YEAR: 2025

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: November

DATE: 24

STATE: California

COUNTY: San Bernardino County

LOCATION DETAILS: 34.26500046, -117.63100082

NEAREST TOWN: Mt. Baldly - Manker Flats Campground

NEAREST ROAD: Mt Baldy Road

OBSERVED: I was with my son (15) and two nephews (14 & 17). We went up to Mt Baldy to camp. My son wanted to check it out and it was closer than Big Bear, where we usually camp. We arrived at the campsite at about 8:30 pm. Itt was dark the whole drive up the mountain. We arrived at the campground and it was deserted except for two tent sites. We chose a site nearest to the bathrooms and set up camp. The boys found the least sloping spot, cleared it of rocks and stones and pitched the tent. Had a fire, listened to the coyotes which was scary in a campfire story sort of way, not frightening.

We went in the tent and lay there awake listening as the coyotes came into the campgrounds until one of the campers set off a car alarm to scare them away, then we went to sleep.

At 3:30 AM I was woken up by the sound of rocks hitting the ground. Like 10 - 15 rocks hitting the ground from being thrown from a distance and then rolling a ways towards us. Not pebbles, it sounded like substantial rocks. They were hitting the ground on the side where our heads were against the tent wall then rolling towards us but never hitting the tent. That scared me and I stayed motionless wondering if this was a rockslide (no too close) and thinking we must be on a really sloped site and somehow they were rolling towards us (near walking by and dislodging them?) & trying all the scenarios that would cause this until it stopped. Eventually we went back to sleep.

In the morning my son mentioned it and my oldest nephew had heard it also. We went outside and found about 8 rocks, baseball to softball sized, roundish that were 4 to 10 feet from the tent. They were dry on the bottom as opposed to the other rocks that were wet in the bottom, indicating they were new as opposed to those that had been there a while. Also the ground had been cleared of rocks for the tent.

My nephew and I tried to replicate the way the rocks hit the ground and rolled but we couldn’t throw hard enough to replicate it. There wasn’t enough slope for the rocks to roll which led me to believe they had to be thrown from a distance with some force to cause them to hit the ground and then roll. Also there had to be some sort of expertise in the way the rocks rolled and got close but didn’t hit the tent.

I didn’t make a lot of the whole incident since I had three kids with me and since I am the mom and aunty - adult in charge - I didn’t want them to feel uneasy. We went up to the snow resort that morning and I asked the older gentleman who was directing the parking lot traffic “I’m staying in the campground down the road - is it safe?” He gave me a weird look and said “If I told you it was safe, then what would happen?” That creeped all of us out and we went back, packed up and drove to Holcomb Valley in Big Bear where there was snow and we were the only ones at the campground, but I felt no weird vibes there.

We camp often a lot of dispersed camping in the Holcom Valley and up at Mammoth also. We have had bears come thru at midnight at Coldwater creek in Mammoth (rip Victor) and test the bearbox, found mountain lion tracks outside the tent in themorning while off road dispersed camping in Holcomb Valley, cracked our windshield from frost at Silverwood Lake campground so we have had our share of excitement as we do this often but never had such a weird experience as Mt Baldy. The vibe was palpable from the start.

ALSO NOTICED: On the drive up there was a blue light off the road that looked like about a half a mile into the forest. The kids noticed it, thought it weird and I said probably a cabin. We heard a gunshot at around 10:00. We heard coyotes howling for about an hour from about 10:45 - 11:30. I recorded some but there was a long howl that didn’t fit but we thought nothing of it until the rock incident. I don’t think I recorded that. It was a bit after most died down. The whole place had a weird vibe that I chalked up to being too close to town (Claremont)and thinking about crime.

OTHER WITNESSES: Four people were in the tent. Two heard it- woke us up from sleeping.

OTHER STORIES: No. Not until after I told this story to my sister, then she started sending me Mt Baldy Bigfoot story links.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 3:30 AM. Pitch black.

ENVIRONMENT: Pine forest , deserted campground.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net

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