Siberia Creek Trail

Siberia Camp is accessed by 2 trails, south of Big Bear or 5 miles east of Running Springs. The latter is better maintained and is a Grand Canyon style descent of 2500 ft over 3 miles. Year- round creeks, amazing views and solitude will greet you. Camp overnight &/or link to the next destination!! The approach near Running Springs is better maintained and easier to get to. Merely exit HWY 18 about 1/3 mile east of Snow Valley Mountain Resort and tend toward the east on a dirt road for about 1/4 mile. If you have a low profile car, you will probably want to walk this portion. The trailhead indicator on this map is accurate, so you can follow your GPS to it. The hike begins under good forest canopy but as you edge out on the south face of the mountain, the vegetation is mostly chaparral. Continue down well-graded switchbacks for approximately 3 miles. Occasionally there are groves of re-growth as the forest recovers from a long ago wildfire. The closer you get to the canyon-bottom, the better the forest canopy becomes. The canyon sides are steep and rugged, and you can gauge your descent on the opposite side of the canyon using geographical features for reference. The last 3/4 of a mile you more or less parallel an unnamed creek from Slide Peak until reaching Bear Creek which drains the Big Bear area watershed including Big Bear Lake. The flows here are usually low enough to cross using rocks or logs, but during some winters or springs, you may need to expect a wet crossing. Soon after crossing the creek follow faint trail and cairns a short distance to the primary camping site which is about 200 yards from the creek crossing, toward the south-east on the benches above the confluence of Bear Creek and Siberia Creek.