Big Bear Trail Guide!

[bcaskey08]

A good friend of mine recently bought a cabin in running springs about 15 min from big bear lake so I'm trying to compile a list of the best trails in bear, their difficulty, location, and photos if you've got them! I don't have rock sliders on my rig yet but I do have front and rear lockers. I'm going to be headed up there for new years and was hoping to get out on some trails!

Also, winter trail closure info would be helpful if anyone knows off the top of their heads.
I do have a topo map of bear but it just has the forest service road names on it, ie 3N16.

Additionally I have been to the John bull trail but chose not to run it because my rig was stock at the time.

 

[VCCruzr]

Here's a few:

Gold Mountain
http://www.ttora-socal.com/local-trail-info/trail-list/37-goldmountain

Holcomb Creek
http://www.myjeeprocks.com/reports/category/big-bear/holcomb-creek-3n93/

Dishpan Springs
http://www.ttora-socal.com/local-trail-info/trail-list/33-dishpansprings


I would run Gold Mountain first and John Bull next for a fun day, then Holcolm Creek and Dishpan Springs for a second day of fun. Sliders recommended for day 2 though.

Derrick

 

[curlyeagle]

best thing is to get ahold of some of the maps for all the area and start exploring. I've found simple nice long drives that go over the top of the ski areas down to hiway 38. I've gone up there countless times and still haven't hit all the trails. There is a trail for every weekend up there. They can go all the way down to silverwood if you just explore. One thing I did was got ahold of the Forest service map so I could find out which ones are still open and highlighted the ones that I have gone on. I also run my GPS and when I get home, I up load to google earth to see where I've been and what I might have missed. You are lucky to go and have a place to hang for the weekend to go explore up there.

 

[bcaskey08]

Thanks VCCruzr! Thats exactly what I was looking for! The ttora-SoCal links are awesome! I love the breakdown of what gear is needed. It looks like most of the well known trails require rock sliders. I'm definitely going to try and run gold mountain while I'm up there, maybe there will be some decent snow to make things a little more interesting!

And I like curlyeagle's idea of marking maps for areas I've already covered. I will surely be doing that from now on!

Thanks for all the info so far!

 

[snailwagon]

and you cannot forget John Bull, which is a lot of fun in the sow.. Dishpan might be pretty slick right now on. That area is really easy to navigate without a map; with 3N14 and 3N16 being the main access roads for the whole area.

The South side of the lake has nothing tough, but is a nice, scenic area with a lot of area to explore