Pilot Fire

Lake Gregory is a reservoir in the San Bernardino National Forest of the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California. The lake and the surrounding area make up the Lake Gregory Regional Park adjacent to Crestline, California. The area, originally known as Houston Flat, was developed by and named for its developer, Redlands citrus grower Arthur Gregory, Sr. Gregory bought and developed land in an area known today as Valley of the Moon. He erected a sawmill at Valley of the Moon to cut wood for crating his "Orange Blossom" brand of citrus fruit. Gregory was also instrumental in creating the Crest Forest County Water District (CFCWD), which, in turn, was necessary to acquire federal aid in order to develop the area. Although the lake is in Crestline proper, Crestline is not a part of the Crest Forest District, but rather the Crestline Water District, which purchases water from CFCWD. Work began in 1937 under a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant to dam the east and west forks of Houston Creek, whose waters drained into tributaries of the Mojave River, thereby "going to waste". The project was nearly completed by March 1938, but federal funds had run out. Gregory financed the completion of the project, lending money to the district for the completion. The eventual cost was US$225,000, of which US$160,000 came from the federal government, with the balance funded by the water district. Heavy rains that March put the dam to its first test. It had been estimated that it would take three years to fill the lake. So heavy were the rains that the lake filled in only three days. An unconfirmed, but plausible urban legend claims that the construction equipment left on the lake bed in 1938 during the rains remains at the bottom of the lake today. A road built over the dam (present-day Lake Drive) completed the project in January 1939. Today, the Lake Gregory Recreational Park with swimming and water slides is at the west end of the lake and a walking trail encircles the lake. The south shore of the lake is a popular fishing destination. The regional park is the site of Crestline's Independence Day celebration. The southeast shore is the site of the private beach and Tyrolean-styled clubhouse of the San Moritz Lodge, once known as Club San Moritz. The original club was built in the Valley of the Moon in 1926 along the shore of now-drained Moon Lake, today the site of Lake Gregory Community Church. A fire of suspicious origin destroyed the building in 1950 and the lake was drained in the early 1960s over increasing problems with mosquitoes. The new club, built along Lake Gregory in 1950, was intended to be a members-only resort and club for property owners in the area. Today, the only remaining buildings are the restaurant, used as the site of special events such as weddings, and a bathhouse, now used as a senior center. Private vessels and power boats are not allowed on Lake Gregory, although rowboats, paddle boards, pedal-powered "water trikes" and paddle boats are available for rental. The rowboats may be affixed with the renter's own electric trolling motor. From 2011 to 2013, the park experienced operating losses of $1.4 million. In 2014, the San Bernardino County partnered with The California Parks Company, now named Basecamp Hospitality, after six years of decline due to the flagging economy. In 2018, San Bernardino County put the concessionaire contract up for bid to find a new managing company for Lake Gregory. Basecamp Hospitality won the bid as the only concessionaire applying, but struggled to come to financial terms with the longterm contract and renewed a two-year agreement instead. In 2019, San Bernardino County ended its relationship with Basecamp Hospitality. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for Lake Gregory based on levels of mercury found in fish caught from this water body.

Twin Peaks is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States within the heart of the San Bernardino Mountains. California State Route 189 runs through the entire area before it reaches Lake Arrowhead. Twin Peaks has a post office with ZIP code 92391, which opened in 1916.

Summit Valley is a valley along SR 138 in the San Bernardino Mountains, east of Cajon Pass within San Bernardino County, California. Its mouth lies at an elevation of 3,048 feet (929 meters) west of the source of the Mojave River, at the confluence of the West Fork Mojave River and Deep Creek. The West Fork Mohave River descends from Silverwood Lake reservoir through the eastern part of Summit Valley to the confluence. The western half of Summit Valley narrows into what is called Horsethief Canyon, that reaches to the head of Summit Valley at 34°19′34″N 117°25′39″W, just east of the summit of Cajon Pass.

Deep Creek is a tributary of the Mojave River, 23.4 miles (37.7 km) long, in San Bernardino County, California.

West Fork Mojave River is a tributary stream of the Mojave River in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California. Its mouth lies at an elevation of 2,986 feet (910 meters) at its confluence with Deep Creek, together the source of the Mojave River. The source of the West Fork is at 34°15′52″N 117°24′01″W at an elevation of 4,960 feet, on the north side of a saddle between summits on a ridge running west northwest of Sugarpine Mountain. Sawpit Canyon Creek and East Fork of West Fork Mojave River are its tributaries, both of which now feed into Silverwood Lake that was created when the West Fork was obstructed by the Cedar Springs Dam in 1971.

Crestline is a census-designated place in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, USA. The population was 10,770 at the 2010 census, up from 10,218 at the 2000 census.

The Mojave Forks Dam, most often known as the Mojave River Dam, is an earth-fill dry dam across the Mojave River in San Bernardino County, California in the United States. Completed in 1974 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the dam is located at the confluence of the West Fork Mojave River and Deep Creek, and can store approximately 179,400 acre⋅ft (221,300,000 m3) of water.

Arrowhead Highlands is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California.

Blue Jay is an unincorporated community located in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the San Bernardino Mountains, above a region of California known as the Inland Empire. It is within the San Bernardino National Forest. Blue Jay Village itself is located one mile from the southwestern bank of Lake Arrowhead. The town is a part of the Lake Arrowhead Community. Other towns in this community are Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, Twin Peaks, Sky Forest, Agua Fria, and Cedar Glen.

Camp Seeley' was a United States Army World War II training camp near El Centro, California in the Imperial Valley. At Camp Seeley was: the Camp Seeley Combat Firing Range, Camp Seeley Ordnance Desert Proving Ground and Camp Seeley Ordnance Training Center. The 17,574 acres Camp Seeley was 10 miles northwest of the City of El Centro, near the city of Seeley, California. The town is named after Henry Seeley, a pioneer of the Imperial Valley. The camp was north of what is now California State Route 98. The tent camp, in the Yuha Desert, opened November 1940, first based at the camp was the 11th Cavalry Regiment, the troops and Army horse came from the Presidio of Monterey, California. At the camp the 11th Cavalry Regiment took part in desert training and teaching horses to swim across rivers with rider. 11th Cavalry Regiment moved to Camp Lockett at Campo, California in December 1941. The 11th and 28th Cavalry Regiment also trained at the camp, along with the 75th Horse Field Artillery Battalion. In 1942 Camp Seeley was converted to a US Army ordnance proving ground. While the camp is closed the area of Camp Seeley the home of the Historical "The Colonel's Own." 11th Cavalry Horse Honor Guard. The US Army Quartermaster Test Command opened the Desert Test Command Headquarters in March 1942 at Camp Seeley. The ordnance proving ground job was to test armed vehicles, tanks, and trucks and jeeps. Camp Seeley had sand terrain and high temperatures for these tests. Live fire tests were not done at Camp Seeley, as live fire test was done in the nearby vast Desert Training Center. The camp was transferred to the US Army Ordnance Department in August 1942, later renamed Ordnance Desert Proving Ground. The camp was closed on 18 April 1946 and returned to the Department of the Interior. The former camp is now run by the currently a Bureau of Land Management for off-road vehicle use.

Rimforest is an unincorporated community in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located along California State Route 18. Rimforest has a post office with ZIP code 92378, which opened in 1949. Rimforest was featured in a season 5 episode of Storage Wars.

East Fork of West Fork Mojave River is a tributary stream of the West Fork Mojave River, itself a tributary of the Mojave River, in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California. Its mouth originally was at its confluence with the West Fork Mojave River which is now submerged under Lake Silverwood. It now lies at an elevation of 3,376 feet/1,029 meters at its confluence with that lake. The source of the East Fork is at 34°15′11″N 117°14′24″W at an elevation of 5,500 feet in Twin Peaks, California.