July 2022 Big Bear Today Magazine

Page 16—July 2022
THE BACK PAGE
Champion Lodgepole, Gunsight on trail
Lodgepole pine trees are somewhat
rare south of the Sierras, preferring
cooler northern locales, and usually
top out around 70 ft. tall or so.
Yet this behemoth towers above all
others at over 110 feet in height—as tall
as an 11-story building— designated the
species “Champion” or highest in 1963.
What’s more, the tallest lodgepole pine in
the world is not found in the Sierra Nevada
but a few hundred miles south in Big
Bear, and in one of the Valley’s most beautiful
locations at that.
Champion Lodgepole Pine is a great
hike the whole family will enjoy if you can
get there, only a gentle half-mile each way
that wanders through stunning Big Bear
scenery. It meanders beside a gurgling
creek, through lush forest filled with old
growth white fir and Jeffrey pine, and into
vibrant meadow, surrounded by beautiful
spring and summer wildflowers like lupine,
corn lilies, wild columbine and bracken
ferns, followed later by fall colors.
During the trek 14 numbered interpretive
posts follow a free trail guide available
at the trailhead or Big Bear Discovery
Center. Learn about the area’s unique
ecological diversity—the San Bernardino
Mountains have the highest number of endemic
plant species of any National Forest
due to unique topography, climate and
geology—along with its natural history.
Lodgepole and Jeffrey pines, white fir,
lant recommended. But the hiking is superb,
following the trickling creek much
of the way and occasionally crossing it,
surrounded by intense greenery.
Continuing past Gunsight leads to
Bear Creek, but the path has not been maintained
in recent years and the Forest Service
deems it “impossible” on its website.
Plus coming back is all uphill.
The hiking is the easy part of Champion
lodgepole Pine. Getting there is the
hard part, with trailhead reached only after
rutted dirt road. Turn south off the boulevard
at either Tulip Lane or Mill Creek
Rd. to Forest Service Rd. 2N10 (Skyline
Drive) and follow 3.7 miles to 2N11, veer
right another mile to the trailhead.
If you’re not comfortable driving the
last mile to the trailhead park off the road
at a wide spot and hike the rest of the way
Big Bear Today
Approaching Champion Lodgepole
(below)
parasites and lichen, role of fire and more
are identified.
As hikers approach the ancient tree, it
rises high into the sky above the meadow
in grandeur. The Champion is believed to
be about 460 years old, having germinated
around 1560 while the New World was
being explored. Even as Cabrillo was sailing
the California coast, this tree took root!
The double-topped tree’s enormous
19.7 foot trunk is surrounded by fence and
it would take a family of five holding hands
to surround it. The 74.9 inch diameter is
wide enough that hollowed out, most compact
cards could drive inside and the estimated
9,300 board feet of wood in the
Champion is enough to build a 1,300 sq.
ft. home. Like nearby aspen groves, the
only two such clusters south of the sierras,
this stand of lodgepole pines is thought to
be a remnant of a colder period.
Hikers looking for more trail time after
visiting the Champion can continue
along Siberia Creek trail to the scenic
Gunsight overlook, another mile further
down the trail from the signed junction.
Named for two large boulders that resemble
the sights on a rifle, the point serves
up breathtaking views that can stretch to
Saddleback Mountain, Palomar, even the
ocean on a clear day.
This is one of the lushest areas in Big
Bear and as such Siberia Creek trail serves
up the bugs that go with it—insect repelin.
That’s what one family opted for to
avoid standing water of undetermined
depth on the dicey road.
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