Amazing San Bernardino

Located in the Inland Empire of Southern California, east of Los Angeles, San Bernardino is a beautiful city with a Mediterranean climate.

This is where you'll find the original location of McDonald's along historic Route 66 which is a State Historic Site. It is now a museum with plenty of McDonald's memorabilia. It displays the largest collections of historic merchandise in the country. There are vintage and collectible Happy Meal toys from the world over. Visitors can bring their own Happy Meal toys to the museum and have them added to the display.

Glen Helen Regional Park is located in the scenic foothills of Canyon Pass. It is just a 20-minute drive from downtown. The popular activities in this park are fishing, disc golf, and swimming in either one of the two lakes. The park also has a swimming complex with a large pool and multiple waterslides.

Within Glen Helen Regional Park you'll also find the Glen Helen Amphitheater which is a performing space that features major headliners. It is one of the largest outdoor stages in the country.

For racing fans there is The Glen Helen Raceway offering professional and amateur motorsport races.

The San Bernardino County Museum is located in the neighboring city of Redland just fifteen minutes from downtown. It is a regional museum with an emphasis on natural and cultural history. There are more than 2,000 artifacts on display. The museum has two floors of exhibits. The main level features the Hall of History and the Hall of Earth Sciences. It offers special programming and events.

The California State University campus at San Bernardino is located on the north side of the city, near the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. It is a lovely campus well worth a visit.

The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art located on campus hosts rotating exhibits from the world over as well as MFA exhibitions by students. The museum is best known for its vast collection of Egyptian antiquities.

The San Bernadino History & Railroad Museum specializes in the western legacy of the city, emphasizing locomotion in the Inland Empire. The museum is housed in a restored 1918 Santa Fe Depot and also serves as a modern Amtrak and Metrolink depot. On display is a recreated 1910 railroad station. You can see several large antique clocks and 19th-century horse-drawn buggies. The museum is only open on Saturdays.

California Theater of the Performing Arts in 1928 was a vaudeville movie palace. Today it's the premier theater in the Inland Empire and hosts musicals, plays, concerts, and other theater events. Every year several national shows are performed here and the theater is home to the San Bernardino Symphony.

San Manuel Stadium is home to the Inland Empire 66ers Minor League baseball team. The baseball season runs from April through September and all of the 5,000 stadium seats face home plate.

Perris Hill Park is one of the best parks in San Bernardino. Hiking to the top of Perris Hill you can get panoramic views of the city. While hiking you can enjoy the vistas of the nearby San Bernardino Mountains. The park has baseball diamonds, playground areas, and a swimming pool with a small water park. There are nearly fifty picnic tables throughout the park and large trees that provide shade.

The Santa Ana River Trail is a scenic pedestrian route. There is a paved biking trail that stretches along the Santa Ana River. The river trail spans 110 miles from the San Bernardino Forest to the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach.

Kimberly Crest House & Gardens historic mansion and outdoor space is located in the neighboring city of Redlands. You can tour this 1897 French chateau-style mansion.

The Rim of the World Scenic Byway is the gateway to the San Bernadino Mountains. This byway encompasses parts of Highways 138, 18, and 38, along the crest of the mountains navigating through San Bernadino National Forest. It connects several popular forest attractions among them Big Bear Lake, Lake Arrowhead, and Silverwood Lake. In the wintertime, skiing is popular at local ski resorts like Snow Valley Mountain Resort and Big Bear Mountain Resort.

Big Bear Lake is a year-round mountain retreat located an hour's drive into the San Bernadino National Forest from the city. Popular activities here include mountain biking, trail running, and boating on the lake. Hikers love the Pacific Crest Trail.

In the wintertime, there is skiing at Big Bear Mountain Resort which also has snowshoe and fat bike trails. There are cottages, cabins, and hotels lining the south side of the lake.

Lake Arrowhead, a 40-minute drive from San Bernadino is another mountain destination. There are cabins, cottages, and resort hotels along the lake.

Visitors enjoy Lake Arrowhead Village with shops and restaurants. The village provides amazing views of the San Gabriel Mountains.

From the village, you can enjoy taking the Lake Arrowhead Queen Tour Boat.

People enjoy taking weekend getaways at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa.

Silverwood Lake is another scenic place in the San Bernadino National Forest. The nearby Cedar Springs Dam has made this landscape popular with boaters and shoreline hikers.

The Angeles National Forest can be reached by heading west through Rancho Cucamonga towards Mount San Antonio better known as Mount Baldy.

One and a half hours from San Bernardino is the amazing Joshua Tree National Park with the closest entry point at Black Rock Canyon. There are many scenic hiking trails and in the park, you'll see magnificent boulder piles, desert plants, and a Joshua tree forest. Highlights here include Jumbo Rocks, Indian Cove, and Ryan Campground Rock climbing.

San Bernardino even has a song written about it: