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| Bluff Reserve |
Date: April 19, 2026
Place: Big Bear Valley, Big Bear City, California
Coordinates: 34.236698, -116.961750
Length: 5 miles
Level: moderate to strenuous
My second night at the Hanna Flat Campground was not as cold as the first. The night started just as noisy because the same group of people were still in the neighboring site, but I was tired from my hike to Gray's Peak and fell asleep without problems. I woke up early, had my breakfast and broke camp. I did contemplate staying there for a third night but decided against it, thinking instead to start my long drive north in the evening and camp somewhere along the way.
I have decided to hike a trail south of Big Bear Lake. My first choice turned out to be inaccessible - the road leading to it was still closed due to winter conditions. My second choice - the Castle Rock Trail, was open though. I drove to the trailhead and parked. The Castle Rock Trail is one of the most popular trails in the Big Bear Lake area (which is why it wasn't my first trail choice). There were quite a few people at the trailhead already but the parking lot however, still had available slots. I got my pack and camera ready and started up the trail.
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| My hike as captured by my GPS |
From the trailhead up to Castle Rock, the trail is pretty steep. The beginning had low steps but after the first curve the steps were gone and the trail turned into a mesh of human-worn down paths going in a number of directions on and around boulders and trees.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
Right from the start my eyes trained on a large outcrop above the trail. Considering the distance marked on the map posted at the trailhead that this would be the Castle Rock and indeed it wasn't. Somewhere up the trail there was a bigger rock.
The entire slope was forested with conifer trees. The trees were not too tight together and there were many bushes in the understory. Many of these bushes were manzanita. Little mountain chickadees hopped in the manzanitas and one of them stood still just long enough to get photographed.
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| Mountain Chickadee |
The trail was surprisingly challenging to follow. Many paths were formed in many years of overuse and it wasn't obvious which path was the actual trail. Moreover, there were plenty of other hikers on the slope with me, and there were people in every direction, not in a single line going up or down. Eventually I figured that the main trail was marked with thigh-high chickenwire-wrapped stone pillars. These were placed in irregular intervals and even with them it wasn't always clear where to turn, although the general direction was up.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
At some point the trail came near a small, flowing creak. The thin flow of water was nice to see and listen to. The water flower down a cascade of small, knee-high waterfalls created by rocks and boulders in its path.
A couple of hikers and me kept leap-frogging each pother on the way up. When we reached a trail junction and I saw that the pair was continuing uphill rather than turning in the direction of Castle Rock I called after them and asked about the trail they were going on. The told me that a few miles up that trail was a small reserve with a pond and a boardwalk, and that they were going there.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
I pondered a bit after they left, and then decided to follow suit and continue up the trail to the Bluff Reserve. I wanted a longer hike than just going to Castle Rock and back down, and I didn't feel like finding another trail after having completed this one. I could always turn about and walk back if I thought this trail would be too long.
After some more uphill clambering I reached a bench. I didn't sit on that bench but I did pause and turn to look north - Big Bear Lake was down there, blue and calm.
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| Big Bear Lake |
Where I stood was also a nice view point of Castle Rock, which I passed all too quickly on the way up. The rock was partially obscured by trees.
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| Castle Rock |
The trail continued uphill a bit more after the observation bench. The couple that told me about the Bluff Reserve didn't know exactly how long the trail was and had estimated it to be about 4-5 miles.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
Although pretty much all of the rocks had lichens on them, Some had really interesting lichen patterns. Especially, I liked the dark, wavy pattern form on the shaded lower face of the rock in the photo below.
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| Lichen |
The trees also captivated me. This area was not damaged by fire so most of the trees were full grown. Still, hear and there I saw young trees.
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| Sierra White Fir, Abies concolor ssp. lowiana |
In only a short distance of ascending past the bench the trail leveled. Accordingly, my pace hastened. I passed one more trail junction, but it seemed to be leading off away from the Bluff Reserve. I continued south, straight ahead.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
I crossed a small creek with flowing water. It was lovely to see this thin lifeline of the forest vegetation. It was a bit small for so early in the season.
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| Creek |
A large ponderosa pine towered over the trail and I paused for a little and looked at it with admiration. This forest, as I later learned, was not ravaged by recent fire, but it was decimated by logging in an earlier time. Truly large trees were a rarity.
The trail followed the creek for a little while. I was going upstream, seeing and hearing the water flowing gently on the flatter part of the mountain before reaching the steep slope near the Castle Rock.
The Castle Rock Trail was very busy between the parking lot and the celebrity rock itself. Past Castle Rock, the trail was fairly empty of people. Occasionally I met a few, either passing me or coming back, returning from the reserve.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
I came upon a wider creek. The trail to cross the creek was blocked by a fallen tree and I had to bypass the blockage through the bushes. Below I saw more of the Utah serviceberry bushes, which were nearly all in bloom at the time.
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| Utah Serviceberry, Amelanchier utahensis |
My navigator indicated that I was coming up to the junction where I would turn to go to the Bluff Reserve. The trail steepened and for a little while I was going uphill again. At the top I turned and looked back to see both Castle Rock and the Big Bear Lake below it.
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| Castle Rock and Big Bear Lake |
The junction was a lot closer to Castle Rock than the couple that suggested the trail to me had implied. I was actually pretty close to the reserve now. I didn't have any map with me except for the map displayed by my navigator. At the trail junction however, was a large sign with a map of illustrated trails. Following that map I turned west onto forest road 2N86.
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| Forest Road 2N86 |
The dirt road was flat and very easy to walk on. I walked fast, stopping only to admire a mushroom-looking rock on the side of the trail.
In a very short time I reached the trail that split off the forest road, leading to the Bluff Reserve. I found that the access trail was flooded in a few places, but it was not problem going around the puddles.
A quick movement below one of the pine trees caught my attention - it was a little chipmunk. The chipmunk darted off and started climbing the nearest tree, pausing briefly to regard me before disappearing behind the tree trunk.
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| Lodgepole Chipmunk |
The trail was gated but the sign hanged on it said hikers are welcome. The gate was only for vehicles, including bikers. Behind the gate was an old, crumbling wood hut. This area used to be someone's residence.
Just past the wood hut were the remains of a stone structure, what might have been the main residence of the past owners. A picnic table stood on what might have been the living room floor' next to the chimney, the part of the house that still looked intact.
Ahead laid a body of water - the Bluff Reserve. The couple that went ahead of me called it a lake but it looked more like a wetland marsh.
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| Bluff Reserve |
A long boardwalk crossed the flood plain to the other side. The trail, I knew, continued to the right, surrounding the marsh on the west. I looked to my right and saw where the trail came from around the marsh. I could see a few people there, and decided to start my way around on the boardwalk, and circumvent it clockwise.
I took a few steps on the boardwalk and looked in the water. The water was shallow, and little black tadpoles darted to and fro between the plants. There were also little fish there but I couldn't get a good photo of them. The area east of the boardwalk looked like a continuous meadow, but on a more careful look I could see that the entire area was flooded - the plants had their feet submerged. Two mallards were swimming in a distant area of open water. Another, solitary female was perched on a rock that protruded from the marsh, sleeping with her beak tucked in er wing.
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| Mallard, female |
In a clearing that was closer to the boardwalk, a solitary coot was swimming, skirting the edges of the vegetation. I could see no other waterfowl anywhere in the reserve.
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| American Coot |
The west side of Bluff Reserve looked more like a lake, but the boardwalk wasn't near the open water. Some distance off shore was a mound of rocks and a few trees growing next to the rocks. I searched the island for wildlife but saw none from my distance.
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| Bluff Reserve |
A large raptor flew above my head. I followed it with my eyes and with my camera - it was a red-tailed hawk. I noticed that the sky was gray and growing darker and I wondered if it would rain soon.
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| Red-tailed Hawk |
The first part of the boardwalk was over the flooded area. Some further distance south the water receded and below the boardwalk was dark, peaty mud from which sprouted many plants. Among these plants I saw my first exciting wildflower of this trip - a Nevada Lewisia. There were several Lewisia flowers blooming in clusters beneath the boardwalk, and a few busy honey bees worked industriously pollinating them.
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| Nevada Lewisia, Lewisia nevadensis and a European Honey Bee |
The muddy soil was more dry toward the end of the boardwalk. The vegetation changed into meadow grass. Cushions of cornlilies were budding out of the soil. The cornlilies of course, were just beginning their growth season. Flowering was a long time off still.
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| California Cornlily, Veratrum californicum |
Near the edge of the meadow, behind a large circle of willows I noticed two rusty looking wood huts. One of the huts looked like an outhouse, implying the other one might have been a sleep cabin. I don't know for sure, of course. the huts were too far away to explore.
The willows were all at the beginning their spring budding. The leaf buds were just beginning to swell, giving a light green hue to the rusty winter look of the willows.
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| Willow, Salix sp. |
At the end of the boardwalk I found a campground with cabins. The campground was closed and fenced but at the trail junction outside of the camp were a few picnic tables. I sat at one of them to eat and drink. A curious robin dropped by to inspect me, but didn't come too close.
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| American Robin |
After I ate I went closer to the willows to check them out. The willows bloom before putting out their spring leaves. The wind-pollinated flowers are not big and colorful, or spectacular in any way, but the inflorescences have a delicate beauty that I enjoy seeing.
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| Willow, Salix sp. |
The trail surrounding Bluff Reserve continued as a dirt road which I assumed was a continuation of the access road to the campgrounds. The road was lined by the evergreen pines and firs, the now budding willows, and trees that were still winter-bare, which I believed were poplars.
The grass was renewing too - fresh green grass was popping out under and between the dead grass of last season. A few California ground squirrels were busy in the grass.
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| California Ground Squirrel |
A Steller's jay hopped on the trail some distance ahead. It kept jumping away as I approached, keeping a safe distance between us. Eventually it jumped on the lower branches of a willow and paused just enough for me to photograph it before vanishing deeper into the vegetation.
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| Steller's Jay |
I reached a place that looked like a landing of sorts. The soil was really muddy and a shallow canal of water, which I wasn't sure was even flowing crossed the trail and stretched all the way to the water. A blue canoe was upside down before the willows near the water.
The trail was muddy too and I slowed down to a crawl, stepping carefully on grassy 'islands' in the mud. Behind a gap in the willows the lake was calm, mirroring the trees on the other side.
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| Bluff Reserve |
A few buttercups were blooming in the mud near the trail. I took care to not trample anything when I went closer to look at the yellow flowers.
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| Plantainleaf Buttercup, Ranunculus alismifolius |
The mud turned into a full flooded bug puddle on the trail. I had to be creative to keep my feet dry, but I did get my shoes pretty muddy. The trail was dry after the crossing, thankfully.
A few steps past the puddle I came upon another trail junction. On my right, a low bridge crossed the narrow part of Bluff Reserve to meet the trail on the other side. Straight ahead the trail continued between a clamp of blooming manzanita bushes and tall pine trees. I consulted my navigator and decided to continue forward and extend my hike to include surrounding another meadow area west of the reserve.
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| Greenleaf Manzanita, Arctostaphylos patula |
The meadow turned out to be quite dry still. I saw no wildflowers there, and noticed no wildlife. Spring was too early here.
As I was turning the west curve of the loop hike I saw a very large pine tree that was surrounded by a low fence. The tree was significantly larger than all of the trees I saw in that entire forest. An interpretive sign was near the tree and I went over to take a closer look.
The sign was old and dirty but readable. It was from that sign that I learned that this 'champion' lodgepole pine was the only survivor of an older forest that was logged to decimation. The fence was there to protect it from further human-caused damage, such as carving vandalism. I couldn't fit the entire tree into my camera frame but I did take a photo of its nice, thick trunk.
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| Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta |
I crossed to the south side of the reserve on a short board bridge that span the narrow creek that fed the reserve from the west.
The trail past the crossing was narrow and dry and went up a the low slope. The slope was forested with pines and firs that were close together and the forest floor was covered with a thick mat of dry needles. There was less undergrowth in that part of the forest, and no wildflowers.
I passed near a gate formed by a large boulder that rested on a gap between two other rocks that protruded from the ground. I wondered if that formation was natural, or wether people have raised that top rock to its current place.
Eventually I did see some more flowers. At the base of a needle-covered rock outcrop I found a cluster of blooming wallflowers.
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| Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum |
Much of the trail on the south side of the marsh was distant enough from the wetland. I was walking through a dry conifer forest, listening to the little birds in the trees and enjoying the warm sun as the gray clouds slowly separated, revealing patches of blue sky.
The birds I was hearing were dark-eyed juncos. The juncos are very common birds but they are surprisingly hard to get good photos of. I did manage to photograph one that didn't fly off too quickly.
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| Dark-eyed Junco |
Eventually the trail did come close to the reserve again. I scanned the water surface but saw no waterfowl still.
When I reached the remains of the stone structure again I realized that other than a sole guy that was near the boardwalk when I started on it, I met no one else on my reserve-surrounding hike. The other people that I saw in the distance earlier were no longer there. The couple that prompted me on this hike was nowhere to be seen.
I decided to go for a few steps on the boardwalk again. This time I did manage to get a photo of the fish that swam there in the shallow water.
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| Anarmored Threespine Stickleback |
The mallard pair that I saw earlier was still there, but this time they were closer. I took a few photos of the ducks. I love the photo where they both went bottoms up in unison.
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| Mallards |
I was able to get better photos of the little black tadpoles of the Pacific chorus frogs.
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| Pacific Chorus Frog, tadpole |
After a few minutes of looking at the water I turned around to leave the Reserve. I passed the old and crumbling wood hut and exited the reserve's gate. This time I bypassed the puddle on the trail on the other side and on my way I noticed a beautiful pinewood lousewort blooming below.
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| Pinewood Lousewort, Pedicularis semibarbata |
I then noticed a patch of the Nevada Lewisia that were blooming not far away from the trail. I had missed them on my way in but now I took the chance to get a good closeup photo.
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| Nevada Lewisia, Lewisia nevadensis |
Back on the forest road I walked quickly. By that time I knew I was on my return and I wished to complete the hike in a good time to get some afternoon travel.
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| Forest Road 2N86 |
It was when I got to the junction and turned back onto the Castle Rock Trail that I started seeing other hikers again. Trickling in pairs or small groups, more people were making their way to the Bluff Reserve as I was making my way back from there.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
It was considerably warmer now on my way back than it was when I started my hike. The lizards were sunning themselves on the rocks by the trail side.
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| Southern Sagebrush Lizard |
The chipmunks were active too. They were much harder to photograph because they were running around ceaselessly.
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| Lodgepole Chipmunck |
Big Bear Lake came into view again. I was getting close to Castle Rock, approaching it from the south this time.
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| View North to Big Bear Lake |
I made it down the the Castle Rock View trail junction. This time I turned on it rather than continuing directly downhill to the parking area.
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| Castle Rock |
The trail that circles Castle Rock from the south was not marked. I followed the most apparently trodden path to the west side of the rock.
It is possible to ascend Castle Rock. The easiest access is on the west side, and it involves rock scrambling. I contemplated going up but a long line of people were negotiating their way down the narrow and treacherous path. The voices of many more people drifted down from the top of Castle Rock. In short, I decided to pass on the pleasure of climbing up that rock.
The obvious way down would have been the one I came up on, on the east side of Castle Rock. My navigator showed a trail down on the west side too. Seeing a foot path leading down from where I stood on the west side of the rock, I decided to follow it down.
Soon it became clear that the western trail was not maintained, and its use even discouraged. I descended painfully slow. The view however, was really nice.
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| Big Bear Lake |
Going down the wester path was a slow ordeal and it was getting slower with each step. Once I was lower than Castle Rock I had a good view of the eastern, the official trail, where many people were going up and down. I was alone on a broken path that might have been the trail in the past. Below me I could see possible reasons as to why this path was abandoned: a few rock collapse areas that seemed to have buried the places that seemed most likely where the trail would have been. There would be no going through these areas for me. I started actively searching for a way to reconnect with the eastern trail.
Eventually I did find a path that connected the western, broken trail with the eastern, established trail. From that moment my way down was quick and unhindered.
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| Castle Rock Trail |
Well, not exactly. At the very bottom I found the stairs blocked by a group of young women who were chatting gayly and posing for photos. The women were dressed so nice that my first thought was that this was a celebration event. They certainly weren't hikers - not with the delicate fancy shoes they were wearing. The women were so absorbed in what they were doing that they didn't notice me. After I waited long enough I hailed them and offered to take a group photo of them. They seemed surprised to see me there. They smiled at me but decline my offer. Their photographer was a professional. They did make space for me to walk down the stairs. I asked about their event and they told me that they were members of a choir and that they were taking the photos fr their concert brochure. I wished them a successful concert and darted down the stairs to the parking lot.
Big Bear Valley is about 8 hours drive from my home. I could have stayed in Hanna Flat campground for another nigh but I decided to cut some time from tomorrow's travel by starting it on the afternoon following this hike. I had another reason to do so - I needed cellular reception on Monday morning, and there was none at the Hanna Flat campground. I started driving east and after a short while I stopped at the Baldwin Lake Ecological Preserve for a picnic. The place was deserted, but the small parking area had a crumbling picnic table where I sat to eat. The poppies that bloomed there were lovely.
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| California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica |
That Preserve was my last stop in Big Bear Valley. I resumed my drive after that, and an hour later I stopped to campfor the night in Mojave Narrows Regional Park in a small town called Victorville.
