For most of the last century, if you lived in Running Springs and someone asked what to do on a summer Saturday, the answer was Keller Peak. Drive up 1N96, climb the 1926 lookout, look at Catalina if the wind was right, come home. That answer stopped working in September 2024.
The Line Fire took the tower. What remains is steel supports and a rebuild question that the U.S. Forest Service has to decide, with the Southern California Mountains Foundation leading any future project. If you have been here long enough to remember the volunteer at the top with the binoculars, this summer is the first one where that whole ritual is gone. The town's summer calendar rearranged itself around that absence, and if you don't know the new rhythm, you spend July driving to closed gates.
The Anchor That Isn't There Anymore
The tower is not the only thing missing. AllTrails currently flags Keller Peak via the Exploration Trail and Keller Peak Road as closed, and as of May 2026 the area sits under a fire closure. The Forest Service's Yellow Post sites page confirms the practical version of this: the access road is closed and it is hike-in only until May 1st, 2026, with campfire rings not yet re-installed and no ground fires permitted.
Translation for a resident: the drive-up-with-the-dog Keller Peak default is off the table this July and August. So is the "meet friends at the lookout at 4 p.m." plan. The volunteers who used to staff the tower are still training and organizing under the Southern California Mountains Foundation, and a 100-year celebration is being planned for the end of the 2026 season or the beginning of 2027, which is worth watching if you want to be there for whatever the town does to mark it.
Snow Valley Is Now A Select-Date Town
The replacement anchor is Snow Valley, and it is a different animal than it used to be. Since Alterra's 2023 acquisition, the resort at 35100 CA-18 has been rebuilt into a real summer operation. The Snow Valley Express carries four mountain bike riders per chair and accesses seven miles of trails, and the base area now runs a Scenic Sky Chair, a bike park, hiking, and a weekend food operation.
Here is the trap for locals: Snow Valley bike park is offered on select dates only, including Memorial Day Monday May 25, Independence Day Saturday July 4, and Labor Day Monday September 7. Snow Summit, down the highway in Big Bear Lake, is daily. Snow Valley is not. Show up on the wrong Wednesday in July and you are looking at an empty base area three miles from your house.
The 2026 summer dates worth writing on the fridge:
- July 4, 2026 — bike park open for the Independence Day holiday
- July 25–26, 2026 — the Snow Valley MTB Camp, a two-day experience designed for kids ages 7 to 17, coached by instructors, with bike safety checks, clinics, on-hill trail rides, and games. Online registration is not available; you call 844.GO2.BEAR or visit a Snow Valley ticket window.
- September 7, 2026 — Labor Day
- September 12, 2026 — the launch of Valley Series, a two-stop downhill MTB race series, at Snow Valley, with registration open to ride or spectate. The Quick Draw and Crazy Horse trails will be closed to the public for the race, which matters if you had them on your list that weekend.
- October 25, 2026 — closing day for Snow Valley hiking, biking, and Scenic Sky Chair rides, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A few local details that reduce friction. Children ages 4 and under and seniors 80 and over ride the bike parks for free; you pick up the ticket at the window. Snow Valley lift ticket prices start at $25, and buying at least three days out locks in the lower price. Thunder Mountain BBQ & Bar is the summer dining venue, and it operates Friday through Sunday, which is another reason midweek trips need a plan.
If you live in Running Springs and you do not ride, the Scenic Sky Chair alone is a reasonable Saturday. It is the closest thing the town has this summer to what Keller Peak used to be, and you can get up high without the drive.
What's Still Open Up Keller Peak Road
Not everything east of the Deerlick Fire Station is closed. The National Children's Forest is still there, still 3,400 acres, and still worth explaining to houseguests who ask what a "children's forest" is supposed to be. It sits within the San Bernardino National Forest, was established after the 1970 Bear Fire, and features trees planted in honor of children. The 0.5-mile Trail of the Phoenix is accessible to individuals with visual or physical disabilities, which makes it the trail to bring visiting grandparents on when the longer Exploration Trail is not the plan.
The Visitor Information Center sits adjacent to the Deerlick Fire Station on Highway 18, is typically open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, and offers interpretive programs and educational tours. If you have kids off school in August and want a low-effort morning, this is the closest structured option in the town limits.
A Hilltop Rotation That Keeps You Off The 18
Summer weekends on Highway 18 belong to Big Bear traffic. The residents' move is to stay on Hilltop Boulevard and eat within a mile of home. A few anchors worth naming:
- LuluBelle's Coffee House & Bakery, 31621 Pleasant Drive, scratch-made pastries and sandwiches; the local coffee stop when you don't want to drive to Skyforest.
- Rocky's Roadhouse, the deli with the outside patio where dogs are allowed. Long rolls, Boar's Head meat, and, per one review that captures the local feeling well, "by far the best deli in the San Bernardino Mountains" between Crestline and Big Bear.
- Blondie's Grille & Bar, 33227 Hilltop Boulevard in Arrowbear, run by Randy and Robin. Weekend breakfast, and the reason you skip the drive down to a chain in San Bernardino when you want eggs benedict on a Sunday.
- Tapia's Red Cabin, breakfast and Mexican, the "mixed menu" spot when half the table wants pancakes and the other half wants chilaquiles.
- El Toto's, 31927 Hilltop Boulevard, the Mexican default at dinner.
- Deep Creek Drive In, the burger stop when you are coming back from a Snow Valley date and don't want a sit-down meal.
- Arrowbear Liquor & Deli, 32861 Hilltop Boulevard, for the beer run before a firepit night on a lot where campfire rules allow it.
None of these are secrets. The point is that a resident can build a full summer weekend without leaving the town's own commercial strip, and knowing which one has the patio at 3 p.m. in July is the difference between eating and waiting.
The Kids Slot That's Been Here Longer Than The Bike Park
For residents with school-age kids or grandkids visiting, the town's two long-running camps are worth planning around. Arrowbear Lake is home to Arrowbear Music Camp, which has been in operation since 1942. Eighty-four summers in the same location is not a marketing line; it is a piece of the town's calendar that runs whether Snow Valley opens the lift that week or not.
Pali Adventures runs overnight camps for children ages 8 to 16, with dirt biking, guitar lessons, trapeze, paintball, soccer, and swimming. If you own here and rent to families in summer, these two names are the ones your guests will ask you about, and having a coherent answer is part of being a good host.
A Working Weekend, North-Side Version
Here is what a July Saturday actually looks like now if you are trying to use the town well:
Coffee at LuluBelle's early. Scenic Sky Chair at Snow Valley if it is one of the open dates, otherwise Trail of the Phoenix at the Children's Forest with the Visitor Information Center as a rain-or-shine backup. Lunch at Rocky's on the patio. Afternoon at home while Hilltop fills with the drive-through crowd. Dinner at Blondie's or El Toto's depending on the mood, and the beer run at Arrowbear Liquor on the way home.
The whole day sits inside the 92382 ZIP. That is the point. The town rebuilt its summer around a lift, a children's forest, and a mile of Hilltop, and residents who plan around the Snow Valley calendar and the closure lines above get a better July than the ones still driving to a locked gate on Keller Peak Road.
When the 100-year celebration lands, whether it is late 2026 or early 2027, the lookout question will be answered one way or the other. Until then, this is the shape of a Running Springs summer.
If you own a cabin here and you are thinking about what this new summer rhythm means for how your home shows, rents, or eventually sells, that is the conversation we have every day. Reach out to SoCal Resorts for a free home valuation and a straight read on what your Running Springs property is worth in the 2026 market.
