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34°4′N117°17′W / 34.067°N 117.283°W /34.067; -117.283

TheSan Bernardino Valley (Spanish:Valle de San Bernardino) is a valley inSouthern California located at the south base of theTransverse Ranges. It is bordered on the north by the easternSan Gabriel Mountains and theSan Bernardino Mountains; on the east by theSan Jacinto Mountains; on the south by theTemescal Mountains andSanta Ana Mountains; and on the west by thePomona Valley.^[1][2][3]Elevation varies from 590 feet (180 m) on valley floors nearChino to 1,380 feet (420 m) nearSan Bernardino andRedlands.^[4] The valley floor is home to over 80% of the more than 4 million people in theInland Empire region.^[3]

The San Bernardino Valley was originally inhabited byCalifornian Native Americans, including theSerrano,Cahuilla, andTongva tribes. TheMohave Trail, a trade route from the Mohave villages on the Colorado River that crossed theMojave Desert from spring to spring and then followed theMojave River upstream, entered the valley from the slopes ofMonument Peak in theSan Bernardino Mountains.

The Spanish missionaries established thePolitana rancheria in the valley in 1810, anestancia, or ranch outpost, ofMission San Gabriel Arcángel. It was built to grazecattle, and forIndian Reductions of theSerrano people andCahuilla people intoMission Indians. After being destroyed in a revolt, theestancia was later reestablished asSan Bernardino de Sena Estancia in 1830. It is now aCalifornia Historical Landmark and museum in Redlands.

From 1829, theOld Spanish Trail fromNew Mexico toAlta California was established and entered the valley throughCrowder Canyon and the lower canyon ofCajon Pass.

In 1841, GovernorJuan B. Alvarado ofAlta California issued aMexican land grant forRancho San Bernardino, which included most of the San Bernardino Valley, toJosé del Carmen Lugo,José Maria Lugo,Vincente Lugo, and their cousinJose Diego Sepulveda. Included were all of the originalestencia buildings: the chapel, atilekiln, alimekiln, and agrist mill.

By offering land, José Maria Lugo convinced a group of settlers fromAbiquiu, New Mexico to settle on his rancho at Politania and defend against Indian raiders and outlaws preying on the herds of the Ranchos in Southern California. These emigrants first colonized Politana on the Rancho San Bernardino in 1842. Don Lorenzo Trujillo brought the first colony of settlers from New Mexico to settle on land provided by the Lugos about one half mile south of the Indian village of La Politana. Later they moved to found a new village known as "La Placita de los Trujillos", later calledLa Placita on the south side of theSanta Ana River.

American settlers in the region included soldiers from theMormon Battalion in 1847, after theCalifornia Campaign of theMexican–American War was won by the U.S.^[5] In 1851, the Lugo family sold Rancho San Bernardino to a group of almost 500 members of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) led by Captain David Seely (later firstStake President), CaptainJefferson Hunt, and Captain Andrew Lytle, and also included ApostlesAmasa M. Lyman andCharles C. Rich.

Panorama of the San Bernardino Valley in 1909.

The San Bernardino Valley owes its existence to the convergence of several mountain ranges that feed into theSanta Ana River basin. This basin ultimately channels water to thePacific Ocean viaRiverside andOrange County.^[6] The valley connects several open space natural areas, mountains, and valley vistas. The San Bernardino Valley is surrounded bynature preserves,national forests, and recreational areas. Many people travel through the valley for a variety of outdoor mountain sports, including skiing, hiking, biking, and ballooning—in the mountain resorts ofCrestline,Lake Arrowhead andBig Bear City.

Once part ofU.S. Route 66, the San Bernardino Valley is now crossed by two Interstates.Interstate 15 enters the valley from the south, and exits on the north overCajon Pass to theMojave Desert.Interstate 10 enters the valley fromPomona in the west, and exits on the east overSan Gorgonio Pass to theColorado Desert andCoachella Valley.

Joan Didion, in her essay "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream," describes the San Bernardino Valley as "...in certain ways an alien place: not the coastal California of the subtropical twilights and the soft westerlies of the Pacific but a harsher California, haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains, devastated by the hot dry Santa Ana wind that comes down through the passes at 100 miles an hour and works on the nerves."^[7]

The San Bernardino Valley encompasses one of twodrainage basins of theSanta Ana River, theInland Santa Ana Basin.^[8] Underneath the surface area of this drainage basin, which takes excess rainwater out of the valley, are several largeground water sub-basins, underlain by the impermeable granitic rock of thePerris Block, which capture water inaquifers underground. Designated ground water sub-basins include: Chino, Rialto-Colton, Riverside-Arlington, San Bernardino (Bunker Hill), Yucaipa and San Timoteo.^[9] The San Bernardino or Bunker Hill basin is bounded on the northeast by theSan Bernardino Mountains, northwest by theSan Gabriel Mountains, southwest by theSan Timoteo badlands, and southeast by theCrafton Hills.^[10][11][12]

TheSan Andreas Fault andSan Jacinto Fault zones enter the valley along the San Bernardino Mountains and San Jacinto Mountains, respectively. The two fault lines converge to less than 10 km apart in the city of San Bernardino, and less than 3 km in the northwestern part of the basin near theCajon Pass.^[10][13]

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The climate isMediterranean with cool-to-cold, wet, and in some cases snowy winters, and dry, hot summers. Usually the areas north of Interstate 210 and east of Interstate 215 see colder weather in the winter with occasional snowfall.Sage scrub and theYucca plant are the predominant natural vegetation along washes and uplands; it intergrades withchaparral at elevations of 600 to 700 meters. Other vegetation consists of a patchwork ofgrasslands, riparian woodlands, andmixed hardwood forests, which border the valley in the mountains on the north and east.^[4] TheSanta Ana winds blow into the valley from theCajon Pass, which exits the valley's north end between the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. At times, the seasonalSanta Ana winds are felt particularly strongly in the San Bernardino area as warm and dry air is channeled through nearbyCajon Pass during the autumn months. This phenomenon markedly increases the wildfire danger in the foothill, canyon, and mountain communities, which the cycle of cold, wet winters and dry summers helps create.

The Route 66 Rendezvous indowntown San Bernardino attracts about half a million people annually from all over the world to watch California's largest classical car show.^[15] Although not in the valley, theSan Bernardino Mountains attract a significant amount of tourism to the valley as people drive up to the local resorts, especially in the winter months. A famous ski resort in the area isBig Bear. Other famous mountain communities with large amounts of tourism includeLake Arrowhead,Big Bear Lake, andCrestline.

National forests surrounding the high valley include theCleveland National Forest and theSan Bernardino National Forest.^[16]

Despite a significant number of the cities and towns being "bedroom communities" with residents commuting to nearby Los Angeles or Orange counties for work, the San Bernardino Valley is an important transportation center to the state and country. Located approximately 70 miles east of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a high percentage of goods destined for the rest of the country as well as items on their way out to the world pass through the valley, most of it on trains or trucks. BothUnion Pacific andBNSF have tracks that run through the valley. In addition, BNSF has an intermodal transfer facility in San Bernardino. The valley is also crossed by two majorinterstates and their auxiliaries. Additionally, the communities in the mountains north of the valley are served by several state highways. Mass transit trains and buses both serve the valley. Also, goods and people movement by air is available via two commercial international airports as well as several general aviation air fields. The Greater San Bernardino Area, along with the rest of the Inland Empire, is ranked byForbes magazine as one of the American's unhealthiest commutes.^[17]

Although a high percentage of valley residents drive their own cars, there are several available options for mass transit. The largest bus agency in the Greater San Bernardino area isOmnitrans, which covers virtually the entire valley.^[18] The Omni lines also meet lines forFoothill Transit andRiverside Transit Agency buses, providing connectivity to Riverside County and Los Angeles County.

The area is also served byMetrolink'sSan Bernardino Line and theInland Empire–Orange County Line. These lines lead to the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. It hasAmtrak service atSan Bernardino Santa Fe Depot andOntario station (Amtrak).

The two main railroads in the valley areUnion Pacific (UP) andBNSF. Both have extensive yards in the valley and it is an important area for national movement of goods. UP tracks enter the valley from the south alongside the BNSF tracks in Colton/Grand Terrace. They then continue north until theColton Crossing, where they then turn east. Union Pacific also has a second set of tracks that were theSouthern Pacific tracks until they took over SP. These tracks enter the valley from the west through Ontario, passing alongsideI-10 until Loma Linda, where they turn and exit the valley to the southeast. The BNSF track enters the valley from the south by Colton/Grand Terrace as well, but continues north at the Colton Crossing. It then enters the intermodal and car transfer yards, where it turns east for about one mile. It then turns north again, running alongside I-215 until it meets I-15 inDevore and exits the valley via the Cajon Pass. Union Pacific also has a line that exits the valley through the pass. The Colton Crossing, located inColton, is the point where the tracks of the two companies cross.

The San Bernardino Valley is served by two major commercial airports.

• Santa Ana Valley
• Inland Empire
• Greater Los Angeles Area
• Southern California

• Valleys of San Bernardino County, California
• Inland Empire
• Geography of San Bernardino, California
• Colton, California
• Fontana, California
• Redlands, California
• Rialto, California
• Geology of San Bernardino County, California
• Regions of California
• Valleys of California

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