2012 OFFICIAL VISITORS GUIDE 800.424.4232 BIGBEAR.COM2012 OFFICIAL VISITORS GUIDE 800.424.4232 BIGBEAR.COM 2012 OFFICIAL VISITORS GUIDE 800.424.4232 BIGBEAR.COM 53

natural lake at the east end of the valley, now known as Baldwin Lake.

Quite a “Rich” HistoryBig Bear Lake was once a gold-mining mecca before it became a popular four-season resort. In 1860, a bear hunter named William Holcomb discovered gold in the backcountry after tracking a bear’s blood trail to a creek filled with flakes of gold. He tried to keep it a secret, but word soon spread, and Southern California’s largest gold rush was on! From 1860 to about 1875 the area was teeming with prospectors.

Today, only a few relics and structures from the Gold Rush days remain. Big Bear Off-Road Adventuresoffers gold-mining tours all year round.Big Bear Discovery Center offers tours inthe summer and provides self-guided-tour brochures for folks who want to venture out on their own. Visitors will see actual remnants of the gold mines and learn about several sites of interest, such as Metzger Mine, Lucky Baldwin Mine, Two Gun Bill’s Saloon, Hangman’sTree, and Wilbur’s Grave.

If some friends told you they had

just spent a fun-filled weekend

at a popular Southern California

resort called Yuhaviat, you probably

wouldn’t know what they were talking

about. Yuhaviat is a Serrano Indian word

that means “Pine Place,” and it was Big

Bear Valley’s name for more than

a thousand years.

In 1845, Benjamin Davis Wilson

rode into Yuhaviat Valley with a posse

of 20 men. They were chasing Indians

who had been raiding their ranches in

Riverside. As they entered the valley,

they found it swarming with grizzlies.

That’s not a misprint, indeed they were

grizzly bears!

Wilson divided his men into two-

man teams. Each team went out, roped

a bear, and brought it back to camp.

They had eleven bears at the camp at

the same time. This prompted Wilson

to come up with the name Big Bear

Lake. However, it should be noted that

Big Bear Lake is a man-made lake that

didn’t exist in 1845. The lake Wilson

named Big Bear was actually the

More Historic FactsBig Bear’s first dam, completed in 1884,was soon followed by the Valley’s first hotel in 1888. In 1949 the first ski resortopened, and sure enough, Big Bear Lake became Southern California’s favorite mountain getaway.

Museum

BIG BEAR HISTORICAL MUSEUM Northeast end of Big Bear City Park off Greenway Drive, just east of the airport.909-585-8100 • BigBearHistory.org

Gold Mining ToursBIG BEAR OFF-ROAD ADVENTURESAny Season is 4-Wheel-Drive Season909-585-1036 • OffRoadAdventure.com

BIG BEAR DISCOVERY CENTERYour “Gateway to Adventure and Discovery in the Great Outdoors!“40971 North Shore Dr. (Hwy. 38) 909-866-3437 • SBNFA.org

HOW BIG BEAR LAKE GOT ITS NAME

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