Whether you drive up the desert side of the mountain on the Rim of the World National Scenic Byway (Highway 138) or up Highway 18 from San Bernardino, Crestline/Lake Gregory is the most easily accessible mountain resort town from the urban areas of Southern California. Any drive to Crestline provides spectacular scenery and a stunning change in both landscape and temperature for travelers. Summer travelers often begin their ascent to Crestline in the stifling 100-degree heat and smog below the mountains, and in just 14 miles along a modern four-lane highway they find themselves enveloped in forest along the breezy shore of a cool mountain lake where the sky is crystal clear and temperatures are in the low 80s.

Crestline offers shopping, fine dining and a wide range of recreational activities. At Lake Gregory in Crestline, visitors may ride on the lake’s two 300-foot waterslides, swim at our popular beaches, and rent paddleboats, sailboats, paddleboards, rowboats and water cycles. Great fishing for trout, catfish and bass awaits anglers around the lake.

Lake Gregory’s surface is at an elevation of 4,550 feet and the ridges around it climb up to 1,000 feet higher, providing beautiful, 360-degree views of forested ridges around the lake. The trees around the lake and in Crestline include dogwoods, big cone spruce, sugar pines, white firs, incense cedars, ponderosa pines and a variety of oaks. Birders may find a variety of inland waterfowl seabirds, raptors and our local mountain birds.

Lake Gregory is also an excellent place to keep in shape, with its new, state-of-the-art fitness trail with 10 exercise stations scattered along a scenic trail around the lake. Many hiking and biking trails may be found in and around Crestline.

Near Camp Seeley in Valley of Enchantment lies a natural wonder and one of the landmarks of Crestline, called Heart Rock. Visitors may see this natural formation during an easy one-mile hike along a creek. At the top of a cliff near the end of the trail hikers will find a beautiful natural sight—a large heart-shaped pool that has been carved into a solid rock cliff by a waterfall.

Be sure to visit Historic Old Town, where the town of Crestline had its beginning. In this place, where Ozzie Nelson’s band once played, visitors will find specialty shops that sell fine home furnishings clothing, jewelry, art and gifts. Old Town visitors will also find "The Loose Caboose" a family restaurant that features scale model trains that run along tracks in the rafters. From Old Town, shoppers driving along Lake Drive toward the lake will find the many shops, restaurants and lodges of the Lake Gregory area of Crestline.

This summer there are many activities planned in Crestline—all centered around the lake—including fishing derbies, fun family activities on the 4th of July weekend, a soaring competition on the last weekend of July. On Labor Day weekend, come to Crestline for our town tradition and find more unique yard sales than you will ever find in one town.

For more information about Crestline/Lake Gregory, visit www.crestlinechamber.net, or call the Crestline Chamber of Commerce at 909-338-2706. Photo above: Lisa D. Smith