A solar telescope stands in Big Bear Lake. Not beside it. Out on a causeway, using the water to quiet heat distortions blurring the sun. Along shore, a ring records evaporation—about four feet of lake level in an average year. On August 24, 2026, the water stood 8.92 feet below full. That missing water was not simply being sent downhill. A 1977 settlement left a Redlands-area irrigation company with first claim on the inflow, but more than six feet down, the water district buys replacement water instead—more than $1.9 million worth in 2023. The dam stays shut. The shoreline steps back. That same day, all five sampling stations read green, nearly seventy degrees from surface to bottom, with oxygen thinning sharply near the bottom at four stations. Harmful-algae warnings appeared in 2019 and 2020; the district says no algae-related illness has been recorded. What the telescope at the causeway's end borrows from the lake is its temperature.
curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
The facts
- Surface area 10.9 km² usgs-3dhp · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Nearest town Big Bear Lake · 0.1 km osm-overpass · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Bird species (within 25 mi) 210 ebird-api-v2 · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Bird diversity index 0.82 ebird-api-v2 · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Median home value $528,213 census-acs-2024-b25077 · block-group-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Water clarity Moderate curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Night sky Dark skies viirs-black-marble-vnp46a4 · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Surroundings Resort — a shoreline built for visitors curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Water origin Reservoir curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
In more detail
- Climate
- four-season; cool winters (~35°F mean), mild summers (~63°F); ~20 in precip/yr noaa-normals-1991-2020-descriptor · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Public access
- Two public boat launch ramps (East/Carol Morrison and West/Duane Boyer) sit on the North Shore, operated by Big Bear Municipal Water District, open to all vessels subject to mandatory quagga-mussel inspection. The City of Big Bear Lake separately operates three public shoreline parks (Boulder Bay, Veterans, Rotary) with hand-launch paddlecraft access at Boulder Bay and Rotary. Full public access; no membership required. Fees/permits: Launching at the two public ramps is free but requires a mandatory Quagga mussel inspection/permit through Big Bear Municipal Water District; no stated fee to enter the three city shoreline parks.. Sources: bbmwd.com (fetched 2026-07-12); citybigbearlake.com (fetched 2026-07-12). curated-web-harvest · lake-level · as of Jul 12, 2026
- Dogs and pets
- high — Big Bear Valley Recreation and Park District operates Bark Park, and the City of Big Bear Lake maintains public lakeside parks and shoreline launch points; the named dog amenity and public lakefront recreation support the high tier. curator · lake-level · as of Jul 19, 2026
- Property tax
- 0.70% ACS effective-rate proxy (2024 ACS 5-year; San Bernardino County anchor: $3,538 median real-estate taxes paid ÷ $505,000 median owner-occupied home value; California proxy 0.70%, +0.00 percentage points). census-acs-2024-property-tax · county-level · as of Dec 31, 2024
Where it’s heading
Stable hand-rated for v0.1 · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
Stable by the mini-pass criterion — a built-out, high-value resort market, not a growth vector: 75.2% of housing units vacant at the 2020 census (HCD: ~77%, 94% of them seasonal/occasional use); the 2022 short-term-rental cap (Measure O) lost 57.57–42.43 and voters raised the transient-occupancy tax to 10% instead; prices are softening (Zillow index −5.7% y/y June 2026; brokerage 2026-08-24: 11.9 months of supply, 99 days on market, 71.4% of sales below asking). The 100k weekend surge is a standing condition. No documented population or permit velocity on the sheet (Keowee/SML lesson: established high-value market = stable).