Castle Rock Trail (Big Bear)
Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mtns · near Big Bear Lake · Los Angeles / SoCal
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 1.8 miles
- Elevation gain
- 700 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Late spring–fall · Steep, icy and often impassable when snowy
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- A National Forest Adventure Pass is recommended/required for San Bernardino NF parking; there is no trailhead lot, only narrow Hwy 18 shoulder pullouts around blind curves.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Giant granite boulder formations to scramble · Big Bear Lake views · Quick high payoff · Bluff Lake extension
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The catch is the trailhead: parking is only on the narrow Hwy 18 shoulder around blind curves. Park well off the road, walk defensively facing traffic, and skip it in winter ice.
The guide
A short, sharp climb to a cluster of massive granite outcrops perched above Big Bear Lake — the boulders invite scrambling and …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Castle Rock Trail (Big Bear) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.2384, -116.9585