Pine Mountain Lake

It is not difficult to see why Lake Arrowhead has always been popular with the movie stars - it is near Los Angeles, but worlds away in attitude. People with money are here, all right, but there is also a member of the American small town, with families and, yes, even family values.

We walked the waterfront trail in front of the resort of Lake Arrowhead and ran into one of the fathers of the town - a guy whose job was to walk nearly 20 miles around the lake, checking to ensure that the tracks are not only fair, but as any virgin semi-exclusive enclave should be. He talked about movie stars who live in Arrowhead as every day, good people. He talked about his daughter won the national championship water ski, and how skiing has been closely followed here as well as football or basketball could be followed in the Heartland.

Well, OK, Lake Arrowhead is not exactly Des Moines, Iowa. But it has a small town feel - in a sort of way in southern California.

We went to Lake Arrowhead to spend a weekend at the newly renovated Lake Arrowhead Resort, the largest and best resort located in the area that just had a leap forward in its general appeal to travelers a break . Before the recent renovation, the station was a bit tired and starting to show its age. But it is amazing the things you can do with $ 17 million - the station underwent a complete transformation.

All 173 rooms have been redone, and the restaurant, bar and spa. New plasma TV swivel, showers and just a general feeling of luxury and class are evident in the rooms. Some rooms offer a magnificent view over the lake, others overlooking the alpine forests. The new restaurant, BIN189, is also at least a notch or two better than its predecessor, thanks in part to the efforts of Stewart Redhead, the new chief executive who was brought to New Orleans before serving in the same city as Chief Executive of the W Hotel.

It is no wonder that June Lockhart Lake Arrowhead Resort takes her home when she visits her childhood haunt of Lake Arrowhead. His friend Peter Henry is executive director of the resort, the latest in a series of high-end homes, which he chaired.

Aside from the obvious charms that come with a mountain lake flac in the middle of a beautiful forest, Lake Arrowhead has a business area called the Fun Lake Arrowhead Village. This is not your typical shopping center, the village somehow combines high-end boutiques with tourist shops and rides to appeal to any type of person who can visit. It is a five minute walk to Lake Arrowhead Village Resort, where you will also find several different restaurants and during the warmer months, listen to live music in a concert area quite complex. While we were there, scientists Rockit into the crowd rocking as they swigged micro-brews in a few steps from the dance floor.

To get a better view on the lake, visitors can climb aboard the Arrowhead Queen, a paddle-wheeler Louisiana style that takes customers to a 50-minute tour of the lake. On a busy summer day, you will see many small boats, many of them towing water skiers. And it's fun to watch expensive waterfront homes and imagine what it would be like having a lake in your backyard.

There are also many hiking trails in the Lake Arrowhead - trips of various lengths and degrees of difficulty. The lake is at 5,100 feet and is nestled in a forest of pine, cedar and dogwood, which sometimes give way to breathtaking views of the mountains of San Bernardino. A trail is very easy to start the Heap's Peak Arboretum, easily accessible on Highway 18. This half-mile interpretive trail identifies some of the 2,000 species of flora and nearly 400 species of wildlife in these pictu.