OCTOBER 19, 2026

Granite Giants: Grays Peak with Vader

Some days the mountain just hands it to you. Vader and I headed up to Big Bear to hike Grays Peak, and the weather was perfect, low 60s and slightly overcast.

TRAIL CARD

Trail: Grays Peak Trail, San Bernardino National Forest
Trailhead: Highway 38 (North Shore Drive), just west of Fawnskin, across from the Grout Bay Picnic Area
GPS: 34.2632° N, 116.9481° W (plus code 7372+7Q Fawnskin, California)
Distance: about 7.4 miles round trip, out and back (by my tracker)
Elevation: 6,766 feet at the trailhead, 7,929 feet at the top
Climb: a consistent grade the whole way up, almost 1,400 feet of gain in under 3.5 miles
Parking: a $5 Grays Peak day pass from Recreation.gov, or an Adventure Pass or America the Beautiful pass on the dashboard

Trail map: the route climbs west from the trailhead near Fawnskin on the north shore of Big Bear Lake

Elevation profile: a steady climb from 6,766 feet to 7,929 feet and back down

STAGE 1 · INTO THE TREES

The trail kept flowing in and out of tree line. Out in the open, the views kept peeking through the branches.

Twisted dead branches framing a granite peak under a blue, cloud-streaked sky

The forest up here is mostly Jeffrey pine and white fir, with California black oak mixed in. The Jeffrey pines are the tall ones with reddish, puzzle-piece bark, famous for smelling like vanilla or butterscotch. The white firs are the dense, blue-green ones, and the black oaks were just starting to turn gold. Near the top, we were walking among giants.

Towering pines and firs reaching into a blue sky along the trail

STAGE 2 · STICK FINDER

Vader found a stick. Then he found a better stick. Then he found several more. Every new stick set off another round of self-initiated zoomies. Typical Vader.

Vader proudly holding a stick on the sandy trail

Vader chomping a long stick, grinning through it

Between zoomies, he took a well-earned breather among the boulders.

Vader sitting among granite boulders with his tongue out

STAGE 3 · THE GRANITE GARDEN

The rocks are the other star of this hike. The San Bernardino Mountains are built from light, speckled granite. Miles of interesting shapes, rounded boulders piled like giant marbles, towers balanced on towers, and long slabs stacked side by side like fallen dominoes.

A lone pine growing out of a granite outcrop under a blue sky

A tall stacked granite tower with a weathered log at its base

Long granite slabs leaning together in rows below tall pines

Big rounded granite boulders climbing toward a sky full of clouds

Somehow the pines manage to grow right out of the rock, roots wedged into the cracks. Nature always finds a way.

A pine tree growing on top of a pile of golden granite boulders

FINAL STAGE · THE VIEW

The hike culminated in a big aerial view. The San Bernardino National Forest stretched across my whole field of view, with glimpses of Big Bear Lake shining through the trees below.

The view from the top: pines and granite in front, Big Bear Lake and the mountains beyond

Vader posed for his portrait up top like he’d carried me up there.

Vader sitting on a granite slab with the lake and mountains behind him

GAME OVER?

Not even close. Cool air, big trees, giant rocks and a dog who found every stick on the mountain. For more of Vader’s adventures, check out his gallery or his Player 2 page.

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