The Lakes to Xperience

Mountain water, valley reservoirs, and High Desert fishing holes — all inside the I.E.

The desert and the valley get most of the I.E. headlines. The water is what people actually leave town for. Alpine lakes sit twenty-three miles above San Bernardino. A three-thousand-acre natural lake sits in the middle of Lake Elsinore. State recreation areas at Perris and Silverwood take a million visitors a year. Pomona has Puddingstone next to Fairplex. Ontario has Cucamonga-Guasti. The High Desert has Hesperia Lake, Jess Ranch, and Mojave Narrows. This is the Inland Empire Xperience map of those lakes — the places to visit, and what you do when you get there.

Twenty-three miles from the valley floor. A different world at the waterline.

Lake Arrowhead

The drive from San Bernardino to Lake Arrowhead is a quick one — just 23 miles. But as you twist and climb from the busy valley into the San Bernardino Mountains, then arrive at this picturesque town set on a deep-blue mountain lake, you will feel like you have escaped to a different world. This lake has long been the favored escape for those seeking exclusive alpine luxury, and the lake and much of its shoreline are privately owned, with gated lakeside vacation homes to prove it.

You do not have to have the keys to a gated estate to visit. In summer, pitch a tent at area campgrounds such as Dogwood and head out on a network of trails, including the Pacific Crest Trail, that lace through the surrounding forest. Relax in a rustic rental cabin — there are many of them, and some include dock and lake privileges. Board the Arrowhead Queen paddlewheel boat for a guided tour and an exclusive peek at lakefront homes. Tickets are sold at LeRoy’s in the Village. The Queen is how most visitors actually get on the water.

Stop in at shops in relaxed Lake Arrowhead Village, and pay a visit to Belgian Waffle Works, a cozy spot in a Tudor Revival chalet overlooking the lake, for one of their sweet or savory house specialties. The Village is also where the weekend lives: summer concert nights on the plaza, Farmers Market Fridays in season, Oktoberfest Saturdays and Sundays in the fall, and a holiday bonfire in December. Kids will enjoy a chance to visit with wildlife at Wildhaven Ranch, a sanctuary for endangered and indigenous species — tours are by reservation — and Lollipop Park in the Village if the day needs a carousel and bumper cars.

From Memorial Day through mid-September, McKenzie Water Ski School runs waterski, wakeboard, and kneeboard lessons and charters for anyone who wants more than a ride on the Queen. Five minutes down the road in Skyforest, SkyPark at Santa’s Village is the ticketed mountain park: zip lines, mountain biking, a roller rink that becomes ice in winter, and an alpine village of its own. Winter often means snow at Lake Arrowhead, which makes it the perfect time to spoil yourself with a stay at the Lake Arrowhead Resort — maybe a treatment at the lodge’s Spa of the Pines. Village events, Queen tours, and SkyPark dates belong on www.iex.directory.

Big Bear Lake

Big Bear Lake is the Inland Empire’s big alpine reservoir — more than three thousand acres at about 6,750 feet, with a working mountain town on the shore. Six public boat launches put pontoons, fishing boats, kayaks, and paddleboards on the water. Designated beaches and coves, including the easy picnic-and-dip stop at Boulder Bay Park, handle the swim days. Trout are trolled in the cold months. Bass, bluegill, crappie, and catfish work the weedlines and the east-end flats when the water warms. In summer this is the cool-air weekend. In winter it is snow, the ski resorts, and a lake that still photographs like a postcard.

The fun is not only on the water. Big Bear Village is shops, restaurants, and the mountain festival calendar — the entertainment half of the trip. Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain runs the bobsled-style slide in summer and snow play in winter. Snow Summit and Bear Mountain take skiers and riders when the snow is in, then flip to a scenic Sky Chair and downhill mountain biking when it melts. The Big Bear Discovery Center on the north shore is the Forest Service stop for trail maps and exhibits before you walk Castle Rock, Cougar Crest, or the Woodland Trail. Jenks Lake, a smaller Forest Service trout water on the way in from the valley, is the quiet add-on when the main lake is slammed.

Silverwood Lake

Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area sits on the west end of the San Bernardino Mountains, above San Bernardino and on the way toward the High Desert. About 980 acres lie behind Cedar Springs Dam. This is the closest real mountain reservoir to the valley cities — after-work daylight from San Bernardino or Fontana, a full day from Hesperia — without Arrowhead’s private shoreline or Big Bear’s village traffic.

Day-use beaches with seasonal lifeguards handle the swim. Launch ramps and a marina put ski boats and fishing boats on open water. Anglers work striped bass along the points and the dam, largemouth in spring, planted trout in winter, and catfish after dark. Developed campgrounds inside the recreation area fill on summer weekends and should be reserved. The Pacific Crest Trail runs the rim; Cleghorn and the shorter park loops give you a hike that still ends with a view of the water. Silverwood is the low-key family lake day when the point is the water, not the town.

Lake Gregory and Green Valley Lake

Lake Gregory Regional Park in Crestline is the family mountain lake at about 4,500 feet, a short hop from Lake Arrowhead without the private-shoreline rules. A developed swim beach is the reason most families make the drive. When the concession is open you can rent boats and pedal craft, fish stocked trout and warm-water species from the bank, and spend the rest of the afternoon on the lawns and playground before a Crestline lunch. Green Valley Lake is the smaller community water farther into the pines — walk, fish, and keep it quiet. Cabin country, not a state-park weekend. Together they are the “we live up here” lakes between Arrowhead and Big Bear.

Lake Elsinore

Extreme is Lake Elsinore’s middle name. The city is famous for the warm thermal winds that blow in from the neighboring Ortega Mountains. Those winds have turned Lake Elsinore into a major center for skydiving, hang gliding, and other aerial sports. Located in the center of the city is a 3,000-acre natural lake, hence the name Lake Elsinore. The lake is a popular venue for daring — or not-so-daring — boaters, jet skiers, and water-ski fans, with an unlimited speed limit in the center of the lake.

Skydiving, hang gliding, baseball, golf, off-road racing, motocross, fishing, boating, jet skiing, water skiing, paintball, skateboarding — you name it, Lake Elsinore has it. Skydive Elsinore is the tandem jump over the water, the signature ticket of the town. Hang gliders and paragliders work the Ortega thermals; you can watch from the hills if you are not flying. The Lake Elsinore Storm play Single-A baseball at the Diamond when the season is on, which is how a lake day turns into a night game. The Outlets at Lake Elsinore take the afternoon when the wind chops the water. Nearby tracks handle motocross and off-road race weekends. Levels on the lake swing with the year, so check before you trailer a boat. Drop-zone days, Storm home games, and race weekends belong on iex.directory.

Lake Perris

Lake Perris State Recreation Area sits between Perris and Moreno Valley — roughly two thousand acres of water against the Bernasconi Hills, sandy swim beaches, five public boat launches, camping, hiking, biking, horseback trails, and scuba in a designated area. More than a million visitors a year use it. This is the workhorse lake of western Riverside County: close to the 215, built for trailers and picnic tables, busy from spring through fall.

Perris Beach and Moreno Beach are the swim days; arrive early on a summer Saturday. Five ramps put ski boats and fishing boats on the water, and weekend traffic is real. Anglers work largemouth on the rocks and tules, redear sunfish, spring crappie, and winter-planted trout from the dam, Bernasconi, and the marina. The park is one of the few inland dive spots in the I.E. A paved loop and dirt trails run under the hills; the park rock is there for climbers when it is open. A horse camp and trails handle the equestrian half of the weekend. Ya’i Heki’ Regional Indian Museum tells the older story of the ground you are standing on. Developed campgrounds should be reserved for holiday weekends. Birding along the shoreline is serious. Get there early, or pick a weekday.

Diamond Valley, Lake Skinner, Lake Hemet, Canyon Lake, and Vail Lake

Southwest Riverside County is sometimes called a ten-lake valley. Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet is the giant — about 4,500 acres behind three dams, one of the largest reservoirs in Southern California. There is no swimming. The draw is scale, a reputation for large largemouth bass, a marina that rents boats, and a trail system of more than twenty miles around the rim. The Western Science Center next door holds the mastodon-and-mammoth museum for after the boat comes in.

Lake Skinner, between Winchester and Temecula Valley, is about 1,400 acres of no-body-contact water: camping, sailing, fishing, a splash pad on land, trails, and horseback riding. It is also the lake under the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival when that weekend lands, which is why Skinner belongs on the I.E. entertainment calendar and not only on a fishing report. Lake Hemet, up at Mountain Center on the San Jacinto side, is trout water and camping on a cooler day than the valley reservoirs. Canyon Lake is a lakeside city with beaches and pubs and a private-community feel; public access is limited compared with the state parks, so go with a guest pass or a reservation rather than treating it like Perris. Vail Lake, in the Temecula backcountry, pairs bass fishing with a large KOA and a serious mountain-bike park — miles of trail, a flow track, and race days. At Vail the bike ticket is as much the reason as the water.

Pomona, Ontario, and the west-valley lakes

Puddingstone Reservoir sits inside Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park on the Pomona–San Dimas line, about 250 acres of water next to Fairplex, Brackett Field, and Raging Waters. This is the Pomona-area lake: a sand swim beach, bank fishing for bass, catfish, and planted trout away from the swim lines, a north-shore launch for sailboats, jet skis, and windsurfers, camping and RV sites at East Shore and Bonelli Bluffs, and park roads that work for a walk or a bike before or after a Fairplex event. Yearly Fairplex dates live in the I.E. Xperience Fairplex feature. Puddingstone is the same exit.

Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park is the Ontario lake, at 800 North Archibald Avenue. Two small lakes sit in a county park with a mountain view, playgrounds, a seasonal swim area, winter trout plants, and summer catfish. It is not a mountain weekend. It is a valley Saturday with kids and a fishing pole.

Prado Regional Park Lake in Chino is about sixty acres of fishing water where San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties meet, with golf, archery, shooting ranges, camping, and equestrian trails on the same property. Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino puts stocked lakes next to Glen Helen Amphitheater, so a concert or festival night can start with a morning on the water. Yucaipa Regional Park, on the Oak Glen road, has three lakes, water slides, and a swim lagoon; the full write-up lives in the I.E. Xperience Yucaipa feature.

High Desert lakes

The High Desert does not have alpine blue. It has county parks and ranch lakes that stock trout and catfish and hold derbies. Hesperia Lake is the in-town fishing hole with regular plants and a picnic lawn — useful when you do not want to climb to Silverwood. Jess Ranch Lakes in Apple Valley string several small family waters together for a weekend when the kids want a guaranteed bite more than a view. Mojave Narrows Regional Park in Victorville adds camping and equestrian trails to a stocked lake, and it puts a catfish derby on the calendar. Silverwood Lake, already covered above, is still the best full-reservoir day from Hesperia or Victorville.

Closer to downtown Riverside, Fairmount Park’s Lake Evans and the water at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park take a pole and a Saturday morning — pedal boats and lawns at Fairmount when the concession is open. They are not Arrowhead. They are why a Places to Visit list for the Inland Empire cannot stop at the mountains.

Plan it with I.E. Xperience

A lake becomes entertainment when there is a Queen tour, a Village concert, a Storm game, a Balloon and Wine weekend, a drop-zone day, or a marina event after the boat comes in. Find those dates at www.iex.directory. Submit an event at iex.directory/events/community/add/. Claim a marina, resort, or lakeside restaurant by emailing xperience@iex.directory.