Is Highway 330 open right now?

Highway 330 is open with no restrictions reported.

Highway 330 is the short, steep climb out of the Inland Empire and the usual first leg of the drive to Big Bear. Here is what Caltrans is reporting on it right now.

Highway 330 is clear.

Caltrans imposes chain control segment by segment, and every segment has its own elevation. A restriction on one road up the mountain often does not apply to the other two.

Highway 330 leaves Highland at the edge of San Bernardino and climbs City Creek to Running Springs, where it ends at Highway 18. It does not reach Big Bear on its own — from Running Springs you continue east on Highway 18 for the last stretch into the valley. Almost everyone driving up from San Bernardino, Redlands, Riverside or Los Angeles takes this road for the first half of the trip.

The highest chain-control segment Caltrans publishes on this route is around 6,043 feet. That is roughly 800 feet lower than the top of Highway 18 and about 2,400 feet lower than Onyx Summit on Highway 38.

Elevation decides this, not distance. In a marginal storm with the snow level sitting near 6,500 feet, Highway 38 can be under chain control or closed outright over Onyx Summit while Highway 330 is still bare pavement all the way to Running Springs.

That makes 330 the default winter choice from the west, and it is why the chain control panel on this site reports each highway separately rather than giving one answer for "Big Bear". A single answer would be wrong for at least one of the three roads most storm days.

It is not a guarantee. A storm cold enough to drop snow to 4,000 feet puts every route under control at once, and 330 has its own problem: it is the steepest of the three, so it can be closed for snow removal while a gentler road at similar elevation stays open.

City Creek is a narrow two-lane climb cut into the side of the canyon, and that geometry is behind most of its closures. Rockfall and slides after heavy rain close it more often than snow does, and those closures can last days rather than hours because the slope has to be cleared and inspected.

In winter the section approaching Running Springs is the first to go under chain control, and a spun-out vehicle on the grade can hold traffic in both directions long before Caltrans posts an official closure.

When 330 is shut, the alternatives from the Inland Empire are Highway 18 the long way through Lake Arrowhead, or Highway 38 up from Redlands. Both are longer, and in a storm 38 is usually the worse of the two.

Is Highway 330 open to Big Bear today?

The live Caltrans route report for SR-330 sits at the top of this page and refreshes automatically. Remember that Highway 330 ends at Running Springs — even with 330 fully open, the last stretch into the valley is on Highway 18, so check that route as well before you set off.

Is Highway 330 to Running Springs open?

Running Springs is where Highway 330 terminates, so the route report on this page is the answer to that question directly. Caltrans reports the road as a single route from Highland to the junction with Highway 18.

Do I need chains on Highway 330?

Often less than on the other two roads up, because the highest chain-control segment on 330 is near 6,043 feet — the lowest of the three approaches. But chain control is imposed segment by segment on the day, so read the live Caltrans chain status on this page rather than assuming. Carry chains in the car through the winter regardless.

Why is Highway 330 closed so often in the rain?

It climbs City Creek on a narrow shelf cut into the canyon wall. Heavy rain brings rock and debris down onto the roadway, and clearing a slide takes longer than plowing snow. Rain closures on 330 routinely outlast winter ones.

Three state highways reach Big Bear Valley and they do not reach it at the same height, so one can be closed while another is bare pavement. If Highway 330 is restricted, one of these is usually the road that is open.

Snow is not the only thing that closes a road into the valley. Wildfire, collisions and power-related work all show up on the incident feed, and a storm bearing down on the mountain shows up in the forecast before it reaches the pavement.