2 hours, though summer weekend traffic on the mountain roads can push it to 2–3 — leave early. All paved, easy for the Forester.

Know before you go

  • Reserve Serrano at the 6-month window — the single most important action; summer fills fast.
  • Fire: a seasonal order is in effect, but campfires ARE allowed in Serrano's provided rings — re-check within a few days of travel in case it escalates. A free CA Campfire Permit is worth having.
  • Bring your own boat? — the lake requires a quagga/golden-mussel inspection; rentals sidestep that.
  • Comfort's covered: showers, flush toilets, drinking water on site — this one's easy on everyone.

Map & directions

  • 📍 Route file (GPX) — import into onX / Gaia / Google Earth: download the GPX — Serrano + the lake + Village + Alpine Slide + Castle Rock + Big Falls + Holcomb Valley, plus the Pineknot/Hanna Flat fallbacks.
  • Area map (OpenStreetMap): open Big Bear Lake
  • Drive up (Google): LA → Serrano Campground
  • Serrano Campground: pin
  • Big Bear Lake Village: pin

If Serrano's full

  • Pineknot (flush toilets, by Snow Summit) or Hanna Flat (north shore, some first-come) — same lake, less comfort.
  • Lopez Lake (near San Luis Obispo, ~3 hrs) — showers + hookups + oak shade + a waterpark, but no jet-ski rental.
  • Idyllwild + Lake Hemet split — sleep in the best pine forest, day-trip for the water.

Pre-trip checklist

  1. Reserve Serrano the moment the 6-month window opens (recreation.gov).
  2. Request a shaded/treed loop; check your site's tree photos for the Tentsile.
  3. Book / plan rentals (kayak / waverunner) if you want a guaranteed slot on a busy weekend.
  4. Free CA Campfire Permit; re-check fire status a few days out.
  5. Import the GPX + download offline maps.
  6. Bring the free-standing tent backup (tree-strapping may be restricted).

The rig — Subaru Forester Wilderness