Frequently Asked Questions
2022 Additions
Q: Is the 1964 Agreement of Settlement and Compromise the sole determining factor of the “Arrowhead Woods Boundary?” A: YES. This historic document established the last and final Arrowhead Woods boundary, and finally gave ALL property owners within the Arrowhead Woods equal Lake Rights and privileges to the two lakes, lake strips, ingress/egress on access trails, boat ramp, boating, fishing, swimming, bathing, and all amenities thereof, without a mandatory membership.
Q: Is it true that the Arrowhead Lake Association (ALA) fees and membership are voluntary and not required? A: YES. Membership is not required, and has never been required to enjoy Lake Rights. However, only property owners within the Arrowhead Woods can become members–if they want to. Membership of any kind is not compulsory for any property owner within the Arrowhead Woods to enjoy their Lake Rights.
Q: Is the land and access trails surrounding Lake Arrowhead (Lake Strips), Lone Pine Island, and Grass Valley Lake, private property owned by the ALA, for use 24/7/365 by ALL property owners within the Arrowhead Woods, regardless of association membership status? A: YES. Owning property (or being a guest of an owner) in the Arrowhead Woods is simply the only thing required to use and access the Lakes, Lake Strip shorelines, trails, Lone Pine Island, and all Arrowhead Woods community property amenities thereof, including Grass Valley Lake and shoreline.
Q: Is the waterbody of Lake Arrowhead public? A: YES. The liquid waterbody of Lake Arrowhead is in fact public domain, hence why a CA State Fishing License is required for those >16 years old to go fishing. Anyone can be on the Lake Arrowhead liquid waterbody for public navigable purposes. No membership has ever been require to be on the waterbody of Lake Arrowhead, or any other public domain waterbody.
Q: Is there a current 2022 map of the Arrowhead Woods? A: YES. Click here.
Q: Is there a wrong way to determine if a property is in the Arrowhead Woods? A: YES. Websites such as MyTaxCollector.com (or Google Maps) are the notoriously wrong way to determine Lake Rights, and as those websites explain “they are for taxation payment purposes only,” not guaranteed, have no warranty, and not true legal descriptions. The only legal way to determine if a property is in Arrowhead Woods is to check the property’s “GRANT DEED” legal description that is recorded by the County of San Bernardino, and to see if it is within the 1964 Exhibit #1 Arrowhead Woods boundary.
Q: Are the boat launch ramps private property owned by the ALA, for all property owners to use within the Arrowhead Woods? A: Yes.
Q: Can Lake Rights be revoked? A: NO. They are called “rights” because they cannot be taken away. The legal description on a GRANT DEED places a property within Lake Rights, and nothing else. Associations, clubs, employees, phone operators, front desk workers, or real estate agents do not determine Lake Rights. A California State Judge, and the prevailing parties to the 1964 Agreement of Settlement and Compromise granted the Lake Rights, in perpetuity, for ALL property owners within the Arrowhead Woods, regardless of membership status. Rights are irrevocable and continue forever to any property owner with a GRANT DEED within Arrowhead Woods. No person can exclude another from their Lake Rights, even if they work at the ALA Office, or don’t like their neighbors, which is a common theme nowadays.
Q: Do Real Estate agents or brokers determine Lake Rights? NO. Real Estate agents and brokers can interpret the 1964 Agreement any way they’d like, but a GRANT DEED legal description is the only thing that gives a property Lake Rights. Real Estate agents do not determine, grant, nor revoke Lake Rights, even though this has been attempted before, and likely to continue.
Q: Does the ALA, AWAC, Country Club, LACSD, or Yacht Club determine Lake Rights? A: NO. The GRANT DEED legal description explains whether or not a property is within the 1964 Arrowhead Woods boundary, both being recorded by the County of San Bernardino.
Q: Is there a website that determines Lake Rights? A: NO. ABSOLUTLY NOT. Websites are for “informational purposes only” and do not have legally binding legal descriptions, legal guarantees, or warranties of any kind. Websites like MyTaxCollector.com are for paying taxes, and do not determine Lake Rights, nor whether a property is within the Arrowhead Woods or not. It is considered discriminatory and illegal to use a website not intended for providing legal descriptions to determine “Rights” of any kind. Only the 1964 Agreement of Settlement and Compromise determines the Arrowhead Woods boundary for Lake Rights. A GRANT DEED legal description will place a property within said boundary if there are Lake Rights.
Q: Do I have to pay or need to have a current membership of any kind to use Lake Arrowhead? NO. The waterbody of Lake Arrowhead is public domain, landlocked by ALA private community property, where membership has always been voluntary and not required. Any property owner (or their guests) within Arrowhead Woods can use and access the lake any time they’d like without a membership of any kind.
Q: Since a CA State Fishing License is needed on Lake Arrowhead, can the ALA Lake Patrol kick me off the waterbody of the lake? A: NO. Nobody can kick another person off public domain waters. If the Lake Patrol is making you leave, say “NO,” because as soon as you touch the shoreline, owning property in the Arrowhead Woods is required, and one might be trespassing at that point. The liquid waterbody is public domain, the shoreline is private property. Once someone is on the waterbody, nobody can legally kick them off the lake, so best practices is to say “No, I’m not going to the shore. I’m staying right here on the public domain lake.” Lake Patrol can only enforce association rules onto “members.” So if you’re not an association member, their rules have no legal means of enforcement.
Q: If I own property (or I’m a guest of an owner) in the Arrowhead Woods, am I trespassing by using the trails and land around the lake for reasonable ingress/egress? A: NO. The access trails, Lake Strip shoreline land, and all amenities thereon are free to use by ALL property owners and their guests of the Arrowhead Woods. The shoreline strips are indeed privately owned community property, though “membership” of any kind is not required.
Q: Can I become an ALA member if I do not own property within the Arrowhead Woods? A: NO. You must own property in the Arrowhead Woods to become a voluntary association member. Membership is not a required in the first place, its just a Good Ol’ Boys Club. The waterbody of Lake Arrowhead is still public domain, however one might have to trespass across private property for ingress/egress if they did not own property in the Arrowhead Woods. The only way to get into trouble by “trespassing” is along the shoreline or access trails as a non-Arrowhead Woods property owner. Since a membership of any kind doesn’t matter, its not worth getting.
Q: If I’m floating on an inflatable raft on Lake Arrowhead, can the ALA Lake Patrol force me to prove where I live, or make me leave? A: NO. Lake Arrowhead is public domain waters, because a fishing license is required and enforced by Cal Fish and Game. Lake Patrol can call the sheriff for trespassing on the shoreline strips only, but Lake Patrol has no law enforcement powers on the lake waterbody towards the general public. Lake Patrol are security guards only with no law enforcement powers, though some are retired law enforcement officers. Lake Patrol can only fine “Members” and not the general public for violations, and this is why not becoming a member is a great idea. Lake Patrol will likely bother you constantly, but you can just ignore them because they are not law enforcement, inflatable rafts don’t need registration in CA, and association membership is not required to use the lake in the first place.
Q: Is CA DMV boat registration needed for inflatable rafts that do not have motors? A: NO. Statewide, vehicle registration is not required for inflatable nonmotorized watercraft. Inflatable rafts are 100% legal without needing any form of registration on Lake Arrowhead, or with the state of CA. Inflatable watercraft cannot be forced to leave public waters, nor be required to show proof of registration by Lake Patrol security guards, or any other person.
Q: Are there any CC&Rs that determine Lake Rights? A: NO. CC&Rs only determine what a property owner can or can’t do on their own real property. If the property is within the Arrowhead Woods, the Arrowhead Woods Architectural Committee (AWAC) can legally enforce those CC&Rs.
Q: If someone in the ALA, AWAC, or LACSD office wants to tell a property owner their property is not within the Arrowhead Woods based on some random findings on a website, does that mean they are right? A: NO. Without checking a GRANT DEED Legal Description, any other methodology of determining Lake Rights is fraudulent and without merit. These association offices do not want new members or more boats on the lake, so by default they minimize their workload and lake usage, so they have personal opinions. Only a GRANT DEED legal description determines if a property is in the 1964 Arrowhead Woods boundary, provided by the County of San Bernardino Recorder.
Q: If someone doesn’t pay their voluntary ALA membership fees, are their Lake Rights revoked, and should they be alienated? A: NO. Rights of any kind cannot be revoked by employees, associations, clubs, or consensus. Lake Rights are guaranteed by a GRANT DEED legal description, the 1964 Agreement Arrowhead Woods boundary, and nothing else.
Q: Is consulting the ALA, AWAC, Country Club, MyTaxCollector, LACSD, School District, or Yacht Club a way to verify if someone has Lake Rights? A: NO. Only a GRANT DEED legal description can place a property in the Arrowhead Woods, thereby giving said property Lake Rights. No person on a telephone or in an office determines Lake Rights. Its a HUGE RED FLAG if someone on the telephone says who has Lake Rights, so beware. The 1964 Agreement of Settlement and Compromise permanently established where the boundary of Arrowhead Woods will always be. The boundary does not change based on anyone’s personal opinion of whom they like or dislike. GRANT DEEDS do not change their legal descriptions based on anyone’s biased personal opinion either. Go directly to the County Recorder to get copies of a GRANT DEED. Third party opinions are dangerous and don’t matter when it comes to “Rights.”
Q: Is a property required to have a Tract Number in order to have Lake Rights? A: NO. Not at all. Tract numbers were never a requirement to be in the Arrowhead Woods. Why? Because great areas of land were not yet developed by 1964, and not all the existing developed properties had tract numbers. Not all developed properties within the ORIGINAL Arrowhead Woods and within the 1964 Arrowhead Woods’ boundary have tract numbers, nor were given legal notice of said litigation. Because membership was always voluntary, yet ALL Arrowhead Woods properties were nonetheless represented in the 1964 Agreement of Settlement and Compromise, those Lake Rights still inure to this day. Some developed properties were build in the Arrowhead Woods in the early and mid 1900s, before the ALA was even established, and still retain their guaranteed 1964 Lake Rights without tract numbers recognized by the modern ALA. This is especially true for the eldest historic properties, and properties that happen to be on both sides of the borders of the Arrowhead Woods boundary. A GRANT DEED will place a property where it is, and if it is within the 1964 Arrowhead Woods boundary–it still has Lake Rights–regardless of the modern day association and the Good Ol’ Boys Club’s employee opinion, or any unofficial biased consensus.
