July 2022 Big Bear Today Magazine

Page 6—July 2022
Bluff Lake Reserve serene, quiet
Beautiful pristine lake. Rare wildflowers
and native grasses and verdant
meadow. Add in local history
and the result is one dazzling destination
worth going to, if you can get there.
This is Bluff Lake Reserve, Big Bear
Lake’s smaller neighbor, located as the bird
flies a short distance away but very much
removed from the hubbub of town, separated
by dirt road best driven by high-clearance
vehicles. At Bluff Lake there’s no marinas
because boating and other water recreation
is not allowed. The only noise is
water lapping lazily against the shoreline,
interrupted by the sounds of birds and frogs
or wind rustling through the trees.
Bluff Lake is a reservoir, just like Big
Bear Lake, formed by a small earthen dam,
but after that the similarities end. Just 20
acres or so in size, it’s a quaint alpine lake
with small island, surrounded by mountain
marsh and meadow with dramatic outcropping
of quartz monzonite. Many consider
this the most scenic spot in the Valley.
Serene and secluded, Bluff Lake is
incredibly ecologically diverse, home to
the federally endangered Big Bear checkerbloom
and threatened Bear Valley bluegrass,
as well as the California dandelion.
There’s 14 species of native grasses found
here, 16 species of grasslike flowering
plants known as sedges, and eight wire
grass species. All situated in rare Southern
California old growth forest with mature
lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine and white fir.
For birders, Bluff Lake is spotting
paradise. “Birders get really excited to see
Williamson’s sapsucker,” Bluff Lake
ranger
Ashley
Trammel
said.
T h e
80-acre reserve,
open
daily 9
a.m.-6 p.m.
from May
1-November
1, has
no visitor
services
aside from
C a m p
Big Bear Today
Gilboa which operates an adjacent private
camp. Nonetheless it’s a hub for recreation
lovers who find a mile-long loop trail that’s
flat and circles the pine forest around the
lake and west end of the meadow. Plus it’s
a great jumping off point to access nearby
Champion Lodgepole and Siberia Creek
trails (story page 16), and also Castle Rock
trail.
And there’s water in the lake, at least
as of press time, after it dried up late last
summer. Enough winter arrived to put water
in it, at least for the time being.
Hikers, birdwatchers and other nature
aficionados revel in diversity normally
found only in remote places that aren’t so
near civilization. The Wildlands Conservancy
purchased the property in 2000 to
save it from development and immediately
drained the lake to remove nonnative catfish
to restore the aquatic ecosystem to its
original state. Now western toads are back
by the thousands, their pollywogs safe
from fish predation, and there’s countless
damsel flies hovering on the water, which
in turn bring on the birds.
There’s history here too. Once an early
YMCA summer camp, the early Bear Valley
and Redlands toll road, built by Big
Bear pioneers Gus Knight and Hiram Clark
in 1899, passed by Bluff Lake. It was a
stop for stagecoaches and burro pack trains
for early visitors coming to Big Bear and
then early buses known as “White Stages”
that came up via Clark’s Grade.
On the lake’s north shore remains from
its past can be seen. “There’s remains that
date back to the 1890’s and another cabin
where a pastor stayed there,” Trammel said.
Just the chimney is left after the cabin
burned in the 1950’s.
At one time owned by Pomona College,
Bluff Lake has been immortalized by
Hollywood. The 1961 Walt Disney film
“The Parent Trap” filmed summer scenes
here. More recently “Dr. Doolittle 2” starring
Eddie Murphy was also filmed at Bluff
Lake along with several car commercials,
Trammel said. Bluff Lake Reserve is part
of the Sand to Snow Preserve System.
Visit www.wildlandsconservancy.org
for information or call (909) 790-3698.
Bluff Lake Reserve is not only scenic
(above) but it’s also historic (left), where
remains of early days as a hub to Big
Bear can still be seen