Castle Rock Trail 1W03

Y S

The view at the top was my favorite part of my Big Bear trip. The hike up is moderate and if you go at your own pace could be easy. Got there about 7am on a Sunday morning and was done around 8am, only came across one family and a single individual on the way to the top. On the way back down we came across 3 groups of people.

Mark Henry

Gorgeous and difficult trail. Lots of rocks. You have to climb those rocks. Good chance you’ll hurt all over, but the views, the challenge, and the feeling of accomplishment (and sweat and heavy breathing) is totally worth the effort. Also, the downhill is SO much easier. Unless you have bad knees, in which case you should probably pass on this trail. Make sure you have shoes with good grip, plenty of water, and trekking poles.

Kristy Rubino

Beautiful hike! It was very steep in the first leg so pace yourself, and there was some scrambling in order to get on top of the rock. Got there around 6:30am and was able to easily find parking and felt like the only ones on the trail! By the time we got out around 8am there were no more spots left.

Nicole Ridgely

It’s honestly one of the most magnificent hikes I’ve ever been on. It was a nice escape from downtown LA. It was in the 40s but the sun was warm and there was still some snow on the ground, but the roads getting here were clear. Be sure to wear sunscreen! The UV index was 9. The air was clean and the scenery was beautiful. I thought I had read that this hike can be done in an hour but we took a lot longer than that, maybe it was that we just loved our surroundings so much and wanted to soak it in. Be sure to follow the rock pile trail markers, it can be a little easy to wander off trail.