They inhabited small villages of 10 to 30 round buildings located along fresh water sources and subsisted on berries, nuts, tubers, acorns, and plentiful game harvested along the lush valley.

The Serrano looked at the native grizzly bears as ancestors and did not eat the meat or wear the fur of these massive animals.

Several communities in the area feature place names reflecting the Big Bear region's rich Native history.

He married into the Spanish landholder family, the Yorbas, and bought a portion of Rancho Jurupa (Riverside) from Juan Bandini.

This group, led by the fierce Chief Walkara, drove the herd into the Lucerne Valley on the north side of the San Bernardinos.

William F. Holcomb, a prospector from Indiana, moved to Los Angeles from the Northern California mines where he heard about the prospecting at Big Bear.

When this discovery was revealed, the Southern California gold rush was on, and Holcomb Valley quickly became the largest populated area in San Bernardino County.

In 1884 marshy, nearly flat Bear Valley was dammed with a single arch granite impoundment, which held back some 25,000 acre-feet (31,000 dam3) of water for irrigation purposes in the Redlands area.

[7] The unregulated hunting of grizzly bear in the San Bernardinos took a heavy toll upon the once significant population, and by 1906 all the local Ursus californicus were killed off.

According to the National Weather Service, the warmest month at Big Bear is July, with a daily average temperature of 64.7 °F (18.2 °C).

Due to the 6,790 to 7,200 ft (2,070 to 2,190 m) elevation of the weather station, precipitation is greater than in the lowlands of San Bernardino County, averaging 21.15 in (537 mm) a year.

Mountain thunderstorms occasionally produce heavy rainfall, even in midsummer (when most southern California lowland locations are quite dry).

In contrast to most of southern California, the Big Bear Lake region normally receives significant winter snow because of its high elevation.

Big Bear Lake provides an attractive setting for many outdoor activities, including fishing (trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish and largemouth bass), pleasure boating, and water skiing.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed an advisory for Big Bear Lake because of mercury and PCBs found in fish caught here.

The advisory[11] provides safe eating advice for black bass species, common carp, crappie, and rainbow trout.

North Shore (west to east) South Shore (west to east) California Historical Landmark at the Big Bear Dam reads: The Bear Valley Dams were also designated as a Local Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1972.