[1] Located in one of Southern California’s only alpine meadows, the lake sits at a surface elevation of 7,600 feet (2,300 m).

The reserve includes a mountain marsh and meadow complex that contains the federally threatened Bear Valley bluegrass (Poa atropurpurea), the federally endangered Big Bear checkerbloom (Sidalcea pedata) and California dandelion (Taraxacum californicum).

[2] In 1899, Gus Knight and Hiram Clark (Clark Grade Road) built the Bear Valley and Redlands Toll Road via the Santa Ana Canyon past Bluff Lake.

[3] After acquiring this preserve in 2000, The Wildlands Conservancy drained the lake to eliminate non-native catfish to restore the native aquatic systems that had been decimated by artificially stocked lakes in Southern California.

Dr. Dolittle 2, starring Eddie Murphy, was filmed at Bluff Lake.