Riding to Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead
Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear sit at the far end of the Rim of the World Scenic Byway, State Route 18, which runs the ridge of the San Bernardino Mountains at around 5,000 feet with the basin laid out below it.
This is DROC’s longest regular single-day ride, roughly 200 miles round trip, and we have run it five times. The climb up from San Bernardino and the run alongside Silverwood Lake are the good parts.
The roads themselves
There are three ways up and the choice shapes the day. Highway 330 from Highland is the quickest climb and the one most people default to. Highway 38 from Redlands is the long way round, quieter and greener, and much the better descent. The 18 along the ridge is the connector between them, so a good day goes up one side and down the other rather than retracing.
This is the one seasonal ride in the set. Chain-control season runs 1 November to 25 April. When controls go up, motorcycles do not get through, and no amount of arguing at the checkpoint changes it. Snow and ice close these roads outright several times most winters.
Highway 38 has also been under emergency storm repair through 2026 with weekday closures. Check Caltrans QuickMap for all three approaches on the morning, not the night before.
How DROC rides it
- Start early and come fuelled. The first leg out of Orange County is freeway and it is better done before the heat.
- Altitude means weather. Snow closes sections in winter and afternoon thunderstorms build in summer.
- Lunch is usually at the lake before the return leg, which is when a long day starts to feel long. Eat properly.
- Chain controls end the ride. Between November and late April, check before you leave. Motorcycles are turned back when controls are in effect.
- Altitude, not season, sets the temperature. Big Bear sits near 7,000 feet. It can be freezing at the lake with the coast in shirtsleeves.
- Ice hides in the shade. Even on a clear winter day the north-facing bends hold black ice well past midday.
- It is a genuinely long day. Fuel and eat on the way up. Options thin out once you are on the ridge.
Every time we have ridden it
- Long Ride to Lake Arrowhead August 2026, August 2026
- Rim of the world + Arrowhead + BigBear, July 2024
- A long ride to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear – April 2022, April 2022
- DROC-Big Bear Lake Ride, October 2020
- DROC Long Ride – Lake Arrowhead – Big Bear, June 2019
Route plans
These are the actual route plans DROC has used, with the map for each. Ride leaders pick from these rather than inventing a route every time, which is why the same roads come up again: they work. Nothing stops you riding them on your own.
Ride it with us
Every DROC ride runs the same way: a safety briefing before we roll, staggered formation, a lead and a sweep, and regroups at every junction that matters. The full ground rules and the hand-signal guide are on the rides page.
See what is coming up, or join DROC. Bike nights are free and open to non-members, so you can also just turn up to one first.