San Bernardino County, officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 2,035,210, making it the fifth-most populous county in California and the 14th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is San Bernardino.
Big Bear City is an unincorporated town in San Bernardino County, California, United States along the east shore of Big Bear Lake and surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. It is 27 miles (43 km) northeast of the city of San Bernardino, and immediately east of the incorporated city of Big Bear Lake. Its population was 12,304 at the 2010 census, up from 5,779 at the 2000 census. Big Bear City is mostly residential, with smaller houses and cabins laid out in typical square block fashion.
Big Bear Lake is a small city in San Bernardino County, California, located in the San Bernardino Mountains along the south shore of Big Bear Lake, and surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. The city is located about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of the city of San Bernardino, and immediately west of the unincorporated town of Big Bear City. The population was approximately 5,019 at the 2010 census, down from 5,438 at the 2000 census. However, since it is a popular year-round resort destination, the actual number of people staying in or visiting the greater Big Bear Valley area regularly surges to over 100,000 during many weekends of the year.
Running Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 4,862 at the 2010 census, down from 5,125 at the 2000 census. Running Springs is situated 17 miles west of the city of Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is a completely snow-fed lake, having no other means of tributaries or mechanical replenishment. At a surface elevation of 6,743 ft (2,055 m), it has an east-west length of approximately 7 mi (11 km) and is approximately 2.5 mi (4.0 km) at its widest measurement, though the lake's width mostly averages a little more than 1⁄2 mi (0.8 km). These approximations are based on the lake having an optimum retainable water level. At dam's end Big Bear measures its deepest water at 72 ft (22 m).
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting through the northern Santa Ana Mountains via Santa Ana Canyon and flowing southwest through urban Orange County to drain into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and its drainage basin is 2,650 square miles (6,900 km2) in size.
Seven Oaks Dam is a 550-foot (170 m) high earth and rock fill embankment dam across the Santa Ana River in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Redlands in San Bernardino County, southern California. It impounds Seven Oaks Reservoir in the San Bernardino National Forest.
The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 61 miles (98 km) southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside counties.
The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at 11,503 feet (3,506 m) at San Gorgonio Mountain – the tallest peak in all of Southern California. The San Bernardinos form a significant region of wilderness and are popular for hiking and skiing.
State Route 38 is a mostly rural and scenic state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting Interstate 10 in Redlands with State Route 18 in the Big Bear Lake area. It is one of the primary routes into the San Bernardino Mountains. Despite the orientation of its alignment, SR 38 is assigned in a west–east direction.
The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. The Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them.
Angelus Oaks is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States, and has a population of 535 as of the 2010 U.S. Census, up from an estimated population of 312 in 2000. It is surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest and located northeast of Redlands on California State Route 38.
The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing 823,816 acres (3,333.87 km2) of which 677,982 acres (2,743.70 km2) are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains on the easternmost of the Transverse Ranges, and the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains on the northernmost of the Peninsular Ranges. Elevations range from 2,000 to 11,499 feet. The forest includes seven wilderness areas: San Gorgonio, Cucamonga, San Jacinto, South Fork San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, Cahuilla Mountain and Bighorn Mountain. Forest headquarters are located in the city of San Bernardino. There are district offices in Lytle Creek, Idyllwild, and Fawnskin.
The San Bernardino Valley is a valley in Southern California. It lies at the south base of the Transverse Ranges. It is bordered on the north by the eastern San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains; on the east by the San Jacinto Mountains; and on the south by the Temescal Mountains and Santa Ana Mountains; and on the west by the Pomona Valley. Elevation varies from 590 feet (180 m) on valley floors near Chino, where it gradually increases to about 1,380 feet (420 m) near San Bernardino and Redlands. The valley floor is home to over 80% of the more than 4 million people of the Inland Empire region.
Baldwin Lake is a natural, intermittent, alkali lake in the Big Bear Valley of the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California. It is located east of Big Bear Lake reservoir and Big Bear City.
The Santa Rosa Wilderness is a 72,259-acre (292.42 km2) wilderness area in Southern California, in the Santa Rosa Mountains of Riverside and San Diego counties, California. It is in the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert, above the Coachella Valley and Lower Colorado River Valley regions in a Peninsular Range, between La Quinta to the north and Anza Borrego Desert State Park to the south. The United States Congress established the wilderness in 1984 with the passage of the California Wilderness Act, managed by the both US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. In 2009, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act was signed into law which added more than 2,000 acres (8.1 km2). Most of the Santa Rosa Wilderness is within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.
Bear Creek is an approximately 17-mile (27 km) tributary of the Santa Ana River in the San Bernardino Mountains of the U.S. state of California.
Forest Falls is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, 75 miles (121 km) due east of Los Angeles. The community has a population of 1,102 and contains 712 houses. Forest Falls is best known for the waterfalls on Vivian and Falls creeks and as a point of access for recreation in the San Bernardino National Forest, particularly the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area, which lies directly north of the community.
Christopher Jordan Dorner was a Los Angeles police officer who, beginning on February 3, 2013, committed a series of shootings in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and Riverside County, California. The victims were police and civilians, including police family members. Dorner killed four people and wounded three others. On February 12, 2013, Dorner died during a standoff with San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputies after a shootout at a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Whispering Forest is a residential community on the hills of the North Shore of Big Bear City, CA, just north of the Big Bear City Airport. The neighborhood is located less than a mile north-east of Baker Pond and just 500 feet north of the airport. It borders National Forest to the north, Division Drive to the west, and the West North Shore Drive to the south. It is situated at the base of National Forest and backs to woodlands and densely forested areas to the north. Areas such as Holcomb Valley, the Pacific Crest Trail and Caribou Creek are all accessible to the north through Van Dusen Canyon Road in the east. It is an established neighborhood developed by the Whispering Forest Development Company. It is situated at a 6,750 feet elevation and is frequently suffering wildfires during the hotter summer months. The neighborhood is also frequently visited by wildlife such as black bears and mountain lions.
