The Byways of Big Bear California

The trip on the classic Big Bear trails was taken with Jaime Hernandez and his 80-Series Toyota Land Cruiser. We met at the Heart Bar campground in Barton Flats. Jaime’s trip up to the campground was an adventure in its own right. First, some of the sheathing on his slide-in camper broke free and started flapping in the wind. Next, the trailer carrying the ’Cruiser broke down. Undaunted, Jaime and his wife Beth parked the trailer at the foot of the mountain and each drove a vehicle to the campground. If everything goes exactly as planned, it’s not really an adventure, right?

Some lucky Forest Ranger gets to patrol in this TJ Rubicon equipped with BFG Mud-Terrain tires and Warn accessories.

After everything was situated in the campground, we pointed the 4Runner and the Land Cruiser at the Big Bear Discovery Center on the north side of Big Bear Lake. The Discovery Center is owned and run by the U.S. Forest Service. Information about the area’s flora, fauna, history, and recreational opportunities is dispensed inside.

“Big Bear” is more than just a name. Like most of California, Big Bear was once home to the California grizzly. Hunted to extinction, the California grizzly has been replaced by the common black bear. While not as big as the grizzly, black bears are still powerful enough to maim and kill, and should be respected.

The Discovery Center is a gateway, not a destination. Based on the trail information in the Discovery Center, we chose a route and got going. Big Bear Lake is as much of a recreational draw as the surrounding trail system. The white dot on the nearby shoreline is a solar observatory.

This is Forest Service route 2N09, a scenic beeline to the Holcomb Valley area that we’d chosen as our day’s destination. In dry weather, many dirt roads in Big Bear can be toured in mildly-built or even stock rigs.

The Holcomb Valley area was the site of a gold rush in 1860. Very little remains of what was once a thriving town high up in the San Bernardino Mountains. This roadside spot marks Wilbur’s grave, also known as Ross’s grave. Wilbur or Ross, he was apparently a miner who died in a mining accident. Mining was, and is, a hazardous business that supplies many of the raw materials required for modern life.

This spot on route 3N43 has a rocky line and an easier go-around.

The settlement that sprang up in Holcomb Valley was called Belleville, named after Belle Van Dusen, the first baby born there.

There’s hardly any evidence left of the once-thriving settlement. A short hike leads to Jonathan Tibbetts’s Grasshopper Quartz Mill. Tibbetts ran a six-stamp mill that crushed quartz so that existing gold could be extracted from it. A concrete footing and a machinery remnant stand sentinel over this now-quiet valley.

Frontier justice knew nothing of appeals and delaying tactics. Sentences were carried out forthwith. This tree was used for hanging offenders judged guilty of capital crimes. After the hanging, the branch was cut off the tree to get the body down. There are quite a few missing branches. No doubt it was just as easy to cut the hanging rope, but missing branches reminded would-be offenders of what the ultimate penalty could be.

This log cabin and nearby arrastra are two other Belleville remnants. The cabin is called the “Pygmy Cabin” but is not the original. The original burned down during the 1980s and this one was constructed in its place.