Back in the day Derek and I raced up at Big Bear Mountain a lot for the California State Series. While we didn’t ride all the way to Big Bear on this ride, had we kept going we would eventually have made it there on this back road. It’s rugged and remote so plan accordingly.
This is all sandy and rocky roads and we rode mountain bikes. You wouldn’t make it on a gravel bike very comfortably because the road is very rough in spots. It’s an out and back so ride as far as you want and turn around. We were a light on water this day so we didn’t go very far. Our ride was 14 miles but with 1663′ of climbing and we turned around at 6230′.
Starting just outside a little community called Rimrock, after a really sandy section, we pedaled up past some remote houses and a few pretty steep inclines before getting to the rough part of the road where high clearance is necessary. It’s pretty remote back here although I did see a couple bike tire tracks so I knew we weren’t the only ones to ever ride back here. We turned around at a junction with a good view point and headed back. Much faster going this direction!
Pioneertown
After our ride we changed clothes and drove over to Pioneertown. Pioneertown was founded in 1946 by a group of Hollywood legends including Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Russell Hayden and Dick Curtis It is an 1880s themed live-in Old West living, breathing motion-picture set. The town was designed to provide a place for production companies to enjoy while also using their businesses and homes in movies. Hundreds of Westerns and early television shows were filmed in Pioneertown, including The Cisco Kid and Gene Autry filmed his weekly show in town for five years, using the buildings and businesses as part of the film set.
On weekdays it’s pretty quite but on weekend folks from LA come to get away. There are staged gunfights on Mane Street, a film museum full of artifacts, a few shops and art studios, a couple saloons, and a motel. We were there on a weekday so we strolled the block or two and poked around.
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