Bluff Lake Reserve

Located at 7,600 feet, Bluff Lake Reserve; with its towering pines, 25-acre lake and meadow; is arguably the most beautiful mountain property in southern California. The reserve includes southern California's finest intact mountain marsh and meadow complex that has the federally threatened Bear Valley Bluegrass (Poa atropurpurea) and the federally endangered Big Bear Checkerbloom (Sidalcea pedata) and California dandelion (Taraxacum californicum). Mature forests of lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine, and white fir surround the meadow. If you feel like you have seen this scenery before, it was the location of the original Disney movie Parent Trap.

After acquiring this preserve in 2000, The Wildlands Conservancy (TWC) drained the lake to kill non-native catfish in order to restore the native aquatic systems. TWC also restored the meadow, removing buildings and horse fencing, and taught children the difference between the native and non-native dandelion in order to remove the non-native invasive that was hybridizing with the native federally endangered dandelion. The meadow is replete with native wildflowers and butterflies in early summer.