U.S. Forest Service · San Bernardino National Forest · CA

Big Pine Equestrian Group Campground

5Heads up5 fires, nearest 9 mi
Wildfire
Mtz/Bdc/83A fire · 8.8 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Juniper fire · 10 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 14, 2026
Wildfire
Assist/Bdu/82A fire · 12 mi away · updated Oct 14, 2026
Wildfire
Powerline fire · 16 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 14, 2026
Wildfire
Orange 2 fire · 18 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 15, 2026
ReservableOut of season; bookable April 16 through April 16.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
30 ftLongest rig
6,830 ftElevation
1.1 miWater · an unnamed stream
5.3 miSW of Lucerne Valley, CA
0%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices

In the agency’s own words

Big Pine Equestrian Group Campground is a beautiful place to take the horses on a camping outing. The facility is comfortably equipped for the equestrian camper and is close to a variety of hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails. It is also not far from the scenic, year-round recreation destination of Big Bear Lake. Keep reading

Recreation

Fishing and boating at Big Bear Lake are popular activities. Anglers can look forward to trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish and largemouth bass, among other species. Because of the very cold water and the presence of underwater obstacles near the shorelines, swimming at the lake is discouraged. Visitors also enjoy hiking and mountain biking. A variety of trailheads can be accessed near the campground. Off-road vehicle use is popular as well. Nearby Cactus Flats consists of approximately 68 miles of off-road vehicle and motorcycle trails. A picnic area is available at Cactus Flats.

Facilities

The campground offers one group equestrian site, available for tent and RV camping. It can accommodate up to 25 people and five vehicles. Utility hookups are not available and parking surfaces are gravel. The site is equipped with horse corrals, hitching racks and a horse staging area, as well as watering stations. The campsite has multiple tables, grills and a campfire circle. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided.

Natural Features

The campground is located in the San Bernardino Mountains at an elevation of 6,820 feet. It is situated in a hilly area dotted with mature evergreens. Wide open meadows exist throughout the area. The trees provide ample shade within the campground, however, there are some sunny spots.

Nearby Attractions

Markets and restaurants are available in Fawnskin, about 7 miles from the campground.

Charges & Cancellations

Rules & Reservation Policies As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov, there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Booking Window For most locations, you can reserve six months in advance of your stay for individual sites and 12 months in advance for group sites. There are some exceptions, so it is best to check with each facility. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Tours & Tickets: You may request changes to tour dates at no cost before the arrival date. If you cancel before your tour date, you may be eligible for a refund. Cancellation fees apply. Please check the tour facility description details page for cancellation policies. Permits: Varies by location. Please check the permit details for the permit location. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July

What the agency tells you

Rule

Water is limited; fill trailers and RVs prior to arriving

Rule

Click here for more information on the San Bernardino National Forest

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.

Everything else this campground posts · 2
Rule

High Clearance vehicle recommended. Dirt road 7 miles.

Rule

Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 group, 1 equestrian
Hookups
None
Longest rig
30 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
Drinking water
Yes
“…circle. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground is…”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Meadow
Biking
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Night sky · 1122nd darkest of 1,201 in CA
Bortle 4
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowFrom April 16Out of season now. Bookable for April 16, 2027 through April 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$127From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, Apr 16 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$127
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$127
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Apr 17, 2026 to Oct 3, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

“Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount.” · this campground’s own no-show terms

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 6

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites

All 1 sites

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate34.31962, -117.01306
The phone909-866-8550
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

Take Highway 330 to Running Springs, then head northeast on Highway 18 to Highway 38. Do not cross the Big Bear Lake Dam. Continue on Highway 38 to Fawnskin. Turn onto Forest Road 3N14 and continue about 6 miles to Forest Road 3N16. Turn left and continue less than a mile, then turn right and continue to the campground. High Clearance vehicles recommended.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight42°Mostly Clear1% rain
Saturday61°Mostly Sunny6% rain
Saturday Night39°Mostly Cloudy6% rain
Sunday61°Mostly Sunny4% rain

NWS forecast for Lucerne Valley, CA

Typical weather

Typical October night 35°F, day 63°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: BIG BEAR LAKE, CA (USC00040741), 8 miles away and 77 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Deep Creek23,869 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Mill Peak7,884 acres · 10 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Jay Obernolte, official portrait

Big Pine Equestrian Group Campground is in California’s 23rd congressional district. Its representative, Jay Obernolte (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service’s own recreation database flags it not open and publishes no reason and no date. That’s a flag, not a notice: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.