Forest Falls, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Forest Falls, California
Unincorporated community
Forest Falls welcome sign
Forest Falls, California Location in California Show map of California Forest Falls, California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	California
County	San Bernardino
Area
• Total	22.4 sq mi (58.1 km2)
Elevation	5,700 ft (1,700 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	1,102
• Density	49.13/sq mi (18.967/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	92339

Forest Falls is a small mountain community in San Bernardino County, California. It's about 75 miles (121 km) east of Los Angeles. This area is not officially a city, but a "community" with its own identity.

About 1,102 people live here in 712 houses. Forest Falls is famous for its beautiful waterfalls on Vivian and Falls creeks. It's also a popular spot for outdoor fun in the San Bernardino National Forest. Many people visit the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area, which is just north of the community.

A Look Back: Forest Falls History

Forest Falls has a long and interesting past. It started with Native American tribes. Later, settlers came and built mills and resorts.

Early People and First Settlers

The first people known to live in this area were the Yuhaaviatam. They were a Native American tribe. Spaniards later called them "Serranos," which means "mountaineers."

These local groups spent their summers in the cool canyon. They would hunt, fish, and gather food. In autumn, they returned to warmer valleys. They gathered acorns, which were a very important food for them.

The first American settlement began in 1853. Mormon settlers built a sawmill here. David Frederick and his wife Mary Ann were the first people to live and manage the mill all year round. They stayed from 1854 to 1858.

Mining for Riches

In 1888, people found marble and onyx in the canyon. This led to the growth of a town called Burris Camp. George Burris found a huge vein of beautiful marble in 1904. It was white, pink, blue, and green.

At its busiest, the Burris quarry had a thousand workers. They cut and moved the stone to Los Angeles. They used a small railway and ox carts. But the marble started to crack before the 1920s. After that, they quarried limestone until the 1940s.

Resorts and Community Growth

In 1897, Richard Jackson started the Forest Home Resort. He brought guests by stagecoach from the train in Redlands. His brother-in-law, Thomas Akers, bought it and made it bigger.

The Forest Home Resort changed owners several times. In 1938, Dr. Henrietta Mears bought it. It became the Forest Home Christian Conference Center.

In 1920, a banker named N.L. Levering bought a large piece of land. He divided it into 700 lots for homes. He called this area the Valley of the Falls Tract. By 1930, four more resorts opened nearby. These included Big Falls Lodge and Big Pine Resort.

Forest Home had its own post office. But in 1929, Mrs. James A. Roulette opened another one. It was called the Fallsvale post office. In 1960, these two post offices joined. This created the new name "Forest Falls" for the whole community.

Where is Forest Falls?

Forest Falls is located in the San Bernardino Mountains in California. It sits at elevations from about 5,000 feet (1,524 m) to 6,000 feet (1,829 m). It's along the steep Mill Creek. Mill Creek flows into the Santa Ana River.

The community is about 75 miles (121 km) east of Los Angeles. It's also 21 miles (34 km) from San Bernardino. San Bernardino is the closest big city. Forest Falls stretches for about 5 miles (8 km) along the narrow canyon of Mill Creek. The highest parts of the San Bernardino Mountains are just north of Forest Falls. This includes San Gorgonio Mountain, which is California's highest point. The famous waterfalls of Forest Falls come down from this high area.

The Land and Its Rocks

The rocks around Forest Falls are very old. They include gneiss, marble, and quartzite. There are also granite rocks. A small marble quarry used to operate nearby.

The canyon where Forest Falls is located follows the Mill Creek Fault. This fault is part of the San Andreas Fault system. It's not active anymore. The canyon itself was formed by Mill Creek eroding the broken rock along this fault.

The San Bernardino Mountains are young and steep. This means that erosion happens very quickly here. In Mill Creek Canyon, the land can erode by as much as 1,560 mm (61 inches) every 1,000 years.

Weather in Forest Falls

Forest Falls has a Mediterranean climate. This means most of its rain falls in the winter. Snow is also common during winter.

Temperatures are mild. Summers usually have highs in the 80s Fahrenheit (around 27-32 Celsius). Winters have lows in the 20s Fahrenheit (around -7 to -2 Celsius). Forest Falls gets more rain than the nearby valleys. It averages over 40 inches (1,016 mm) of precipitation each year.

Sometimes, summer thunderstorms happen, especially later in the season. The amount of snow depends on where you are in Forest Falls. The higher parts of the community get about twice as much snow. Snowfall varies, but sometimes it can be as much as six to seven feet (1.8-2.1 meters). Usually, it's around one to two feet (0.3-0.6 meters) throughout the winter.