Plan your visit
Winter lessons are at Bear Mountain. Check in at the USARC building — not in the parking lot — and give yourself time for the drive up.
Caltrans last reported this at 03:12 PM Pacific
HWY 330 to Hwy 18 · from the west
No restrictions reported
HWY 18 Running Springs and Lucerne Valley
Restrictions reported
Is closed from 7.8 mi south of the Jct of SR 38 /at Snow Valley/ to the Jct of SR 38 (San Bernardino Co) from 0800 hrs to 1600 hrs Tuesday thru Friday thru 10/30/26 - Due to construction - Motorists are advised to use an alternate route
HWY 38 the Redlands route
No restrictions reported
Chains can be required on one highway and not another, so check the road you are actually driving. This comes straight from Caltrans and refreshes every few minutes. For anything urgent, call Caltrans on 1‑800‑427‑7623.
See it on Caltrans QuickMapWhen you get here
Winter lessons run at Bear Mountain, and every participant starts in the same place — inside our building, not out in the lots. Come find us first and we will take it from there.
USARC · 43101 Goldmine Drive, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315. We share the address with the Bear Mountain base area, and our building sits about a hundred yards from the base lot.
Tell the parking attendants you are here for a USARC lesson. They know who we are and that our participants have disabilities, and they will point you where you need to be.
9:00 AM
Be checked in at the USARC building by 9:00. If you want an accessible parking space, come earlier: by 7:30 one is open about nine times in ten.
Free
Bring your DP or DV plates, placard or permit — and the state-issued disabled ID card that goes with it, which the resort also asks to see.
$0–$30
Charged by the resort, not by USARC, and it moves with how busy the mountain is. Free on quiet days, usually $20–$30 on weekends and holidays. It is not included in your lesson.
Getting out of the car
Pull into the drop-off zone with your hazard lights on and follow the orange signs. Tell Parking Control your vehicle is carrying someone who needs accessible access — they will get your passenger out first, then send the driver to park.
You do not need a parking ticket or a pass to use the drop-off zone, whether you are dropping a person or unloading equipment.
Getting to Big Bear
Most route advice ranks these by how fast they are. If you are driving with a wheelchair, medical equipment or a passenger who cannot be left in the car, the switchbacks matter more than the minutes, so these run from the gentlest drive to the steepest.
From Barstow, Las Vegas and the high desert
Hwy 18 through Lucerne Valley
The least mountain driving of any route. If steep grades and tight corners are the part you dread, this is the way up — even from further out, it is often worth the extra distance.
One thing to ignore your GPS about. Traffic and parking routes on the mountain often differ from what a navigation app shows. Once you are close, follow the road signs and what the parking staff tell you.
Winter driving
Chain controls can go up on one highway and not another, and they can change within an hour. Carry chains or cables in the car whenever you drive up between November and April — even if your car has snow tires, and even if the forecast looks clear when you leave.
R‑1
Chains on all vehicles, except cars and light trucks under 6,000 lb with snow tires on at least two drive wheels. If you are on snow tires you still have to be carrying chains.
R‑2
Chains on all vehicles, except four‑wheel and all‑wheel drive with snow‑tread tires on all four. Those vehicles still have to carry traction devices.
R‑3
Chains on all vehicles, no exceptions. An all-wheel drive car will usually need two sets rather than one.
Practice fitting them before you come. Pulling over on a mountain shoulder in the dark is hard enough. It is much harder when you are also responsible for someone who cannot get out of the car, and that is the moment most of our families are in. Ten minutes in your own driveway is the best preparation there is.
Front-wheel drive chains the front tires and rear-wheel drive the rear axle. Under chain control the limit is 25–30 mph, and you will usually get about a mile of warning before the checkpoint. Pull completely off the road to fit them — never in a traffic lane.
Buy them before you leave home. There is nowhere in Big Bear to pick up chains on your way in, and by the time you need them you are already on the mountain road. Order them or buy them locally where you live, well before the day.
Chains are sized to your tires, so check the numbers on your tire sidewall and match them — a set that does not fit is the same as no set at all. Self‑tightening chains like these are the easiest kind to fit in the cold, and they are not expensive.
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In the summer
Two different places, and neither of them is Bear Mountain — so check which one your session is before you set off.
Lighthouse Resort & Marina, 40545 North Shore Lane, Big Bear City, CA 92314.
Snow Summit, 880 Summit Boulevard, Big Bear Lake — a different mountain from Bear Mountain, about ten minutes away. Look for the blue USARC flag.
The short version