Big Bear · Trails & routes
Gold Mountain & Holcomb Valley 4x4 / OHV
The historic gold-rush valley north of the lake, by vehicle
Managed by San Bernardino National Forest
Holcomb Valley, north of Big Bear Lake, was Southern California's biggest gold rush site and is now threaded with Forest Service roads and designated OHV routes.
The one route here with its own agency page is Holcomb Valley OHV Road 3N16: the Forest Service describes it as just over 26 miles from Green Valley Lake Road to the Dump Access Road near Baldwin Lake, with only the 11-mile segment between the Crab Flats Campground junction with 3N34 and Forest OHV Road 3N56 open to non-street-legal vehicles. The rest requires a street-legal vehicle.
The Forest Service also runs the Gold Fever Interpretive Site, a self-guided driving tour of the historic mining locations in the valley.
Getting there
- Main access is from the Big Bear north shore and from Highway 18 near Baldwin Lake.
- The legally authoritative document for which routes you may drive is the Forest's Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). Check it before you unload — route legality is not something we publish.
- Green sticker and street-legal requirements differ segment by segment on 3N16. Read the agency page.
Safety & etiquette
- Rock crawling here is remote and unpatrolled, with no cell coverage and long recovery times.
- Historic mine shafts and structures are hazardous and protected — do not enter or remove anything.
- Roads close seasonally, for storms and under forest orders.
Community information — not from an official source
John Bull 3N10 and Gold Mountain 3N69 are well-known hard 4x4 routes in this area, but we found no dedicated Forest Service page for either, and third-party mileages and difficulty ratings contradict each other. We list them as community-known routes only and publish no stats for them.
Keep exploring nearby
- Holcomb Valley Pinnacles →
Granite climbing & outdoor recreation area north of Big Bear Lake
- Baldwin Lake Ecological Reserve →
Pebble plains and wintering bald eagles east of the lake
- Pacific Crest Trail access near Big Bear →
How to walk a piece of the PCT in an afternoon
What we don't publish
Route difficulty ratings, current road status, seasonal gate closures and legality of any specific track: check the MVUM and the Forest Service road information.