Wanting to head up to Big Bear but not really sure how to get there? Don’t worry, we have got you covered. Road conditions may affect how you get to Big Bear and GPS may not always be able to provide the best routes. Below we have a few tips and tricks.
Weather and Conditions
Before you do anything, the first step will be to check from starting location to Big Bear. This may seem like an obvious step, but weather travels and conditions change; so we want to be safe.
Using your cell phone weather app is a great tool. What we recommend is looking at the weather app and the hour breakdown and consider it about 2-4 hours, depending on where you’re starting from. If there is 30-40% or less chance of rain or snow you should have pretty smooth sailing with no major setbacks.
However, if the percentages are already higher or it is already snowing you want to make sure you take precautions.
Preparation
Before disembarking on the trip, you want to make sure that you have everything you need on hand.
No matter the condition of the weather outside, you want to make sure that you have these things at minimum in your vehicle:
- A Shovel
- Emergency signaling/traffic cones
- Bag of Salt
- Ice Scraper
- Flashlight/Flares
- De-icer Windshield Fluid
- Knife/multi tool
- Extra Batteries
- Portable Charger.
- Spare & Winter tires.
These are all things you can get at normal department stores and a good foundation for your minimum winter safety kit.
Route
Lucerne Valley Route – Highway 18:
If it is snowing or there is questionable weather outside we recommend taking this route. The Lucerne Highway route is longer in terms of mileage, but has much less windy and difficult roads. When considering bad weather and safety, this is the route to go for time friendly arrival.
Highway 38 from Redlands, CA:
This route is also not the quickest, however it has even less winding than Highway 18. 38 takes longer to travel but if you are looking to cruise and have beautiful scenery and enjoy the ride, this is a great option for you.
There is everything you need to get starting planning your trip to Big Bear! While you’re there, check out our Big Bear Location for your accommodation!
