Forest Festival 2024

BARTON FLATS – The San Gorgonio Wilderness Association’s Forest Festival, a family-friendly celebration of forests and the outdoors, will be presented on Saturday, July 20, at the Barton Flats Visitor, located on Highway 38 about seven miles east of Angelus Oaks.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include opportunities to use a crosscut saw to create a “tree cookie” that will be branded with U.S. Forest Service and Smokey Bear logos; pan for gold; learn about the work of Friends of Big Bear Valley and their eagle cam; make a nature craft; learn what it takes to serve on a search-and-rescue team; hear what various outdoor and conservation groups do to protect our natural resources; learn about the history of Serrano Indians in the San Bernardino Mountains; visit with SGWA members, who patrol and maintain trails in the San Gorgonio and Cucamonga wilderness areas, and provide interpretive programs; and more.

Smokey Bear will make appearances throughout the day, and SGWA volunteers will lead nature walks around the visitor center. Snacks and beverages will be available, and SGWA musicians will perform. SGWA is a nonprofit organization that works with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the forest in and around the San Gorgonio Wilderness and Cucamonga Wilderness, and educates the public about this natural resource. Every year SGWA volunteers donate thousands of hours to the San Bernardino National Forest in a variety of activities, including interacting with the public on wilderness trails and at interpretive programs, clearing fallen trees that block trails and repairing damaged trail tread, and removing illegal fire rings in wilderness areas.

For more information about the Forest Festival or the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association please call the association at (909) 389-9650, or e-mail sgwa@earthlink.net.