Staying Home Sucks, home
Family Snow Day
Near Bear Mountain, 3 km away. Photo: Ian D. Keating, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bear Mountain

Ski resort · United States

Is it worth the trip?

Every day scores the same

Bear Mountain is closed for the season on these dates.

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
2 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
0°C
Wind
5 kn

Tue 3 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
1 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
3°C
Wind
5 kn

Wed 4 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
0 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
3°C
Wind
5 kn

Thu 5 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
0 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
1°C
Wind
2 kn

Fri 6 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
0 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
2°C
Wind
6 kn

Sat 7 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
0 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
4°C
Wind
6 kn

Sun 8 · 0 out of 100

Fresh
0 cm
Depth
0 mmid 0 m, base 0 m
Coldest
4°C
Wind
8 kn

Tap a day for snow, wind and the temperature. Full forecast

Forecast: next 8 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 10, poor
  2. Mon 20, poor
  3. Tue 30, poor
  4. Wed 40, poor
  5. Thu 50, poor
  6. Fri 60, poor
  7. Sat 70, poor
  8. Sun 80, poor

The resort in three facts

  • Top 2,680 mvillage 2,178 m
  • 13 km of runsevery grade
  • Open December–Aprilusually

Full forecast

every day, every number

Lifts closed for the season. They usually open about 25 November.

We don't know the avalanche risk here. Check Avalanche.org.

Forecast and score for each day at Bear Mountain
DayScoreFresh72 hDepthtop, mid, baseColdestat topWindat top
Sun 1Nov0, poor2 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m-1°Cwind, 13 knots
Mon 2Nov0, poor2 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m0°Cwind, 5 knots
Tue 3Nov0, poor1 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m3°Cwind, 5 knots
Wed 4Nov0, poor0 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m3°Cwind, 5 knots
Thu 5Nov0, poor0 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m1°Cwind, 2 knots
Fri 6Nov0, poor0 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m2°Cwind, 6 knots
Sat 7Nov0, poor0 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m4°Cwind, 6 knots
Sun 8Nov0, poor0 cm0 mmid 0 mbase 0 m4°Cwind, 8 knots

Wind is in knots, the arrow where it blows to. More

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

snow by month

Snow by month

Typical snow on the ground and coldest daytime temperature by month
MonthBase2,178 mMid2,429 mTop2,680 mColdestat the top
Decnonenonenone0°C
Jannonenonenone-1°C
Febnonenonenone-1°C
Marnonenonenone-2°C

Typical snow on the ground in the village, halfway up and at the top: the middle value over 2016 to 2025, from ERA5-Land reanalysis at the grid cell nearest each height. Not a forecast, and not the groomed pistes: resorts make snow lower down.

Map

the resort, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors, terrain © Mapterhorn.

Photos of Bear Mountain

First time in the snow
Near Bear Mountain, 3 km away. Photo: Ian D. Keating, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
View-of-Old-Greyback-from-Snow-Summit
Near Bear Mountain, 3 km away. Photo: Niceley, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

More skiing near here

1 place

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Bear Mountain

Village 2,178 m.

A ski resort with its village at 2,178 m and its top at 2,680 m. It has 13 km of runs and 11 lifts, as mapped on OpenStreetMap. The runs drop 503 m, from 2,680 m to 2,177 m. For beginners and families: 73% of the km of runs are green or blue (beginner to intermediate). For experts: 4 km of advanced, expert and freeride runs. Within 5 km of the village: a sports or leisure centre, a ski school and childcare. It is usually in season from December to April. The town to stay in is Big Bear Lake. Within 5 km we also list 1 mountain bike area.

Bear Mountain, formerly known as the Moonridge Ski Area (1943–1969), Goldmine Mountain (1970–1987), and Big Bear Mountain (1988–2001), is a ski area originally established in 1941 in the San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California, United States. It is located in the city of Big Bear Lake, approximately 2.4 miles east of Snow Summit and 14.8 miles east from Snow Valley. Together, the three ski areas are known as Big Bear Mountain Resort, which is part of Alterra Mountain Company.

From the Wikipedia article Bear Mountain (ski area) by Wikipedia contributors, shortened by us. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.

The ski area

Runs from 2,177 m to 2,680 m: 503 m of vertical. 13 km of runs and 11 lifts, as mapped on OpenStreetMap for Bear Mountain.

Runs
Beginner0.4 km
Easy3.6 km
Intermediate5.8 km
Advanced1.8 km
Expert1.9 km
Lifts
Chairlifts7
Magic carpets4

Measured along each mapped run, so it can differ from the resort's own figure. Ski area: Data from OpenSkiData / OpenSkiMap.org, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Skimap.org, Who's On First, © Mapterhorn.

For families

73% of the km of runs are green or blue (beginner to intermediate).

Within 5 km of the village:

  • a sports or leisure centre: US Adaptive Recreation Center at Bear Mountain, 0.1 km
  • a ski school: Adventure Academy, 0.2 km
  • childcare: North Shore Christian Nursery, 4.5 km

The Family filter counts these. Places from the Overture Maps Foundation, from Meta, Microsoft, Foursquare and AllThePlaces. Foursquare data © 2024 Foursquare Labs, Inc., Apache 2.0. Check opening times before you go.

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$2,510–US$3,950 each

about US$2,510–US$3,950 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, transfer, stay, food, lift pass, ski hire.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to PSP, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bagabout US$241–US$502
Transfershared airport transfer, returnabout US$94–US$161
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$288–US$482
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$636
Lift pass5 days at about US$312 a day, country averageabout US$1,330–US$1,800
Ski hire5 days, or about US$114 to fly your ownabout US$221–US$368
Totalabout US$2,510–US$3,950

For 2 people sharing a room. Lessons, lift-pass deals and insurance are extra. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: 2 towns

Closest

Big Bear Lake

9 min by car · 128 places to stay

about US$107/nightcountry average

See 128 places to stay in Big Bear Lake · Booking.com

About Big Bear Lake its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$107 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 7h 30m

About 7h 30m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → PSP, direct, then 1h 35m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.