Glen Helen Regional Park

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Coordinates: 34°12′22″N 117°24′20″W / 34.2062°N 117.4055°W / 34.2062; -117.4055
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Glen Helen
Sycamore Grove Marker
LocationSan Bernardino, California
Coordinates34°12′22″N 117°24′20″W / 34.2062°N 117.4055°W / 34.2062; -117.4055
Built1851
DesignatedApril 1, 1957
Reference no.573
Glen Helen Regional Park is located in California
Glen Helen Regional Park
Location of Glen Helen in California
Glen Helen Regional Park Location of Sycamore Grove 2

Glen Helen Regional Park is a

Glen Helen Amphitheater, the largest outdoor amphitheater in the United States.[2]
The park also hosts several off-road races since 1985.

Sycamore Grove

Glen Helen Regional Park is the site of

Monument Peak, descending into Cajon Canyon on the ridge between Cable Canyon and Devil Canyon. This route was used by Father Francisco Garcés in March 1776 and Jedediah Smith in 1826.[3]

Sycamore Grove, named by the 1851 Mormon colonists, later called Martin's Ranch, Sycamore Valley Ranch, and Glen Helen Ranch, was a rest and water spot at the bottom of

Mission San Gabriel.[4] Sycamore Grove also lay within the boundaries of the 1843 Rancho Muscupiabe
land grant.

From 1848, Sycamore Grove served as a stop on the Mormon Road, a wagon road between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. In 1850, David W. Cheesman, a lawyer heading west to California with his family from Indiana on the Mormon Road, described what became Sycamore Grove:

"... this was the most beautiful spot; a small valley dotted with large sycamores and clover nearly waist high."

For several months in 1851 the grove was the camp for the Mormon colonists who were negotiating the purchase of the

San Bernardino.[5]

History

In 1847, the wagon road known as the Mormon Road, between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, was pioneered by a party of Mormons under Captain

Sierra Nevada
in winter.

Between June and September 1851, Sycamore Grove was the first camp of the parties of Mormon colonists, who founded the city of San Bernardino. They included groups led by Captain Jefferson Hunt, Amasa Lyman, Charles C. Rich, David Seely, and Andrew Lytle.[4]

California Historical Landmark Marker

Sycamore Grove California Historical Mark at the site reads:

  • This campsite on both the Mojave Trail over the mountains and the Cajon Pass Route was probably first seen by Spanish and American travellers in the 1770s and was noted by them in 1806, 1849 and 1850. Michael White, grantee in 1843 of the Muscupiabe Rancho lived near by. The Mormon colony camped in 1851 on either side of this little pass for about four months while Amasa Lyman, Charles Rich, Jefferson Hunt, David Seely and Andrew Lytle negotiated the purchase of the San Bernardino Rancho from the Lugo family. Erected 1972 by San Bernardino Society of California Pioneers in 1927 at a site .08 mile south, moved and rededicated here at Glen Helen Regional Park by the Society and Lugonia Parlors No. 241 N.D.G.W. (Marker Number 573.)[6]

Motorsport

Glen Helen has hosted off-road races since 1985. Its motocross track is known for its steep hills, jumps and banking. It hosted a round of the AMA Motocross Championship in 1993, later from 1996 to 2009, and from 2014 to 2018. It is typically held in May, originally on Mother's Day and currently on Memorial Day, except from 2004 to 2007, when it held in mid September as the final round.

Glen Helen has hosted a round of the

Nitro Rallycross and Great American Shortcourse since their inaugural seasons in 2021.[7][8]

From November 30 to December 2, 2018, Glen Helen hosted the Robby Gordon Off-Road World Championships, overseen by Gordon's Stadium Super Trucks series. In addition to SST, motocross and other off-road vehicles participated.[9]

AMA 450cc four-stroke (formerly 250cc two-stroke) Motocross Championship race winners
Year Rider Motorcycle
1993 Mike LaRocco Kawasaki
1996 Jeremy McGrath Honda
1997 Jeff Emig Kawasaki
1998
Mickael Pichon
 Suzuki
1999
Sebastien Tortelli
 Honda
2000 Ricky Carmichael Kawasaki
2001 Tim Ferry Yamaha
2002 Ricky Carmichael Honda
2003 Ricky Carmichael Honda
2004 Ricky Carmichael Honda
2005 Ricky Carmichael Suzuki
2006 James Stewart Jr. Kawasaki
2007 Grant Langston Yamaha
2008 James Stewart Jr. Kawasaki
2009 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki
2014 Ryan Dungey KTM
2015 Eli Tomac Honda
2016 Ken Roczen Suzuki
2017 Marvin Musquin KTM
2018 Eli Tomac Kawasaki

References

  1. San Bernardino County
    . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  2. ^ "Glen Helen Regional Park". Cms.sbcounty.gov. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  3. Monument Peak
    .
  4. ^ a b California Historical Landmark NO. 573 SYCAMORE GROVE - Sycamore V alley ranch, formerly called Sycamore Grove, was first camp of the Mormon pioneers. Captain Jefferson Hunt, Amasa Lyman, Charles C. Rich, David Seely, and Andrew Lytle stopped here in June 1851. Location: Glen Helen Regional Park, 2555 Devore Rd, 0.7 mi W of Devore. Office of Historic Preservation, website ohp.parks.ca.gov accessed September 11, 2015
  5. ^ [ David W. Cheesman, "By Ox Team from Salt Lake to Los Angeles," Historical Society of Southern California Annual Publication (1930): 293-94, 301-302]
  6. ^ Marker Database Sycamore Grove
  7. ^ "Nitro Rallycross will be coming to Glen Helen Raceway". Fontana Herald News. November 18, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  8. ^ Olsewski, Steven. "Great American Short Course Hits Glen Helen". Off-Road Assassin. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  9. ^ Ochsner, Shaun (September 4, 2018). "Massive Payout for Inaugural Robby Gordon Off-Road Championships at Glen Helen". Four Wheeler. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
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