National Forest Association’s Children’s Forest

The children’s forest is a great local place to hike, walk, camp, or have a picnic. It is located off HWY 18 in Running Springs. One would not necessarily notice the area unless you were looking for it. There are many trails and some loop around so if you can’t walk too far you can double back. There is camping and group camping spots available. There are picnic areas and informational trailheads. Safety first, remember cellphones may not work in all areas. Bring food, water, appropriate clothing per the weather. Have a first aid kit accessible for emergencies. Remember that there are animals in the forest. Bring pepper spray or bear spray to scare off most wild animals and humans !
Don’t forget your Adventure pass. This can be bought at the Rangers station or Jensen’s store off HWY 330 in town.

What a cool place! I can’t believe I’d never been up here before. The campgrounds are spectacular, secluded, and now they are free. Easy access to mountain biking trails, climbing crags and Keller Peak fire lookout tower. The expansive views of mountain scenery is rejuvenating to the spirit. A fine place to come.

Beautiful, short hiking loop trail. Here’s the map from Highway 18:
When you zoom in on point «B», you’ll see the small parking lot. Then the trail is right there.
MUST HAVE ADVENTURE PASS TO PARK THE CAR.
The ¾ mile loop was fantastic. There are art work by children and it is just a very nice, breezy hike with the kids. My son enjoyed the short walk and the crisp air of the Keller Peak. The entire trail is paved for easy access for strollers, etc. Plenty of flora and lizards scurrying about. :0)
When heading back down, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE KELLER PEAK LOOKOUT. :0)

So this is a cute little sectioned off area of a national park. The scenery is very beautiful and the staff generally friendly. I have only been here in the snow but would come back anytime. There are very tons of people so you can easily get some nice quite places for your kids to play.

A great resource for locals, visitors, families and individuals. Stop in take a look, get some information. I do wish there were some winter hours of operation.

Wonderful place to take the kids for a walk out in nature.
Take Highway 18 through down town Running Springs. At
the stop sign, turn right to stay on Highway 18 going toward Big Bear. The
Children’s Forest Visitor Information Center is approximately ½ mile past
the stop sign on the right, just before Arrowbear. To get to Keller Peak
Fire Lookout, go just past the Children’s Forest Visitor Information Center
and turn right on Keller Peak Road. Follow the road five miles to the
Keller Peak Fire Lookout.

Our family was so looking forward to this and I’m sure we would have had a ton of fun…
Wish we could have visited yesterday, but apparently it’s CLOSED during the winter! (It wasn’t mentioned on the website.) We parked in front of the gate that closes off the street 4 miles before the actual Children’s Forest, then walked past the gate and up the street a little to play in the snow.
The kids had fun sledding a little and throwing snowballs. We had fun anyway!
After we parked, about 6 cars also pulled in and did the same thing. Guess someone had to start it! I believe the closure is right next to a fire station.

I had the opportunity to visit the National Children’s Forest near Keller Peak in the San Bernardino National Forest this weekend. All I can say is that it was awesome! Totally quiet, uncrowded and visually stunning.
The forest was designated in 1970 after the Bear Fire destroyed 54,000 acres of land. From that point a trail was built and it became a site where children and the rest of the public could be educated about the land and conservation.
My wife and I had a great hike on the 4.5 mile Exploration Trail that winds up through the valley to Keller Peak. There are so many interesting ecosystems to see on the journey. Wildlife in their homes, cool rock formations and vast vistas of the valley below. It was amazing!
Buy a day pass at any ranger station for $ 5 and park either at the top of the trail and hike down or go for it all and park at the bottom of the trail and do the full nine miles up and back. It’s totally worth it! There’s even a picnic area at the top of the mountain to break up your hike.