Wrightwood and the adjacent Big Pines Recreation Area in the San Gabriel Mountains are celebrating their 100-year anniversary this year.
It was part proximity, and part coincidence the mountain community and the adjacent recreation area came to share the same birthday, but Big Pines got things started.
Big Pines is perched at the crest of Swarthout Valley and is spread across the two pine-covered mountain ridges that form the valley. The valley’s higher southern ridge became known as “Blue Ridge.”
In 1920, L.A. County Board of Supervisors Chairman Reuben F. McClellan was developing an idea for a four-season public park, and he sold the concept to his fellow supervisors by personally giving them tours of the forest in the upper Swarthout Valley.
The new park became a reality in June 1922, when L.A. County purchased 560 acres of private land at Big Pines, for $62,000. Some descriptions say the purchase was up to 760 acres.
The Aug. 10, 1924, issue of the Los Angeles Times carried a full page of articles, photos, and maps of the park, and declared “New Mountain Paradise is Ready to be Invaded.”
A new road from Palmdale to Big Pines was completed and dedicated July 22, 1924.
In 1925, 5,000 acres of adjacent U.S. Forest Service land was transferred to L.A. County’s jurisdiction to become part of the Big Pines public park.
Over the next several years, significant facilities were built and improvements were made at Big Pines, making it the most complete four-season public park in the region, and the crown jewel of the L.A. County Park system.
The county built a large, two-story recreation hall at the crest of Swarthout Valley that served as the center of activity. The rustic wooden structure still stands today and is used by the U.S. Forest Service as a visitors’ center.
Facilities at Big Pines included a lodge, a swimming pool, rental cabins, a zoo, and extensive campsites that included more than 447 outdoor cooking ranges and fire rings. Nearby Jackson Lake was improved and used for swimming, boating, and winter ice skating.
Winter facilities included an ice-skating rink, ski trails, and a large professional ski jump built in 1929 at Blue Ridge, in hopes of luring the 1932 Winter Olympics. The Olympic Committee rejected Big Pines in favor of the more developed winter sports facilities at Lake Placid, New York.
In 1926, the county completed the Davidson Arch, a rustic stone archway that spanned the highway at the crest of the Swarthout Valley, at the recreation hall. The arch was removed around 1950, but the north tower section still remains at the recreation hall today.
A rope-tow ski facility was built at Big Pines on Table Mountain in 1937, and that same year, L.A. County turned over operations of ski facilities at nearby Blue Ridge to private operators.
In the 1949-’50 season, Holiday Hill Ski Resort opened just east of Blue Ridge, creating the third ski resort at Big Pines.
Today, the three are operated by Mountain High Resorts, and they offer state-of-the-art lifts, ski and snowboard runs, snowmaking equipment, and guest facilities. Table Mountain has become Mountain High North, Blue Ridge is Mountain High West, and Holiday Hill is Mountain High East.
The Great Depression and World War II dramatically reduced funding for the Los Angeles County public parks, and in July 1941, the county turned over operation of Big Pines Park to the U.S. Forest Service.
The Forest Service began closing and removing facilities, and most of the land was returned to its natural state.
The Big Pines Recreation Hall and the north tower stand today as reminders of the remarkable facilities of Big Pines Park. The scenery and facilities at Big Pines continue to attract thousands of visitors each year.
Wrightwood origins
In 1890, Sumner Wright established a modest 40-acre ranch in Swarthout Valley, and by 1895, his operation expanded to about 3,300 acres. Wright raised cattle and planted apple orchards on the ranch, about 3 miles southeast of the future site of Big Pines Park.
In 1906, Wright and his wife Kate built a spacious ranch house and several guest cottages near a small pond that became known as Wright Lake.
The Wright Ranch fell on hard times, and in 1919 the family had to sell their cattle business. Wrights’ financial troubles continued through the early 1920s when severe frosts destroyed large portions of apple crops.
Faced with potential financial ruin in 1924, Wright joined a group of Los Angeles real estate investors and began subdividing his ranch property into residential lots.
Many of the lots within the subdivision were only 20 feet wide, providing buyers with an affordable way to own a piece of land that could be used as a private campsite. In later years, the tiny lots were combined into larger lots that could accommodate a cabin.
The community of Wrightwood was born in 1924 out of financial necessity, and it was fittingly named after the mountain patriarch who began developing the valley.
The extensive development underway at nearby Big Pines coupled with the new and improved roads to the area helped lay the foundation for Wrightwood’s development.
Aggressive advertising extolled the benefits of clean mountain living “in the Kingdom of Four Seasons at Wrightwood Mountains.” Lot sales boomed, and by 1930, Wrightwood was a thriving new mountain community.
The community was designed around a central “village” that would be the heart of the town, with businesses that catered to residents and visitors.
Today, the unincorporated community of Wrightwood is a quaint, thriving, year-round mountain resort town that doubles as a bedroom community to larger cities in the area.
The town has lodging, restaurants, shops, markets, and more with a population of about 4,500 people, according to 2020 census data.
For more information on Wrightwood and Big Pines, visit the Wrightwood Historical Society website
Mark Landis is a freelance writer. He can be reached at Historyinca@yahoo.com.
