California · Rock climbing · Big Bear Lake

Fisherman’s Boulders

Fisherman’s Boulders in California has 19 routes across 12 difficulty grades, offering bouldering pads, sport, and trad.

Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +), CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

19 routes

5.6 – 5.12a

Bouldering · Trad · Sport

Is Fisherman’s Boulders open right now?

Closure in the area

There's a closure order in Mountaintop Ranger District. It doesn't name Fisherman’s Boulders, so check the source for the area it covers.

Radford Fire Closure Area
Agency closure covering Mountaintop Ranger District · Order 05-12-52-24-06 · USFS · Mountaintop Ranger District
Safety Alert - Falling Rocks at Bonita Falls
Agency alert covering San Bernardino National Forest · USFS · San Bernardino National Forest
Fire Restrictions
Agency alert covering San Bernardino National Forest · Order 05-12-00-26-05 · USFS · San Bernardino National Forest

As of Oct 23, 8:00 pm PDT · Source: USFS · Mountaintop Ranger District. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Best time to visit Fisherman’s Boulders

Best months: May–October. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

Jan
46° / 24°
6 wet
Feb
46° / 24°
6 wet
Mar
51° / 27°
6 wet
Apr
57° / 31°
4 wet
May
66° / 37°
2 wet
Jun
75° / 43°
1 wet
Jul
80° / 50°
2 wet
Aug
79° / 49°
3 wet
Sep
73° / 44°
2 wet
Oct
63° / 35°
2 wet
Nov
53° / 28°
3 wet
Dec
46° / 24°
6 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Big Bear Lake, CA, 3 mi away at 6,753 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Fisherman's Boulders is a climbing area in the Mountaintop Ranger District of San Bernardino National Forest, managed by the Forest Service in California. It sits close to the Icebox Canyon and Upper Toetally Broken Buttress climbing areas, which are both about 0.1 mile away. The area offers a range of climbing styles, with 9 boulder routes and 5 each of sport and trad routes. Grades run from V1 to V4 on the V scale and from 5.6 to 5.12a on the YDS scale. Among the named routes are Lola's French Fry (5.6 trad), Three Fishes (5.10c trad) and Trouser Trout (5.12a sport). Summer and early fall are the warmest times to visit. Typical averages from a nearby weather station at Big Bear Lake show July highs around 80°F and September highs around 73°F, with lows in the mid-40s. Winter highs there hover near 46°F. Big Bear Lake, a lake fishing spot, is about 0.6 mile away, and the Castle Rock hike is about 0.4 mile off. Bluff Mesa Loop Trail and Bluff Mesa Group Camp are both about a mile away.