Lake Arrowhead Getaway

The photo flashback to 2012 continues…

Following our afternoon hike in Big Bear, we drive to Lake Arrowhead shortly before sunset. It’s our first time here and it’s enchanting upon first sight. Strings of glowing bulbs hang charmingly over the lakeside path. Ducks float contentedly in the water. And the crisp air is appropriately chilly for March — we’re on a winter getaway from sunny Los Angeles, perhaps counterintuitive to my friends and relatives on the east coast.

That’s Lindsey on the left below and my sister on the right:

The village of Lake Arrowhead is small and contained — there are a handful of restaurants and outlet stores. We do a loop and make plans to return the next morning.

Inside the candy shop, Bethany poses with what we jokingly refer to as a diabetic bear.

Here’s the viewpoint from the supermarket parking lot, which is located a level above the outlet parking lot — there’s a nice view with Lake Arrowhead in the distance.

We end up grabbing dinner at Papagayos, a Mexican restaurant. It hits the spot.

We spend the night in a nearby town (Crestline / Lake Gregory) which I’ll report on tomorrow.

The next morning we return to Lake Arrowhead for brunch at Belgian Waffle Works and a walk around half of the lake.

In an effort to be healthy but live a little, we order meals for lunch and then split one waffle three ways for dessert. We LOVE this place.

Next up we set out to walk around Lake Arrowhead. The lake’s circumference is 14 miles so we’re not sure how this will pan out, but we’re up for a challenge. There’s a gated path from the village and a local kindly tells us the access code.

The path hugs the shore and occasionally turns inland to link properties around the lake; staircases stretch up or down to various mansions.

Practically every house has their own boat slip. And while the water is pretty to look at, we see lots of signs restricting swimming due to contamination. What a shame.

After a few miles we reach this boathouse. A security guard informs us that the path does not continue around the lake; we’d have to detour on the main road for a bit. We take that as a sign to turn around and retrace our steps back to the village. In total, we hike around 8 miles.

Here’s our walking route:

And a few final photos from the walk back:

This boat docks at the main harbor in the village and does scenic trips around the lake. We definitely would have looked into it if we hadn’t just done our own loop on foot.