New Forest Center at Big Bear Lake

A $1.2-million tourist information center for the San Bernardino National Forest, with exhibits, an auditorium, outdoor amphitheater and a store selling outdoor clothing and books, opened this weekend on the north shore of Big Bear Lake.

For tourists, “it’s a huge step up” from the Big Bear Ranger Station, about a quarter-mile away, which formerly served as the tourist center, said Lisa Knaggs, the center’s assistant director.

The center is a partnership between the forest and the nonprofit, private San Bernardino National Forest Assn. Although entrance is free, and there are free maps and programs, the center will charge for some of its programs, which will include canoe tours, hiking and star-gazing, Knaggs said. The center is on California Highway 38, 1 1/4 miles west of the Stanfield cutoff; its phone is the same as the ranger station: (909) 866-3437.