Big Bear Valley is a valley in

San Bernardino County 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 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,18 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, United States. The valley, in the

San Bernardino Mountains 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 at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

, includes

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is a snow and rain fed lake, having no other means of tributaries or mechanical replenishment. At a surface elevation of , it ...

, Big Bear City, Fawnskin,

Holcomb Valley Holcomb Valley, located in the San Bernardino Mountains about five miles north of Big Bear Lake, was the site of the most gold mines in Southern California. It was named after William F. Holcomb, who found gold there in 1860. That year started th ...

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a ...

, Erwin Lake, Baldwin Lake,

Bluff Lake This is a list of lakes in Nova Scotia. Cape Breton Island All Four Counties * Bras d'Or Lake Cape Breton Regional Municipality * Anse aux Cannes Pond *The Barachois *Bear Cove Pond *Bear Gulch Ponds *Beaverdam Pond *Belle Lake *Benne ...

and Lake Williams.

History

The Spanish colonizers arrived to the valley in the eighteenth century and encountered people who they referred to as "

Serranos Serranos is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), located in the Southeast Regio ...

" in the valley. The Serranos had established a few permanent settlements in the mountains, and also lived in the area during the summer months of the year. They may have moved into the area some 3,000 years prior.

References

{{SanBernardinoCountyCA-geo-stub