Bear Valley CA Area Overview

Bear Valley is a low-key mountain town with a comfortably retro feel and a laid-back, family-friendly vibe. It’s rare to experience a ski in and ski out town.

In snowy winters, Highway 4 closes just east of Bear Valley. Though vehicles cannot cross the mountains here, the snow-covered highway turns into an easy-to-follow route for snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing. Most of the roads in town are not plowed in winter so you have to ski or snowmobile in.

Bear Valley Mountain Resort features 9 lifts access, 75 trails with nearly 1,700 acres of skiable terrain. Trails range from the easy to the challenges of Grizzly Bowl, so everyone can find places to play.

Bear Valley Cross Country offers groomed trails for track and skate skiing, four trail side huts and the Meadow Café. There are also sledging and tubing hills, plus fat-tyre snow bikes for a new twist on winter fun.

Bear Valley Snowmobile offers 15 miles of groomed trails, with the Highland Lakes area being a popular destination. The Lodges was built as a Club Med. In 1969 they hosted the Senior National Alpine Ski Championship.

Summers feature the annual Bear Valley Music Festival featuring a full orchestra and other top music under the pines.

Photo credit: GoCalaveras.com