BIG BEAR FOR YOUNG FAMILIES

 We have gone to Big Bear a few times with our young family, and we love it.  Here is what we did, and I would recommend it to anyone.

 Big Bear Discovery Center.  Here you can touch stuffed animals, and learn about the surrounding area.  Also you can buy day parking passes here for the San Bernadino forest.

 Woodland trail hike.  Our 5 year old loved this!! It has markers with descriptions about the surrounding flora.  http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/WoodlandTrail_4472.asp   We also walked around part of the lake on the south side.

 Time Bandit pirate ship ride at Holloway Marina.  The ship takes you around the whole lake.  The girls loved being pirates.  http://www.bigbearboating.com/pirateship.php

Meadow Park Swim beach.  There was sand volleyball, fun inflatable objects, swings, and nice sand on the shore. http://kbhr933.com/current-news/swim-beach-open-summer-family-season-passes/

Of course there are other things to do up there, like biking, boating, day hikes, fishing, etc. For us with young kids this worked perfect :)  There are lots of great places to eat there as well.  We ate Mexican at the EL AZTECA, and at B's Barbeque.