Big Bear Lake, California
| City of Big Bear Lake | ||
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| City | ||
Looking east at Big Bear Valley from Butler Peak lookout tower in the San Bernardino National Forest
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 Location in San Bernardino County and the state of California |
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 City of Big Bear Lake
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| Coordinates: 34°14′38″N 116°54′41″W / 34.24389°N 116.91139°WCoordinates: 34°14′38″N 116°54′41″W / 34.24389°N 116.91139°W | ||
| Country | United States | |
| State | California | |
| County | San Bernardino | |
| Incorporated | November 28, 1980 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Council/Manager. City Manager Jeff Mathieu | |
| • Mayor | David A. Caretto | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 6.534 sq mi (16.923 km2) | |
| • Land | 6.346 sq mi (16.435 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.188 sq mi (0.488 km2) 2.88% | |
| Elevation | 6,752 ft (2,058 m) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 5,019 | |
| • Density | 770/sq mi (300/km2) | |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) | |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) | |
| ZIP code | 92315 | |
| Area code(s) | 909 | |
| FIPS code | 06-06434 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 1652673 | |
| Website | citybigbearlake |
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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. Being a popular year-round resort destination, however, 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.
Big Bear Lake was inhabited by the indigenous Serrano Indians for over 2,000 years before it was explored by Benjamin Wilson and his party. Once populated by only the natives and the grizzly bears, from which the area received its name, the population of the Big Bear Valley grew rapidly during the Southern California Gold Rush from 1861 to 1912. Grizzly bears were not found in the region after 1908. Today, there are black bears in the region since their introduction in 1933, and they are sometimes sighted in residential areas.
A trip to Big Bear Lake from San Bernardino took two days on horse-drawn coaches. Kirk Phillips was a local who took a trip to New York City and saw the world's first bus line. This inspired him to create the world's second bus line from San Bernardino to Big Bear Valley using White trucks with several rows of seats. This made it possible for the villages to grow and for Big Bear Lake to become the first mountain recreation area in Southern California.
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