Category Archives: Big Bear Lake

Big Bear Lake, Interesting Places

Santa’s Village set to reopen August 1st, 2015

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Jim Steinberg has posted over at the San Bernardino Sun about the much anticipated re-opening of Santa’s Village.  Some of you young folks may not know what Santa’s Village is, as it closed back in 1998. from Wikipedia:

Santa’s Village was a winter-themed amusement park in the Skyforest section of Lake Arrowhead, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first franchised amusement park, one of three built by developer Glenn Holland. The others, also defunct, were in Scotts Valley, California and East Dundee, Illinois.

Opening more than a month before Disneyland, the 220-acre park was one of Southern California’s biggest tourist attractions. It boasted kiddie rides, including a bobsled, monorail, and Ferris wheel; a petting zoo; live reindeer; and shops that included a bakery, candy kitchen, and toy shop. Continue reading →

Big Bear Lake

Big Bear: The Ongoing Evolution of Stanfield Marsh

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Vanessa Finney has written about the Stanfield Marsh over on 93.3FM KBHR’s website.  If you haven’t visited, it’s a lovely walk.  From the article:

A favorite scenic spot in Big Bear is the Stanfield Marsh Wildlife and Waterfowl Habitat that extends east from Stanfield Cutoff. Visitors can park in the southwest corner, stop by the wooden gazebo acting as an informational kiosk, then stroll along the water on the wooden walkway. The wooden walkway has a dual purpose: to encourage pedestrians to avoid the highway, and to provide cover for nesting waterfowl. But waterfowl didn’t always have such a haven. In 1982, the Big Bear Municipal Water District (MWD) designated the 145 acre Marsh as a wildlife preserve. Today the many beneficiaries of the project include aquatic species, wetland species, winteríng and breeding waterfowl, wintering bald eagles, Osprey and summer resident and potentially nesting pelicans. The best time of day for people to visit the Preserve for wildlife watching is early morning or late afternoon when the ducks and fish are looking for food.

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Big Bear Lake

Time Bandits Ship Sinks

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

There’s a little (no pun intended) secret about the 1/3 scale 16th century Spanish galleon replica that tours Big bear Lake: it was the tiny ship used in the Terry Gilliam film Time Bandits, which featured a cast of men of diminutive size.

During this latest (and, so far this year’s only) storm which brought snow to the San Bernardino Mountains and caused some people to get all wound up and and start calling it a ‘class 1 hurricane’ the Time Bandit ship was sunk.  Maybe it was the high winds, the rain, or the snow.  At this point, the only thing known is that the 27-ton ship is sitting on the bottom of Davy Jone’s locker.  Okay, Big Bear Lake can’t really qualify as his locker … maybe it’s more like Davy Jone’s Smallish Cupboard.

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Big Bear Lake, National Forests

A Benefit for the Big Bear Discovery Center

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Keep your calendars open on February 8, 2014!

From the Southern California Mountains Foundation:

Join the Southern California Mountains Foundation to help fund raise for the Big Bear Discovery Center and our San Bernardino Mountains at our benefit event on Saturday, February 8, 2014, at the Discovery Center; 6:30pm to 9:00pm.

We need your support to help continue the programming and services we provide at and through the Discovery Center to continue our mission of conservation, environmental education and responsible recreation programming focused on the health, stewardship and sustainability of our mountains, communities and our own lifestyles. Please see our personal note to you below. Continue reading →

Big Bear Lake

Scientist to speak on solar eclipses

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Press release form the SCMF:

Join the Southern California Mountains Foundation and the Big Bear Solar Observatory on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 4 p.m. at the Big Bear Discovery Center to welcome guest speaker Jay Pasachoff, a leading scientist on solar eclipses, in a presentation of “The Sun and Solar Eclipses.”

Combining his rare appearance with his devotion to teaching and sharing with the world the joys of observing eclipses, Professor Pasachoff’s presentation will be open to the public. Admission is free; seating is limited on a first-come basis.

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