Big Bear Lake is one of Southern California’s best mountain towns, located just 2 hours from most of LA and Orange County, and 2.5 hours from San Diego in good traffic. Winter in Big Bear is no doubt peak season here with crowds of Angelenos looking to hit the slopes at one of the two ski resorts, Bear Mountain or Snow Summit. In the summer, this jewel of the San Bernardino National Forest becomes a venerable getaway for cyclists, with loads of great singletrack, forest roads and premium gravel. A recent weekend trip to ride some of the area’s gravel gave me a new appreciation for this place, and in this story I’ll highlight a few things that made the adventure special.
The Perfect Basecamp
On my trip in July 2022 I decided to stay at Timber Summit, a 3 BR / 1.5 BA cabin in the Boulder Bay neighborhood of Big Bear Lake. These accommodations are perfect basecamp for family or a few friends, in a very convenient location for riding and other exploring. The cabin is surrounded by beautiful pine trees that provide lots of shade, and we definitely enjoyed the porch swing and fire-pit during our stay. The inside is well appointed and recently renovated with new kitchen appliances and new flooring. Best of all, this place has tons of fun activities including a ping pong table, dart board, cornhole and horseshoe. And if you own a plug-in vehicle, no sweat, the garage even has an EV charger.
