Mountain Bike

25.0 miles

Distance

2,494 ft

Climb

-2,508 ft

Descent

1 mile

High Point

This loop (or lollipop) takes the rider on some of the popular truck trails found on the north side of Big Bear Lake. Starting at Van Dusen Canyon Road provides ample parking, but this route can be started at different places along the way for a shorter ride. Most of the ride is on the maintained dirt roads and less maintained truck trails. The final leg (when ridden clockwise) includes a short section of singletrack before rejoining Van Dusen Canyon Road. There are some excellent views of Big Bear Lake, Holcomb Valley and Fawnskin. This route will intersect parts of the interesting Gold Fever Trail and it crosses the Pacific Crest Trail a few times. Beyond that there are other spurs, trails, peaks and diversions to explore along the way. The John Bull Trail is to the north, the Hannah Flat Trail is to the west, the Butler and Gray's Peaks are to the southwest, the Cougar Crest Trail and Bertha Peak are to the south. Including one or more of these in a ride can turn this loop into an all-day XC epic ride. Alternatively, a couple forest roads (3N12 and 3N12C-2N09A) cross through the middle of the loop allowing a rider to shorten the overall route or "figure 8" it and change directions along the way. The choices and possibilities make this area fun and different every time it's ridden.

Detailed Description

Big Bear Northern Loop is a 25 mile popular intermediate route located near Big Bear California. This mountain bike primary route can be used both directions. This route includes 3 trails. This route climbs 2,494 ft with a max elevation of 7,744 ft then descends -2,508 ft.

Local Trail Association

Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation (trailsfoundation.org)

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Trails in Route

	Van Dusen Canyon Road (3N09)				3 miles
	Forest Road 2N71				4 miles
	Holcomb Creek (3N08)				4 miles

Details

Riding area

North Big Bear Lake
Primary Activity

Mountain Bike
Other Activities
- E-Bike
- Trail Running
Difficulty rating

Blue
Route Type

Loop
eBike Allowed

Yes
Bike type

XC
Direction

Both Directions
Ridelogs

1

More Stats for Big Bear Northern Loop mountain bike route

Avg time

4 hr 16 min
Altitude min

6,525 ft
Altitude start

6,842 ft
Altitude end

6,827 ft
Grade

-0%
Grade max

-29.5%
Grade min

52.3%
Distance climb

13 miles
Distance down

11 miles
Distance flat

2 miles

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Trail Conditions

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1 Week
1 Month
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Unknown
Snow Groomed
Snow Packed
Snow Covered
Snow Cover Partial
Freeze/thaw Cycle
Icy
Prevalent Mud
Wet
Variable
Ideal
Dry
Very Dry

Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)

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bi-directional trail
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Trail Ridden Direction

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Trail Popularity ?

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ATV/ORV/OHV Filter

ATV - 50 inches
OHV, SxS - 60 inches
Jeep - 72 inches

Max Vehicle Width

inches

Ridelog Year

Radar Time

x Activity Recordings

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mountain biking recent
mountain biking (>6 month)
hiking (1 year)
moto (1 year)

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Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.

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Winter Trails

Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.

x Missing Trails

trail	date	description
Van Dusen Canyon Road (3N09)	Oct 8, 2024 @ 8:06am Oct 8, 2024
Forest Road 2N71	Oct 1, 2024 @ 9:40am Oct 1, 2024	Closed due to Line Fire. See USFS site.
Holcomb Creek (3N08)	Oct 1, 2024 @ 8:05am Oct 1, 2024	Closed due to Line Fire. See USFS site.