Big Bear History

Big Bear Lake, now Southern California’s most visited four season mountain resort, was not always a recreational wonderland. It began as a place for miners to seek their fortunes and hunters to seek their game.

Benjamin Wilson, in 1845, became the first westerner to discover Big Bear accidentally passing through the valley on his way to the Mojave River. His amazement with the local Grizzly Bear population inspired him to dub the region “Bear Valley”.

Word traveled fast about the abundance of wild game in the area and Big Bear became a popular place for hunters and trappers. Not soon afterwards, the gold rush would create a significant increase in the local population, with miners looking to cash in on the prospects of gold in Holcomb Valley. In 1860, the Bear Valley Mining District was formed as Big Bear became an increasingly popular place due to its abundance of gold and silver ore.

By the 1880’s, Bear Valley not only saw an increase of ranchers supplying food for the local mining population, but Big Bear also started to become a vacation place for the first time.

With the establishment of growing communities such as Redlands at the foothill of the mountains dependent on water for their agriculture, Big Bear became a logical place to look for a water source. In 1883, Frank Brown, a founder of Redlands, constructed a 45 foot dam at the west end of the valley creating a 6 mile long lake. This is the beginning of what would be today’s Big Bear Lake.

With the establishment of the lake, Big Bear began to appeal to more and more vacationers. Cabins sprung up around the lake, and when in 1887 thousands of fish were transplanted into Big Bear Lake from Lake Tahoe, Big Bear was fully established as a vacation destination.

In 1888, the first hotel, Bear Valley Resort, was opened on Big Bear’s south shore by Gus Knight Jr. Even back then Big Bear’s popularity was evident, as Gus Knight’s hotel had every room reserved by May even though the hotel was not to open until June.

Traveling to Big Bear remained a challenge with a journey from Redlands to Big Bear taking the most part of a day on the rough, under developed roads.

In 1915, the county of San Bernardino agreed to use public funds to create the modern day Rim of the World Drive. With an established road that could accommodate motorized vehicles, Big Bear quickly grew to a population estimated to be 8000 residents strong by the year 1921, newly name itself “Pine Knot”.

It wasn’t long afterwards that the Sierra Club held its Winter Sports Meet with activities like tobogganing and ice skating in the Big Bear Valley. And by 1934, the Big Bear Lake Park District was formed to help develop the valley for other winter activities.

By 1938, the town was renamed Big Bear and experienced a hibernation during the World War II years.

Shortly after the war, Big Bear exploded in popularity, encouraging the creation of Snow Forest in 1949, Big Bear’s first ski resort. Not long after, in 1952, a ski resort named Snow Summit sprang to life and still operates to this day. In 1959, Moonridge Ski Area opened. After a mid-70’s name change to Goldmine and a change to Bear Mountain Ski Resort in 1988, Bear Mountain is still operating today under the same ownership as Snow Summit.

Big Bear has come a long way since the days of hunters, trappers and goldminers. It has evolved into Southern California’s premiere four season resort, entertaining more than 100,000 visitors on holidays and weekends. It’s sunny skies and relatively mild temperatures make it a comfortable place to relax and enjoy all 365 days a year!