Here's what you need to know to visit Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino Mountains
I have been to many burgs, hamlets, crossroads, parishes, townships, districts, ghost towns, and villages during my travels. Each small locale is a wonderful experience for the traveler: the history, the scenery, the food, the local events, and the people most of all. Folks who are proud of their hometown. While in a watering hole in Deadwood, South Dakota, I asked a fella who was saddled up to the bar why he liked the smallness of his surroundings. “For me, it’s the people who live here,” he said. “We look after each other like a family. Helping when help is needed and minding our business when we should.”
That sounded like a good, homey explanation. “Imagine that feeling in New York City or Los Angeles?” Having spent time in both. I could not. But Wild Bill Hickok may have another thought about helping each other out since he was holding a winning hand when murdered while playing poker on Aug. 2, 1876, in Deadwood. I didn’t mention that part, but I paid for one of the stranger's beers
A trip to the San Bernardino Mountains
Back to the column, which has nothing to do with Deadwood (though I did write about the famous town on Aug. 29, 2021). One of my favorite villages is in the San Bernardino Mountains, the Village at Big Bear Lake. My lovely wife, Laureen, and I love spending time up there no matter the season - and they have four. Since we live in the High Desert, I may ask Laureen, “What season is this?” She’ll step outside and take a gander at the ragweed. “The ragweed is dead; it must be nigh on winter, I suppose.” In all transparency, Laureen does not speak like that, but it was fun to write it that way. Perhaps she won’t read this column if I’m lucky. One thing about the Village at Big Bear Lake is ample parking for locals and tourists alike. Huge public parking just one street to the west has room enough for most of the activities the Village puts on yearly. The parking was mentioned since, in Southern California, parking is hard to find, especially free public parking. There are times when parking fees are as much as the event a person or family may want to attend. Laureen and I were going to a concert in Los Angeles but learned the parking would cost us the pink slip for our car. Nope, not in the village where parking is free, and many activities are occurring in and around Big Bear Lake, not only for each season but also each month, which makes the parking worth mentioning.
Heart of Big Bear Lake
According to the website for the Village at Big Bear Lake, at the heart of the Big Bear Lake, you’ll find a charming district known as the Village that serves as a hub for shopping, sightseeing, dining, and nightlife. It’s also the site of annual city-wide holiday events like Halloween and Christmas in The Village.’
So, since the ragweeds were telling us winter was coming, Laureen and I decided to go back up the mountain and visit one of our treasured spots.
Though we missed the Christmas Tree lighting, which we’ve seen many times and is well worth the trip, it occurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Residents and guests line up and down Pine Knott Avenue with huge smiles, warm wishes, and voices singing Christmas carols. It is truly a fun experience for all.
We love being there when we can. But, the mayor did order me to stop singing on one previous trip. “The children believe Santa won’t make it if you keep up with your rancid melody.”
The history of the Big Bear Valley is worth investigating since a branch of the Serrano, the Yuhaaviatam (which means People of the Pines), resided in the area for nearly 2,000 years. Thus, the Big Bear Valley was originally known as ‘Pine Place.’
The pines located in the area had bountiful pinyon pine nuts with thin shells, making it easy for the Native Americans living there to gather the nuts for a nutrient food source. These nuts could be ground into a paste or eaten whole, allowing the natives to create and serve various dishes.
Once the Spanish explorers arrived, setting missions up throughout the southwest, this band of Serranos was eventually displaced from their ancestral home. The first ‘white men’ to travel through the mountains were two soldiers who had deserted from the Spanish Army in 1772.
A winter wonderland at Big Bear Lake
As we walked through the village, feeling the chilly air reach toward our bones, we marveled at the crowds wandering from shop to shop. No one was yelling, no one was jostling, and no one was causing trouble.
Everyone was behaving themselves, perhaps knowing Santa was watching - ‘tis the Season.
The thousands of festive colored bulbs decorating the street lamps, trees, shopfronts, and restaurants seemed almost magical. “I always forget how beautiful it is here in the village,” Laureen mentioned. But the village was not always known as the Village. Initially, the valley was not meant to become a tourist destination. But with the dam building at the western side of what is now Big Bear Lake creating a large freshwater lake, people flocked to the mountains, especially during the hot summer months experienced in the lower elevations. During the 1920s and 1930s, so many people were making the trek up the mountain that hotels and restaurants were being constructed to meet the needs of the tourists in the area now known as the Village and other locales throughout the valley. In fact, inside the Lodge across from the village on the shoreline is the restaurant Stillwell’s - this establishment started as a hotel and resort in the 1920s. Other historical places depicting the long life of the village are the Village Faire Upstairs Mall, La Pergola, The Village Sports Bar, and the Himalayan Restaurant, to name just a few, which date back to the 1940s. There is no bias here, but the Himalayan Restaurant is one of our favorites in the village. Where else can one sit down and be amazed by a dish of Shrimp Masala while washing it down with a nice cold Taj Mahal Lager amongst tall green pines?
Food, fun and the outdoors
The village's eating establishments are wonderful, with good food, drinks, and atmospheres. Cross-country skiing became quite popular in the latter part of the 1920s, which brought more and more folks up to the area, and the place continued to grow. Then, in 1938, the Lynn Sling Lift opened, allowing downhill skiing, and soon, more ski resorts began to operate, making the entire Big Bear area a skier's mecca. In 1938, the name Big Bear Lake was adopted for the area, replacing the former name of Pineknot. Soon, so many visitors were traveling to this small mountain enclave, and the Big Bear became one of the most visited spots in Southern California during any part of the year.
Hiking, biking, fishing, boating, skiing, and just getting away to the mountains for a breath of fresh air gives the Village at Big Bear Lake a lot of visitors each year. Big Bear Lake and Big Bear City may have a total permanent population of 15,000 people, depending on which site you visit, but the area receives over 3,000,000 guests annually to share in all the mountains have to offer. This afternoon and evening during the second week of December were not crowded as we walked here and there through the village. Hand in hand, we wandered here and there over territory we had visited countless times, but again, each time, it seemed like the first time of discovery. Our destination, not only to enjoy the holiday lights and carols emitting from various hidden speakers along the way or the feeling of Christmas just around the corner, was to enjoy a good meal and then relax by the lakeside for the evening at a nearby hotel. As a constant traveler, and often moving from place to place in a hurry, it’s nice to take a break and relax while enjoying a gorgeous sunset or a welcoming sunrise. Some perks should never be taken for granted, especially during this entire season of giving thanks.
For more information, visit www.bigbear.com/events.com John can be contacted at: beyersbyways@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: The Village at Big Bear Lake is a Winter Wonderland
