Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saucemaster 
Go up to Big Bear for a day or something. They should have snow right now, shouldn't they?
Rye (or anyone else), for getting away from LA to see some trees and snow I'd recommend Green Valley Lake. It's very close to Big Bear and Arrowhead (actually about 20-30 minutes closer if you're driving from LA), but much less developed. I've always liked Big Bear, but these days it has tons of traffic lights, an AM/PM, etc.
GVL is a tiny little community around a small lake. The commercial section of "town" consists of one general store, one pizza place, and a real estate office, all near the boat rental shack. It's very quiet, and you can walk up into the state park. To me, it feels much more like "getting away". Very beautiful in the snow.
It's also nice when the weather is warmer. The lake (which is stocked, for those who like to fish) is small. I'm bad at these sorts of estimates, but I'd guess it's no more than a mile or mile-and-a-half across at the widest point. No motorized craft are allowed on the lake, so it's clean and quiet. You can rent a row boat or one of those little pedal boats.
Here's a pic (off the internet, not taken by me) of the lake in winter:
