Hillcrest Lodge

The rustic little shops in the...

by KikBkK8

The rustic little shops in the downtown area provide hours
of shopping with an incredible spread of varied merchandise-
from leatherwork and indian replica museum pieces, nautical items, collector plates and figurines, t-shirt places, sporting goods, all the way to one of a kind treasures which can be found only here.

On the north shore kayaks, canoes, pontoon boats and other
recreational equipment can be rented by the hour for those
wishing to venture out on the lake in the summertime. In
winter, snowboards, skiis, snowmobiles and such can be found
near the various ski resorts on the south side of the lake. Old mining towns reside beneath layers of dust in the mountains north of Big Bear Lake. These places once had
their own schoolhouses and homes, and now all traces have
been virtually extinguished. A couple of logs left from
what was once an entire saloon, but even without the real
material remenants...atmosphere still lingers like perfume
in an empty room. The spirits of those who once toiled in
these dirty acres still wander the hillsides and valleys- or so it seems....

Snow in Southern California

by GracesTrips

March of 2006, this is the view from the road on the way up to Big Bear. We were spending the day at Snow Summit to ski. Four days later we were in San Diego - Coronado enjoying the sunshine at the beach. Only here can you enjoy the mountains and beaches within a hour to two hour drive. Love living here in SoCal!

Our recent trip up the mountain earlier this year. I didn't add more pictures of the same same ski area we have been coming to for a while now. Unfortunately, the ski season is short so we drove up each weekend for a 1/2 day lift. Better to go home at noon, less traffic.

Tons of people come here. The drawback is trying to get back down the mountain is horrific! Once it took us five hours to get back down when we left at 4pm, good road conditions, just too many people. Normally, it would take 1 1/2 hours to get back home.

Big Bear Snow Summit from the ski lift video from 2006

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