Bear Valley, CA…We are less than 3 weeks away from Hermitfest West and we have some exciting news! You can now get involved in this annual 15th annual FREE music festival by becoming a volunteer. The Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway Association (EPSBA) is excited to invite you to join us for our 15th annual celebration on the pass, fondly known as Hermitfest. This year we will again be celebrating in the ballfield at Bear Valley with an all-day music festival on Saturday, September 9th, 2023, from noon-8 pm (but you know the music will likely continue on a bit later).

Thank you again to last year’s event sponsors, Cedar Creek Realty & Dignity Health/Mark Twain Medical Center, as well as the US Forest Service, Alpine County, the community of Bear Valley and all the other sponsors, entertainers, and volunteers, for helping us make our 2022 year a success.

The event will continue to be free to attend in 2023, thanks to the generous donations of our sponsors and the tireless efforts of the board and volunteers of the Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway Association. (You can see a full list of last year’s sponsors and activities below.)

We’ll be expanding our vendor area this year with more of everything. If you are an artisan maker, food vendor, or family-friendly entertainer (our music lineup is already set for this year), please download our vendor form or contact one of our vendor coordinators to see if you’d be a good fit for our event. Our vendor space is limited, so we’ll look for a variety of unique, handmade, local, and not-so-local items. Feel free to text or email Alex or Christen to discuss your ideas.

As a reminder, alcohol sales are not permitted, and no mass-produced or Hermitfest-branded items will be allowed for sale by vendors except by prior special arrangement with the Byway Association.

2023 Hermitfest Vendor Application – 06.01.2023

If you’d like to contribute funds to help make this event happen, download our sponsor form or head over to PayPal and make a donation of any size. We do have some surprises planned for our donors this year.

2023 Hermitfest Sponsorship Form 05.09.2023

We’ll post updates throughout the summer and hope you can join us in September. Feel free to email us with any questions or ideas you’d like to share or offers to volunteer. We’ll post an online signup about six weeks before the event to sign up for a slot, but we welcome your ideas anytime.

2022 Event Details for Reference

We invite all live music and Ebbetts Pass fans to “Come Play on the Pass” with us and enjoy one of the year’s last free, outdoor, live music events. The centerpiece of our celebration will again be our day-long, live music event at the Ball Field in Bear Valley, which we’ll be referring to as “Hermitfest West.” Visitors should consider making a weekend of it and check out the entire Scenic Byway from Arnold to Markleeville. This is a family-friendly event, and we welcome your children, but please keep the little ones in your sight.

Hermitfest – Grover Anderson with Jimbo Scott
Forest Service camping is available in the area with limited spaces directly adjacent to the ballfield. You’ll want to get there early to be near all the action. Additional camping is available at Lake Alpine, Big Meadow, Silvertip, Spicer, Pacific Valley, and Hermit Valley. Glamping is available at the Bear Valley Ski Resort, and the Lodge in Bear Valley will offer our attendees a special price. Some vacation rentals may also be available in the area. You may also consider lodging and vacation rentals in the Arnold area. Please respect the guidelines of your hosts whether you are camping or taking advantage of lodging opportunities by leaving the area and the forest cleaner than you found it. Given the dry conditions, we encourage you to skip the campfire this year.

Additional information on Forest Service campgrounds and restrictions is available here and here. They’ve asked us to remind you to camp at least 100′ from trails and high water lines of creeks.

While we welcome your well-socialized dogs, please keep them on a six-foot leash and do not leave them unattended.

If you are approaching the event site from the east, stop by the Alpine County Chamber of Commerce offices in downtown Markleeville where they will have maps, cold drinks, and lots of information about things to do over the weekend. On the Arnold side, you may want to visit the Logging Museum, hike a portion of the Rim Trail, or stop at Calaveras Big Trees State Park to admire the Giant Sequoias. The pools at Grover Hot Springs State Park, outside Markleeville, willbe closed again this year. 530-694-2248.

Bear Valley is located on Highway 4 in the Stanislaus National Forest at about the 7100-foot elevation, about 25 miles east of Arnold, CA, and about 36 miles west of Markleeville. If you haven’t driven the pass before, remember that we are a scenic byway for good reason. If you are approaching from the east, the higher elevation portion of Highway 4 between Silver Creek on the east and Lake Alpine on the west is narrow, twisty, and steep, with many opportunities to get out of your car and take a closer look. The route over the top is not recommended for large RVs or trailers. If you are approaching from the west, there are no restrictions.

Ebbetts Pass was honored with National Scenic Byway status in 2005. It is one of only eight nationally-designated byways in California. The Ebbetts Pass Byway Association is a non-profit organization tasked with preserving, enhancing, and promoting the unique resources of the byway. The EPSBA developed a guidebook for the area, which is available on our website for those who want to know more about the history, geology, wildlife, and recreation available in the area or purchase one along with your event t-shirt during the festival.

This event is made possible by the generous support of our event partners and sponsors, so make sure to visit them and let them know you appreciate their support of this event.

Our 2022 partners and sponsors include:

The USFS, County of Alpine, & Bear Valley Community
Cedar Creek Realty & Dignity Health – Mark Twain Medical Center

Cal-Waste
The Orman Family
Bear Valley Business Association
Beci Electric
Glen Bradley
Phil Davis
Bear Valley Lodge
Bear Valley Real Estate
Paul & Debbie Bertini / Bertini Plumbing / PD Builders
Hibernation Stoves & Spas
Little Trees Wellness
Corcoran Global Living
Fox Security
Merita Callaway / Michelle Plotnik
(Calaveras County District 3 Supervisor & Planning Commissioner)
Bear Valley Adventure Company

We also want to thank Lilyana Bone who created the poster and artwork for this year’s event.

For more information about Hermit Valley, visit:

www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/stanislaus/recarea/
www.ebbettspassadventures.com/lodging/hermit_valley_camping
www.facebook.com/pages/Hermit-Valley
www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content/hermit-valley
www.californiajeeper.com/deerval/review

This event takes place on National Forest Service land when in Hermit Valley, adjacent to Forest Service land when in Bear Valley, and operates under a special use permit when in the Stanislaus National Forest.