Big Bear Discovery Center
The Big Bear Discovery Center is an educational and informational portal to the San Bernardino National Forest, located within the heart of Big Bear Valley. The goal of Big Bear Discovery Center is to create awareness on becoming more responsible caretakers of our national forests while increasing our enjoyment and knowledge of the great outdoors.
Services include Adventure Passes; maps for hiking and biking and off-roading; camping information; and Forest Service permits. The Big Bear Discovery Center offers naturalist-led interpretive tours such as snowshoe tours and bald eagle celebrations in the winter and Pacific Crest Trail and canoe tours in the summer.
At the Big Bear Discovery Center, visitors and local residents are able to learn about forest stewardship through interpretive displays, classes and our new Nature Discovery Zone, an outdoor adventure space designed for children 2-7 years old and their families to explore and reconnect to nature. The Discovery Center also serves as host to several concerts throughout the year. Visitors are able to participate in numerous guided tours of the National Forest, included guided canoe and kayak tours of Big Bear Lake. Additionally, The National Recreation Reservation Service handles reservations for most campgrounds, a select few are first-come, first-served. The Big Bear Discovery Center is co-managed by the non-profit Southern California Mountains Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service. Entrance is free and the facility is pet friendly.
For more information, call 909-866-3437.