Running Springs is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

, United States. The population was 5,268 at the 2020 census, up from 4,862 at the 2010 census. Running Springs is situated 17 miles west of the city of

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the Western United States, western United States, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County, California. It is a snow and rain-fed lake, having no other m ...

. Running Springs is home to the 3,400-acre National Children’s Forest, which offers interpretive programs, educational tours and more.

Snow Valley Mountain Resort Snow Valley Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in Running Springs, California, United States. Snow Valley is the longest continually operating ski resort in Southern California and is also one of three ski resorts in the San Bernardino Nat ...

was established here in the 1920s and was the first ski resort 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 ...

History

The first people to settle here were the

Serrano people The Serrano are an Indigenous people of California. Their autonyms are Taaqtam meaning "people", Maarrênga'yam meaning "people from Morongo", and Yuhaaviatam meaning "people of the pines." Today the Maarrênga'yam are enrolled in the Moron ...

(“

mountain people Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

”). They got their name from Spanish priest Father Garces in 1776, but called themselves Yuhaviatam (“people of the pines”). Numerous mortar holes can be seen throughout the area, made by the Serranos grinding acorns into meal. Native Americans settled here due to the rich natural resources. They gathered acorns and herbs, also hunting deer, rabbits and other wildlife. Running Springs was originally known as Hunsaker Flats, named for Abraham Hunsaker, an early member of the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to Jul ...

. The area was developed after improvements to the state highways in the 1920s.

Geography

Running Springs is located at (34.207739, -117.108285). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km), 99.79% of it is land and 0.21% is water.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Running Springs had a population of 5,268. The population density was . The racial makeup of Running Springs was 76.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.0%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.1% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 6.0% from other races, and 13.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 20.2% of the population. The whole population lived in households. There were 2,242 households, out of which 24.7% included children under the age of 18, 48.3% were married-couple households, 7.0% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 21.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 23.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 28.9% of households were one person, and 10.8% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.35. There were 1,438

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(64.1% of all households). The age distribution was 20.5% under the age of 18, 5.6% aged 18 to 24, 24.9% aged 25 to 44, 29.7% aged 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 43.9years. For every 100 females, there were 105.1 males. There were 3,693 housing units at an average density of , of which 2,242 (60.7%) were occupied. Of these, 77.0% were owner-occupied, and 23.0% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 4.9% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 89.1% spoke only English at home, 6.2% spoke

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, 0.9% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, 3.8% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.0% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 94.4% were high school graduates and 35.6% had a bachelor's degree. The median household income in 2023 was $85,681, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $39,966. About 10.8% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Running Springs had a population of 4,862. The population density was . The racial makeup of Running Springs was 4,325 (89.0%) White (79.8% Non-Hispanic White), 23 (0.5%) African American, 47 (1.0%) Native American, 50 (1.0%) Asian, 6 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 146 (3.0%) from other races, and 265 (5.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 695 people (14.3%). The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one was institutionalized. There were 1,944 households, 611 (31.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,026 (52.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 171 (8.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 106 (5.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 114 (5.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 38 (2.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 477 households (24.5%) were one person and 140 (7.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.50. There were 1,303 families (67.0% of households); the average family size was 2.99. The age distribution was 1,119 people (23.0%) under the age of 18, 375 people (7.7%) aged 18 to 24, 1,157 people (23.8%) aged 25 to 44, 1,672 people (34.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 539 people (11.1%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 41.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.4 males. There were 3,729 housing units at an average density of 885.1 per square mile, of the occupied units 1,419 (73.0%) were owner-occupied and 525 (27.0%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 12.6%. 3,450 people (71.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,412 people (29.0%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Running Springs had a median household income of $59,111, with 9.3% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Running Springs is in , and in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Running Springs is in .

Surroundings and economy

Running Springs is a mountain community in the

. It is an

inholding An inholding is privately owned land inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar publicly owned, protected area. In-holdings result from private ownership of lands predating the designation of the park or fores ...

in the

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernar ...

. Situated at the junction of State Route 18 and State Route 330, it is a major gateway to the mountain communities of Lake Arrowhead, Arrowbear, Green Valley Lake, and

Big Bear Big Bear, also known as (; – 17 January 1888), was a powerful and popular Cree chief who played many pivotal roles in Canadian history. He was appointed to chief of his band at the age of 40 upon the death of his father, Black Powder, u ...

and is the closest community to

. It lies some northeast of the city of

Highland, California Highland (inc. East Highlands) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States located 65 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles and roughly 50 miles west of Palm Springs, California. The city's population, inclusive to its neighbor ...

, up State Route 330, at an elevation of . While there is no primary industry in Running Springs, there are service industries geared to the tourism market, as the San Bernardino National Forest is a year-round tourist destination. Additionally, Running Springs, together with surrounding communities, form a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for commuters who are employed in San Bernardino. Running Springs is a member community of the Rim of the World, an inhabited stretch of the

and wholly contained in the

. The Rim (as it is locally known) extends from Crestline to

, a distance of some . Running Springs is served by

Rim of the World High School Rim of the World High School is a public secondary school located in Lake Arrowhead, California, at the top of the mountain overlooking the San Bernardino Valley. It is part of the Rim of the World Unified School District and is the only compreh ...

and Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School situated in Lake Arrowhead. Logging in the San Bernardino Mountains was once done on a large scale, with the Brookings Lumber & Box Company operation the largest. It operated on between Fredalba and Hunsaker Flats (present-day Running Springs), and extending northward to Heap's Ranch and Lightningdale (near Green Valley Lake) between 1899 and 1912. It built a logging railroad to bring logs to the mill at Fredalba. The

Shay locomotive The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a ''geared st ...

s had to be disassembled and hauled by wagon up the mountain, since the railroad operated in the high country but did not connect to other railroads in the lowlands. About 60% of the finished lumber was hauled by wagon down the steep grades to the Molino box factory in Highland, which made packing crates for the citrus grown in the area. The remaining 40% went to the company's retail lumber yard in San Bernardino. In 1912, the company dismantled the Fredalba sawmill and moved much of the machinery to

Brookings, Oregon Brookings is a city in Curry County, Oregon, Curry County, Oregon, United States. It was named after John E. Brookings, president of the Brookings Lumber & Box Company, who founded the city in 1908. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

Education

It is in the

Rim of the World Unified School District Rim of the World Unified School District is a school district headquartered in Blue Jay, San Bernardino County, California. Schools Secondary Schools * Rim of the World High School Rim of the World High School is a public secondary school ...

.
Text list
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In popular culture

Film producer

David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (born David Selznick; May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca (1940 film), Rebecca'' (1 ...

lived in Running Springs and decided to use neighboring Big Bear Lake for scenes in his 1939 film ''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

''. Movies filmed in Running Springs include ''

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

'' (2007), '' When a Stranger Calls'' (2006), '' Communion'' (1989), '' Small Town Saturday Night'' (2010), '' I'm Reed Fish'' (2006), '' Messenger of Death'' (1988), '' Demon Legacy'' (2014), '' The Bigfoot Project'' (2017) and '' Cold Cabin'' (2010). The film ''Running Springs'' was set and filmed in the Running Springs area.

Sister cities

Sehmatal Sehmatal is a municipality in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany, which was created in 1999 through the union of ''Neudorf'', ''Cranzahl'' and ''Sehma''. The three villages are located along the Sehma river, aligned in a north-so ...

, Germany

References

External links

Big Bear Discovery Center

Big Bear Grizzly, in depth news, sports and entertainment information
* {{authority control San Bernardino Mountains Census-designated places in San Bernardino County, California Census-designated places in California