Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa

Overview

High above the frenzied pace of the city, Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa is situated at an elevation of 5,106 feet in the San Bernardino National Forest along the shores of picturesque Lake Arrowhead, with plenty of fresh air and clear-blue sky.

In the late 1800's, a small band of businessmen from Cincinnati, Ohio, including James Gamble of Proctor & Gamble, bought most of the acreage in the valley and surrounding hills with the intention of building a dam to supply water and power to the orange growers in the San Bernardino Valley. They began construction of a concrete core dam and adjacent tunnels in 1893, just as the country plunged into a four-year depression.

By the early 1900's, several lawsuits had been filed against the project. Soon after, the Cincinnati industrialists lost interest and sold to another consortium headed by J.B. Van Nuys who finished the dam. They also conceived the idea of building an upscale resort and a Normandy Village.