Hiking & mountain biking trails in Big Bear Valley

Pacific Crest Trail (Big Bear segment)

A stretch of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail runs along the ridge above the lake's north shore, linking Cougar Crest and Delamar Mountain with views that swing between desert and lake. Northbound through-hikers pass through town each spring and summer to resupply.

Access via Van Dusen Canyon Road trailhead · roughly 40 mi of PCT corridor cross the Big Bear area

Castle Rock Trail

A short, steep scramble up granite boulders to a rock formation overlooking the south shore. One of the most-hiked routes in the valley for visitors short on time — which is why the parking changed.

2.6 mi round trip · ~700 ft elevation gain

Parking: free 38-space city lot at Talbot Drive, open 7am–7pm, with restrooms. Parking along Big Bear Boulevard near the trailhead is prohibited and carries a $100 fine. The lot fills by about 9am on a busy weekend and there is no roadside fallback.

Cougar Crest Trail to Bertha Peak

Starts near the Big Bear Discovery Center and climbs through pine and juniper to meet the Pacific Crest Trail, then continues to a decommissioned fire lookout tower atop Bertha Peak with a view across the entire basin.

5 mi round trip to the PCT junction, 6.5 mi round trip to the summit · ~1,300 ft elevation gain

Parking: Adventure Pass at the trailhead ($5 a day, $30 a year). Only ten to fifteen spaces and gone by 8:30am on a weekend — park free at the Big Bear Discovery Center instead and walk the 0.6 miles in along the paved Alpine Pedal Path.

Woodland Trail

A gentle interpretive loop near the Discovery Center with numbered stops explaining the forest's ecology — a good option for families or a short leg-stretch, not a summit hike.

1.5 mi loop · ~150 ft elevation gain

Parking: Adventure Pass or Interagency Pass required, and this lot sells neither — buy before you go. On North Shore Drive, a quarter mile west of Stanfield Cutoff.

Champion Lodgepole Pine Trail

A short walk near Heart Bar to the largest and oldest known lodgepole pine in the San Bernardino National Forest — a single-destination stroll rather than a loop or summit route.

0.5 mi round trip · negligible elevation gain

Parking: reached on Forest Service roads 2N10 and 2N11, so the question is not the pass but whether the roads are open to vehicles. Check with the Mountaintop Ranger District first.

Grays Peak Trail

Climbs from the north shore near Fawnskin to a rocky granite summit with a 360-degree view of the lake, the desert beyond, and the San Gorgonio Wilderness — the steepest sustained climb of the hiking-only routes here. The trailhead closes seasonally, December 1 through April 1, to protect wintering bald eagle habitat — check the official trail page before you go in winter.

6.4 mi round trip · ~1,600 ft elevation gain

Parking: $5 at the lot through the Recreation.gov app, so download it before you drive up. Closed through bald eagle nesting season — winter into spring, sometimes into summer. Check before you go.

John Bull Trail

A technical, rock-strewn descent that has become a local test piece for advanced riders — loose granite, tight switchbacks and no walk-around option through its harder sections.

~3 mi, mostly downhill · no reliable hike-around bypass

Skyline Trail

A ridgeline singletrack above the south shore linking several trailheads, popular with cross-country riders for its flow and with hikers for the views down toward the lake.

~6 mi one-way traverse · rolling elevation, no single sustained climb

Grout Bay Trail

A beginner-friendly lakeside singletrack along the north shore, often recommended as a first cross-country ride or an easier alternative to the resort's lift-served terrain.

~4 mi loop · gentle grade close to the shoreline

Pineknot Trail

Climbs from near the village up to Grand View Point, a shared-use route for hikers and cross-country riders that predates the resort's lift-served bike park by decades.

~6 mi round trip · ~1,000 ft elevation gain

Parking: the sixteen-space Aspen Glen lot. Adventure Pass or Interagency Pass required and none sold on site, so buy first. No restroom and no water there.

Alpine Pedal Path

A flat, fully paved multi-use path tracing the lake's south shore — the easiest route on this page, and the one accessible to strollers, wheelchairs and road bikes rather than singletrack riders.

~3.5 mi one-way · paved, ADA accessible, negligible elevation change

Parking: free at the Big Bear Discovery Center. Juniper Point and Meadows Edge also reach the path with an Adventure Pass — Juniper Point closes 1 December and reopens 1 April for eagle habitat.