Big Bear Lake Summer Weekend Getaway Itinerary 2024: The Ultimate Guide
Want to know how to have the best Big Bear Lake Summer weekend getaway? We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know!
Big Bear Lake is a popular mountain getaway for Southern Californians.
Summer is one of the best times of the year to visit Big Bear due to all the lake activities and the beautiful weather.
In addition to the water sports, there are also plenty of hiking trails and a downtown village to explore shops and restaurants.
Planning A Trip? Use Our Favorite Resources Below!
Accommodations
Tours/Experiences
Flights
Car Rentals
Big Bear Lake Summer Weekend Getaway Itinerary
This Summer weekend getaway is made up of activities we did over multiple visits where we picked our favorites and organized them into the perfect itinerary.
✅ Where To Enjoy Breakfast In Big Bear: The Copper Q
Copper Q is a cute little home goods and cooking shop in the village that also serves fantastic coffee and breakfast items.
You can get breakfast sandwiches with a bagel bun, hot apple cider, and some fresh baked goods to go along with your morning coffee or espresso.
There are tables around the corner where you can sit and have a leisurely breakfast while you get ready for an amazing Summer day in Big Bear!
✅ Big Bear Lake Visitor Center
After breakfast walk to the Visitor Center to find out what all there is to do while you’re in Big Bear.
Many places don’t have updated websites, social media, or Google results, but the Visitor Center will have all of the most up to date information.
They have maps and brochures for everything you could want to do, so pick one up before you head out.
✅ Miss Liberty Paddlewheel Boat Tour
We were super excited for this leisurely trip around the lake!
Only about a dozen or so people were on the boat when we went and everyone pretty much just took their own side of the boat, so it was like a private boat ride around Big Bear Lake.
One thing we did not plan for was the sun.
My forehead and chest got really burnt since we had not spent time out in the sun in who knows how long and it was early Summer when we visited.
The thought never even crossed our minds to get sunscreen since it was on the cooler side and we just hadn’t been traveling anywhere with that much sun in recent months.
So be prepared with sunscreen and maybe a hat and sunglasses too!
I highly recommend this boat tour for anyone visiting Big Bear in the Summer.
They told us about all the different houses around the lake, past and current owners, and they even played the Big Bear Lake theme song!
Fun fact, it was written by Mel Blanc who was a long time resident.
You’ll hear it at the end of this video on our YouTube Channel.
✅ Take A Stroll Through Big Bear Village
Big Bear Village is the main area of town where all the shops and restaurants are.
Take some time exploring this area to get the lay of the land and some ideas for some restaurants you might want to try while you’re in town.
You can also do your souvenir shopping here if you’re looking to take a piece of Big Bear home with you.
✅ Where To Eat Lunch: Himalayan Restaurant
By the time our tour was over we were starving!
We walked back through the Village to find a place for lunch.
We wanted to try something unique that you can’t get everywhere and that’s exactly what we got with Himalayan Restaurant.
I had only had Butter Chicken before at Sana’a, a restaurant at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, so I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the same or different in some way.
Luckily, the Butter Chicken was exactly what I was expecting and satisfied my craving.
I also loved the Basmati Rice, which is one of my favorite rices.
We plan to always eat here once on every Big Bear visit because it is just that good AND it is much cheaper than the other restaurants.
You get huge portions too, so it’s a great place for sharing.
On a more recent visit, we also tried their Chicken Mo-Mo, which are steamed dumplings filled with ground chicken and served with a chutney for dipping.
I highly recommend it as an appetizer.
✅ Enjoy A Wine Tasting At Barrel 33
You can choose a red, white, or mixed flight, but what you get will be determined by which bottles they happen to be serving when you visit.
They also offer sangria flights, mimosa flights, Gluhwein, and so much more.
We opted for a red wine flight which included a label called High Altitude that is especially made for Barrel 33.
To pair with our wine tasting, we ordered some baked brie with crackers which was so good.
✅ Big Bear Alpine Zoo
After lunch we decided to take a drive up to the zoo.
We like visiting zoos everywhere we go, just because each experience is always different.
They’ve recently moved to a larger spot, so this is a fun, new experience in Big Bear!
Check out our full experience on our YouTube Channel.
✅ Test Your Skills At Mountain Room Escapes
Just at the end of Big Bear Village is an awesome locally owned escape room.
They have a couple different rooms like Escape The Cabin and Inventor’s Workshop.
We attempted to escape Inventor’s Workshop and actually succeeded with only a couple minutes to spare.
We’ve done a dozen or so escape rooms together and we needed a lot of hints with this one and it is their hardest room, so the more the merrier when trying to solve this one!
They also offer a scavenger hunt through the village which is a great alternative if the rooms are booked up or if you would rather do an activity outdoors.
Everything is within about 1 mile radius and you take as much or as little time as you want to complete it.
You can even pause your scavenger hunt along the way if you decide to stop and shop or eat.
✅ Where To Eat Dinner In Big Bear
There are several great dinner restaurants in Big Bear and these are our favorites.
Oakside
Oakside is a very popular dinner restaurant right inside Big Bear Village.
We started our meal by sharing a Peanut Colada.
It’s essentially a Pina Colada, but with an added peanut butter whiskey.
It’s very good and I highly recommend trying it.
For our meal, they have several signature dishes as well as unique appetizers.
We chose the Cajun Turkey Meatloaf Sliders as our appetizer and they were so good.
When looking at the menu before visiting we had also wanted to try their Cowboy Bites because we had only seen them at a restaurant outside of Zion National Park before, but we forgot and couldn’t eat that much anyway.
For our entree, we picked one of their signature dishes, the Chicken Scaloppini.
It’s an Italian breadcrumb crusted chicken breast, finished with a white wine lemon caper sauce.
It also comes with two sides, so we shared mac n cheese and mashed potatoes.
Big Bear Lake Brewing Company
Big Bear Lake Brewing Company is a craft beer and American food restaurant.
Their signature dishes are foods like The Original Avocado Bomb which is a Honey ale battered avocado with spicy ahi, crab shrimp cake, ponzu, chipotle aioli and wonton crisps.
If you’re looking for something a little less adventurous, they’re also known for their Santa Fe Chicken Salad, Atlantic Cod Fish Tacos, and Widowmaker Burger.
Their in-house craft beers include flavors like American Apricot Wheat, Bearly Legal Honey Blonde, Hazy Pumpkin Nights, Lake Dayz Hazy IPA, Whispering Pine IPA, Sidewinder Red Ale, Downtown Village Brown, and more.
They’re generally open until 9 pm each night except for Fridays and Saturdays when they’re open until 10 pm.
Peppercorn Grille
Peppercorn Grille is an excellent upscale restaurant in Big Bear Village.
Your dinner will start with their complimentary bread service.
Most entrees come with the option of a soup or salad, so we tried both.
I recommend honey mustard dressing for the side salad and the clam chowder for your soup.
As an entree, I loved the macadamia nut crusted Alaskan Halibut topped with black cherry Maui onion marmalade.
It comes with garlic mashed potatoes and veggies.
For pasta lovers like me, I recommend the Capellini Pomodoro.
It’s angel hair pasta with Roma tomato sauce, basil, garlic, Romano cheese, and parsley.
For dessert, we got a Warm Lava Cake to go.
More Fun Things To Do In Big Bear Lake In Summer
Above is a perfect full day introduction to Big Bear Lake in Summer.
If you have more time or are looking for even more fun activities, we’ve got you covered.
Here are some more fun things you can do in Big Bear Lake in Summer.
➡ Private Big Bear Lake Tour With Light Lunch
There is safety in numbers!
If you want to hike around a bit while you’re in Big Bear but don’t know where to go or you think you might get lost, then you can take a guided tour instead.
Guided tours are nice because you don’t have plan a route or know all the ins and outs, someone else will be there to tell you everything you need to know.
Click Here To Book Your Private Big Bear Lake Tour Today!
➡ Family-Friendly Nature Hike Around Big Bear Valley
If you’re looking for something a little shorter and easier for just about anybody, then this is the hiking tour for you.
It’ll match the skill level of family members of all ages, making it a more relaxing and enjoyable nature walk.
Click Here To Book Your Family-Friendly Nature Hike Around Big Bear Valley Today!
➡ Big Bear Lake Southern Shores Bike Tour
Maybe biking is your preferred form of outdoor exercise and exploration.
Big Bear has a tour for that too.
You can cover a lot more ground than walking, so you’ll get to see a little bit more this way.
Click Here To Book Your Big Bear Southern Shores Bike Tour Today!
➡ Ziplining
Ziplining is a fun activity everyone should try at least once.
As someone whose first zipline experience was at a volcano in Costa Rica, I recommend starting with something a little less high in the sky.
Big Bear Lake is a perfect ziplining experience to get acquainted with what it feels like.
Click Here To Book Your 9 High-Speed Ziplines & Suspension Bridge Experience Today!
➡ Bear Valley Search and Rescue – High Tech Escape Room
Who doesn’t love an escape room?
We’ve done escape rooms pretty much everywhere and each one has their own unique features that make them so fun and challenging.
Most escape rooms have groups of 2-8 people, so it’s a great activity if you’re traveling with a group, as a family, or even as a couple like we do.
Click Here To Book Your Bear Valley Search and Rescue – High Tech Escape Room Today!
Where To Stay In Big Bear
If at all possible for your budget and availability, I recommend staying in the village so that you’re in walking distance of just about everything.
Renting a cabin through sites like AirBnb is also a great idea.
We’ve done that before here and it was in a nice, quiet, woodsy area and felt like we were spending a weekend camping.
✔ Worldmark by Wyndham Big Bear
This is a beautiful resort up in the mountains with all the amenities you could want.
The perk of staying here is that you can get a full kitchen, dining room, living room, patio, and more.
We stayed in a one bedroom unit that comes with an in unit washer and dryer and has a grill on the patio that we used to cook some excellent steaks for dinners in the room.
There are several hot tubs throughout the property, an activity center with a fitness center, pool tables, arcade games, a playground, and more.
Check out a tour of the one bedroom units at this resort on our YouTube Channel.
Click Here To Book Your Stay At Worldmark by Wyndham Big Bear Lake Today!
✔ The Lodge at Big Bear Lake
The resort really fits the feel of Big Bear Lake and is usually a more budget friendly property since it is owned by Holiday Inn.
Our room had a fireplace, which was a nice touch, and I’m sure is very helpful for visitors in the Winter months.
Click Here To Book Your Stay At The Lodge At Big Bear Lake Today!
What Is The Weather Like In Big Bear In Summer?
Big Bear Lake enjoys a mild Summer climate.
During our June visit, the temperature reached highs in the mid to high 60s during the day and low to mid 30s at night.
The average high temperature in July is 80 degrees and the average low temperature is 54 degrees.
The days are sunny and warm, with clear skies and little humidity.
The nights are cool and refreshing, making it a great time to sleep under the stars.
Weather in Big Bear is perfect for a variety of outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, swimming, boating, fishing, and golfing.
Conclusion: Big Bear Lake Summer Weekend Getaway Itinerary
This is just a suggested itinerary, of course, and you can customize it to fit your interests and budget.
No matter what you’re looking for in a Summer vacation, you’re sure to find it in Big Bear Lake.
PS – Visiting in the Winter? Check out our Big Bear Lake Winter Weekend Getaway Itinerary.
Pin This For Later!
