Lake Gregory Self-Guided Walking Tour

Lake Gregory wasn't always here. This easy 2.3-mile loop (about 50 minutes) circles the lake above Crestline, in the San Bernardino Mountains, and across 21 stops it traces two centuries of mountain history — from a Serrano summer camp in a spring-fed meadow, to a roaring logging town, to the Hollywood-era "Switzerland of Southern California," to the close-knit community you'll walk through today.

Each stop tells its own piece of the story: the Serrano people and the black oaks that fed them; the citrus grower Arthur Gregory, whose dam — finished out of his own pocket — was filled to the brim in three days by the great flood of 1938; the grand San Moritz Lodge and the rowdier "swingingest town in America"; the pines, wintering bald eagles, and cattail marsh that make this a living lake; and a town that keeps rebuilding through fire and "Snowmageddon." Open any stop for the full, in-depth write-up.

The loop starts at the South Parking Lot — keep the lake on your left — with restrooms at the Bait & Tackle Shop and near the end of the trail. Beach entry, the inflatable water park, paddleboards, kayaks and boats are run by the Lake Gregory Company; the park itself is managed by San Bernardino County Regional Parks.