Big Bear Lake (Trinity Alps)
Trinity Alps Wilderness, Trinity Center · near Trinity Center · Shasta Cascade
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 9 miles
- Elevation gain
- 2,900 ft
- Time needed
- overnight
- Best season
- June–October
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- Free self-issue wilderness permit (overnight); California Campfire Permit. Unusually easy trailhead access for the range — directly off paved Hwy 3.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Big granite-cirque lake · Steep, relentless climb · Swimming · Dramatic amphitheater walls
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Start early; the lower switchbacks bake in afternoon sun. The trail is steeper than the mileage suggests.
The guide
A short-mileage but genuinely steep haul to a large, cliff-ringed lake — one of the most accessible big-cirque payoffs in the e…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Big Bear Lake (Trinity Alps) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 41.0975, -122.7355