ABOUT

Angelus Oaks is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States, and has a population of 190 as of 2010, down from an estimated population of 535 in 2000. It is surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest and located northeast of Redlands on California State Route 38.

History

Angelus Oaks was initially called Camp Angelus. In 1849 there was a big gold strike in Holcomb Valley near the town of Big Bear. The only way to get supplies in and the gold out was by mule trains. The mule train traveled up the Santa Ana River stopping overnight in Seven Oaks and then took the old switch back trail (still visible on the mountain across from the Angelus Oaks Lodge) up to the gold fields. Eventually, a wagon road was built to replace the mule skinner trail. In the late 1870s, cattle rustlers, operating out of San Bernardino, would bring their stolen herds up to Angelus Oaks to hide them. Due to the configuration of the opening of the mountain down by the Ranger Station, the opening to the canyon was not visible to posses passing by searching for the stolen herds.