So Dave and I got to Big Bear today at about 10am. This was my first time there, and Dave's 2nd or 3rd in a long while. Not as much traffic there as expected, but definitely active on the trails. Sorry for lack of pics, but we were busy racking up laps before the storm rolled in. As you can see from the map, The snow summit downhill runs have been closed for some time, which leaves minimal single track trails, and a crapload of boring ass fire road...sorry "MOUNTAIN BIKE" road which we shared with cars, trucks and dirt bikes. The single track trails (marked and unmarked ) were very fun. Rooty, rocky and flowy. It cost us $20 for all day lift access and we got in 3 runs before they closed the lift an hour early because of lightning. I guess that's not bad since a one way pass is $10. The tweaker guys they had running the lifts weren't very friendly either. Would I make this 2-3 hour trip again just to ride this place? Doubt it. Is it a good place for a large MTB group for a weekend of riding and parties? Yep

so you use the chairlifts to take you down so you can climb back up?

So Big Bear is no fun?

u know it actually, when I rode killington a few years back, there was 1 guy who was doing that. I'm sure he was training for something serious. JJ mentioned the peak at big bear is 9000 feet. You can definitely feel it in your lungs when you're fighting for oxygen. Not climbing territory; for me at least.



Well, its fun but not 3 hr drive fun, at least in my opinion. If you go with a bigger group and rent a lodge overnight or something like that It looks like a fun place to party and have some social riding. Lots of restaurants/bars and such in the area. We still had a good time though, made the best of what we had to work with I would compare it to a bigger version of Daley Ranch with a chair lift and more eye candy Not a mountain bike specific resort by any means.

Also here are some bike regulations from the snow summit website. They're more guidelines to turn away downhillers, as we did see plenty of dual crown and dual chainring bikes on the trail and being loaded onto the lifts.

Only cross-country style bikes are permitted on the Scenic Sky Chair. No downhill specific bikes will be transported. Any one of the following four factors will disqualify a bike from being transported on the chair.

1. Bikes must be less than 35 pounds.
2. Designated tire size must be less than 2.5.
3. Front shock must have less than 6 inches of travel.
4. Bikes must have three chain rings unless they are single speed.

You need to go with someone that knows the trails up there. The maps they give you suck. There's way more than a full day's worth of single track up there. Some of the single track is really very good, although a little short.

Fire roads? Yes. Loose and dusty? Yes. Crazy locals? Yes. Killer downhilling? No. World class riding? No. As good as Mammoth? No. Worth a 2.5 hour drive to get there at 9:00 and ride with your buddies until 5:00? Yup.

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DFL > DNF

More singletrack would have been great. It just felt like they're trying to get bikers out of there all together. Between the shitty attitudes and shitty map. I've ridden other resorts in the summers with lifted access for bikes, downhill included, and they're set up much better for first time visitors. I'm sure you're right about having a guide for the better trails not on the map, but you'd think if they wanted you coming back they would offer a better experience. As a whole, the place looks like its mostly set up for the casual weekend riding family, which makes sense just by looking at how much fire road they're pushing on their brochure map.

when they start hauling horses up on the lifts, that's when you know it's over.

Had a good time overall. The car warmed veggie wrap was wonderful, the orange monster worked , the moment ate the trails up , indian food on the way back was delicious, and the trails were alright.

Very disappointing that I misread the website thinking they were opened until 5:00 and it really sucked that we were turned away on our final 3:25 run by some prison tattooed tweeker dick. He told us to get there earlier next time as the chairs are still climbing to the top .

If there is a next time I will leave before 8:30am.

Hey guys,

Yeah, Snow Summit is kind of limited. I like a singletrack called Pine Knot I believe that goes from the "top" into town. There are a bunch of unmarked trails which are also fun on that side of the hill.

The shit in my opinion is on the other side of the lake. You can do a biggie loop, about 25 miles, all singletrack!

There is also Sugarloaf Mountain (how many mountains have that name?) which is rugged, hard, rewarding and it takes you to 9952 elevation, just shy of 10K on a bike! Not bad for Socal.

Then there is SART on the other side of the valley to the south by Hwy 38. Lots of fun.

Maybe we could do a DT ride to one of those places some day? Probably a camp out or weekend type ride. I can't do one for a while due to family stuff (2 3 month old twin boys, 3 yr old woman child girl). I can only dream for a while but thought I'd plant the seed.

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"We'll ride it until they pave it."

-Big Clyde

Yeah man, a "family" day is definitely in order. Dude, you got twins and a girl? You're lucky to get out to ride once a month! I'd be down for some big bear singletrack.