Last summer, Phillip and I went up to Big Bear to search for a wedding venue, but made a weekend trip out of it with all there is to see and do in the area. People often ask us why we chose Big Bear as a place to get married, which we answer with a lot of varying responses. First and foremost, it’s where Phillip asked me to officially be his girlfriend while on a birthday weekend trip. Secondly, the scenery is beautiful, as it’s up in the forested mountains. Finally, it feels like a bit of a retreat, away from the bustle of Southern California.
However, on that particular weekend last year, we made a point to go offroading. At first, we thought we would go out on some fire access roads, which we did, finding it a bit disappointing. The fire access roads were well maintained, perhaps indicative of the fact that Big Bear is very fire prone during the dry, warm summers. We took a picture of my Jeep by one of the recently burned areas:
Once we had done a circuit for the fire roads, and not wanting to embark on a much longer loop with the same results, we turned to All Trails to see what we could find.
What we found, fairly close by, was a trail for Butler Peak. If you drive into Big bear from the south, using SR-18, if you know where to look you can see a tiny little fire look out station wayyyyy up in the sky. On our way back down the mountain, we weren’t able to get a good shot of it.
Many people simply hike this road from the bottom, but quite honestly I’m not in nearly good enough shape to do that. It’s fairly steep. But as an offroading trail, it’s fairly easy. I don’t think at any point I had to have a four wheel drive, or even a lift to do it (which I don’t have). I’m pretty sure we saw a sedan or two on our way up, but that would be pretty brave in my opinion.
The last bit all the way up to the fire station is fairly steep and slightly treacherous. Somehow though, a ranger does it every day. We spoke to the ranger keeping a look out while we were there, but unfortunately my memory is failing me to note how long the station has been in use, but the appliances and furniture in the station indicated some time before the 1940s (someone correct me or chime in if they know the dates), or even the 1930s.
After the short but steep hike and ladder climb up to the lookout, you’re rewarded with this superb view of the valley. If you’re afraid of heights, I don’t recommend climbing all the way up, as the drop to below is a bit intimidating. When there are other visitors at the top, the platform gets very tight very quickly, and when the wind picks up you are just exposed on the highest peak for a ways.
I highly recommend checking out, either for a hike or an easy offroading adventure!
