During the winter months when visitors think of Big Bear, California, skiing or snowboarding comes to mind as the only winter activity but adventures in Big Bear are plentiful. Big Bear Lake has some of Southern California’s biggest and greatest adventures and they are just a short drive from Orange County and Los Angeles. We spent the weekend in Big Bear and found 5 Big Bear bucketlist adventures for non-skiers. With temperatures in the high 80s, a cooler mountain vacation is on the horizon.
5 Bucketlist Adventures in Big Bear California for Non-Skiers
1. Tubing, Alpine Sledding, Go-Karting, Building Snowmen, and Miniature Golf at Magic Mountain
Tubing or sledding is what winter memories are made of! Spend the day at Magic Mountain and enjoy the Alpine Slide, sledding, snowman building, miniature golf, and go-karts. It’s one of the best places for adventures in Big Bear.
The Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain is open all year. Begin with a scenic chairlift ride to the top. From there, you get to navigate your own individually controlled sled down your choice of two quarter-mile long cement tracks filled with high-banked turns and long straightways.
There are a variety of attractions at the recreation area as well, which include year round operations of the go-karts and an 18 hole miniature golf course. Kids 6 and under ride Snow Play, Big Bear’s snow tubing hill, free with a paying adult and everything you need including snow, sled, and even a lift to the top of the hill, is provided.
Athena built her first snowman, went sledding for the first time, and rode in a go-kart with Daddy. From 10 am until 5 pm, we never left Magic Mountain. I would have been happy spending the entire weekend there. The cold, the snow, the laughter, the slipping and sliding down the hill, it all reminded me of my childhood in eastern Canada.
2. Skating, Laser Tag, Miniature Golf, and Arcade Games at Big Bear Funplex
Bowling, skating, mini golf, arcade games, laser tag, and dining can all be found at Big Bear Funplex. You can decide as a family which activities you’d like the most and packages are available.
We chose skating for an hour and then mini golf. We considered laser tag but thought it might be too advanced for Athena, leaving the other players with less of an experience. Depending on the age of your child or children, this could be a great addition.
The skating, although not real ice, was Athena’s favorite activity. She said she was like Elsa and Anna from Frozen and proudly shuffled her feet around the ice without help from Mom or Dad. Since it’s indoors and not real ice, you don’t need to worry about warm clothing either.
3. Nature Hikes or Walking Around the Big Bear Lake (Discovery Center)
Big Bear Lake is a photographer’s dream. There are tons of stopping spots and opportunities to park your car and walk around. The drive around the lake takes about an hour, which accounts for stops and photo time.
You could also stop at the Discovery Center during the drive. Their service include: adventure passes, hiking and biking maps, camping information, tours, and maps of forest roads and off-highway vehicle adventures. We decided to explore on our own since we were so limited on time.
4. Helicopter Flight with Helicopter Big Bear
Even a short, 10 minute helicopter flight, which is what we chose, can really give you a new perspective on an area. Helicopter Big Bear, located inside the Terminal Building at the Big Bear City Airport, offers sightseeing flights from the vantage point of a helicopter cockpit.
Witness the beauty the San Bernardino Mountains and Big Bear area has to offer with an aerial view like no other, featuring the scenic countryside, landmarks, points of Interest, surroundings, and real estate. Our helicopter sightseeing flight combined excitement, relaxation, and stunning vistas from a bird’s eye view.
What made Athena smile most during the flight? Listening to her voice on the headset microphone. Her giggling every time she spoke made us laugh with delight.
If your dreams of flight are piqued from the helicopter flight, you can continue flying with Action Zipline Tours. Guests are suspended high above the forest floor overlooking mountain vistas and zip through forested landscapes and cross over rocky canyons. Highly trained guides facilitate the entire tour from equipment checks to clipping in each participant to the zip lines. Guests are fitted with the required equipment including harness, helmet and heavy duty gloves. The cool, or maybe even cold, thing about Action Zipline Tours is that they run all year (yes even in the snow).
We did the 3-hour tour with 9 high-speed runs and a fun suspension bridge in the beautiful mountain terrain. (You might need to leave the young kids with family for this activity. For safety reasons, riders must be at least eight years of age and must weigh 75 lbs. The maximum weight is 250 lbs.)
Each year, Big Bear gets a blanket of fresh snow; although it may be cold, it warms your heart. Every child should have memories of building snowmen, feeling the cold air on their faces as the slide down a mountain, and seeing unique snowflakes falling from the sky. Big Bear Tourism website is a wealth of information for winter family fun in Big Bear or just hop in the car and head up to the mountains. I can guarantee you’ll find something to make the whole family smile.
Wow, there’s a ton to do there! I’ve always liked sledding more than skiing. Obviously it takes less skill, but it’s more fun because you can just slide away without worrying about breaking your neck.
When I lived in San Diego I was always jealous of all my friends who used to go up to Big Bear for the weekend. (I don’t ski, so I never went with them.) This is great information to know … thanks!
We are also non-skiers and prefer sledding 🙂 I suppose that my family would really enjoy our visit Big Bear Lake as well! 🙂
I would do the Alpine Ride and the helicopter ride! Very fun! Glad to know there are other options.
haha, I love how there’s juust enough snow to make a snowman 🙂 Looks like a lot of fun! We don’t ski (anymore) and love that there are options for people like us. Your daughter looks so cute in the helicopter ride!!
Thanks for sharing.
Great ideas! I was just in Big Bear last month — for the first time in years. I grew up in LA so it was a popular weekend destination for many of my friends who were skiers. It was nice to be there in warmer weather, and just spend a few days relaxing at a cabin. But sad to see how low the water levels were. 🙁
This first picture!!! Wow!!! Really an amazing place!
AFter thsi awesome post with stunning pics, Big Bear is in my bucket list. Woould love to go there some day.
Wahoo, that Alpine slide looks like tons of fun! ^_^ I certainly would be venturing around Big Bear Lake, what a view! Helicopter tours are always something we’re trying to pull off, it’s so much better seeing a place from the sky! 😀
I was up there two weekends ago and I did a helicopter ride and the Zipline Tour. Both were GREAT! I also understand that the Zipline Tour company also does snowshoeing in the Sugarloaf area, which looks fun. I want to hike on the next trip. Also, in the non-snow months, Snow Summit runs their Sky Chair, so you can take the lift up and eat lunch at the restaurant on top or pack your own lunch. There is a loop trail at the top you can walk, or there is a trail down the mountain. Also, there mountain bike trails. We saw tons of people bringing their bikes up and riding them down. Sky Chair tickets are only $19 for a round trip and you get beautiful lake views on the way down. Also, lot of nice fall color on the way up and down. Beautiful mountain views on top of the summit.