Serrano Campground

The north shore’s Alpine Pedal Path passes through the Serrano Campground. This 3.2-mile, multi-use trail lets bikers access various beaches while viewing wildlife along the way. SoCal mountain bikers flock to Big Bear Lake for downhill and single-track at sites like the Summit Bike Park. Bike rentals are available locally.

Licensed anglers can fish for catfish, bass, and rainbow trout on Big Bear Lake, which is famous for its annual May Trout Classic event. There are numerous tackle shops in the area. Deep Creek and Bear Creek, meanwhile, are some of the best wild trout streams in Southern California. You can also find a wide variety of fish at Green Valley Lake, Lake Arrowhead, and Lake Gregory.

Just behind Serrano Campground lies the Cougar Crest Trailhead, which climbs into the mountains, intersects the Pacific Crest Trail, and allows hikers to summit Bertha Peak for awesome lake views. Many additional hiking routes surround the lake.

Horseback riding is allowed on all National Forest trails-- that means you can venture through all of the wilderness areas, including the ones that lead into nearby Angeles National Forest. There are a handful of equestrian campgrounds where you can spend a night on your horseback journey. There is a list of horse trails here.

Canoeing, kayaking, and standup paddleboarding are great ways to spend a day on Big Bear Lake. Various outfitters around the lake provide rentals.

Get those wheels dirty and head on over to San Bernardino to get away from city traffic. Popular runs include John Bull, Holocomb Creek, and Deep Creek in the Big Bear region. There’s an incredibly long list right here. Make sure to pick up a map and take care out there, as many of these roads are shared!

The San Gorgonio Wilderness is the perfect place to go mountain climbing, which must be why it’s so popular! Jepson Peak offers some pretty rad snow climbs, if that’s your thing. There are plenty of classic climbs, like “One Armed Bandit,” “Golden Poodle,” “Coyotes in the Henhouse,” etc. that you can find on Mountain Project.

Your opportunities for national forest fun are endless in the winter. You can find skiing, snowboarding, sledding, tubing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing in this wintry paradise. There are four resorts nestled inside the forest: Snow Summit, The Park at Bear Mountain, Rim Nordic Ski Area, and Snow Valley Mountain Resort. There are also snow play areas like Snowdrift Winter Playground, 2 snowmobile routes, and 3 XC-skiing and snowshoeing areas.

Swimmers can jump right into Big Bear Lake and some of the Lake Arrowhead lakes, where you can spend the day in the water or doing anything else you please! There’s no shortage of things to do on these lakes-- kayaking, boating, you name it.

You can spot wildlife just about everywhere around Serrano Campground, with the usual raccoons and squirrels left and right, along with the less common mountain lions and black bears. If you’re lucky you’ll catch sight of one of the rare bighorn sheep living in the canyons! Big Bear is a famous overwintering destination for bald eagles, while coyotes and deer are sometimes spotted here too.