John Bull Trail (3N10)
Holcomb Valley (Big Bear, San Bernardino NF) · near Big Bear City · Los Angeles / SoCal
Off-Road
At a glance
- Skill level
- expert
- Size
- ~4 miles · A legendary rock-crawling trail · Jeep Badge of Honor route
- Best season
- Late spring–fall · Snow-closed in winter (7,000ft elevation)
Permits and booking
- Permit
- San Bernardino National Forest — Adventure Pass may be required for parking. Green Sticker or street-legal registration. Stay on the designated route. Check current status — SoCal forest trails periodically close for fire or maintenance. Travel in groups; this is serious terrain.
What is here
- Terrain
- rock-crawling · mountain-4x4
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Off-Road detail
- Nickname
- Big Bear's Jeep Badge of Honor
- Vehicles
- 4x4-jeep
- Signature routes
- The boulder fields · The badge run
- Intl tip
- John Bull is in Big Bear's Holcomb Valley, near the Holcomb Creek trail and the Big Bear resort scene. Combine wheeling with Big Bear Lake, the Santa Ana River Trail MTB (MTB guide), and (in winter) skiing (skiing guide). Check current trail status before going — SoCal forest routes close periodically for fire and maintenance.
The guide
John Bull (3N10) is one of Southern California's most legendary rock-crawling trails — a roughly four-mile gauntlet in Big Bear…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to John Bull Trail (3N10) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.306, -116.848