Bluff Lake Reserve

Bluff Lake Reserve Bluff Lake is an eighty-acre ecological reserve open to the public from May (pending USFS road opening) until the end of October.

No admission fee, but donations are welcome. Since purchasing the property in 2000, The Wildlands Conservancy has restored the area to provide a habitat for native and rare species of plants and animals. Surrounded by national forest land, the reserve boasts the largest montane meadow in the San Bernardino Mtns, a 25 acre lake, historic buildings, and a loop trail which circles the lake and connec

ts with trails to the Champion Lodgepole Pine. Originally a stopover resort for the pack trains going between Mountain Home Village and Big Bear Lake in the late 1800s, it was later used as a summer camp - in fact, the opening camp scenes of the 1961 movie The Parent Trap were filmed here. In the late 1990s, the property was on the market and slated for development, but the Wildlands was able to purchase the parcel in 2000 to protect this stunning mountain landscape.

11/17/2025

Bluff Lake is closed for the season - see you in the summer of 2026

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Bluff Lake Reserve is CLOSED due to the San Bernardino National Forest Line Fire Closure per Forest Order No. 05-12-25-0...
06/08/2025

Bluff Lake Reserve is CLOSED due to the San Bernardino National Forest Line Fire Closure per Forest Order No. 05-12-25-01.

All inquiries regarding the closure should be directed to the Mountaintop Ranger District Office, 41374 N Shore Dr, Big Bear, CA 92314 Phone: (909) 382-2790.

Any updates to the Reserve's status will be posted here and on our webpage:
https://wildlandsconservancy.org/preserves/blufflake

SB Nat'l Forest - Line Fire Closure Order:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/sanbernardino/alerts/line-fire-closure-order

To provide for public safety and protect natural resources.

06/24/2023
Bird-footed checkerbloom (Sidalcea pedata) - Bluff Lake Reserve has perhaps the densest stand of this endangered plant, ...
07/30/2019

Bird-footed checkerbloom (Sidalcea pedata) - Bluff Lake Reserve has perhaps the densest stand of this endangered plant, which grows nowhere else in the world except Big Bear. Checkerbloom is in the mallow family - note the hibiscus-like stamens (♂ ) clustered around the pistil (♀).

California tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica) at Bluff Lake. [photo: Charlie M.]
07/29/2019

California tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica) at Bluff Lake. [photo: Charlie M.]

A bird's eye view of Bluff Lake Reserve - by Jakob Larson
06/11/2018

A bird's eye view of Bluff Lake Reserve - by Jakob Larson

We are proud to announce that our Bluff Lake Reserve has joined the Old Growth Forest Network. Read more below!
05/31/2018

We are proud to announce that our Bluff Lake Reserve has joined the Old Growth Forest Network. Read more below!

Bluff Lake Reserve forest is a dedicated forest in the Old-Growth Forest Network

Aerial view of Bluff Lake in winter, facing west towards Bear Creek Canyon & Snow Valley ski area (photo: David Harris)
03/06/2018

Aerial view of Bluff Lake in winter, facing west towards Bear Creek Canyon & Snow Valley ski area (photo: David Harris)

11/24/2017

Address

Bluff Lake Road
Big Bear Lake, CA

Telephone

(909) 790-3698

Website

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