Nocturnal Wonderland

Nocturnal Wonderland is Insomniac's dance music festival at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, and it has been at this park since 2013. Insomniac calls it the longest running dance music festival in the United States. You can camp on site, and the park is reachable only from I-15 or I-215, so work out how you'll get in and out before you buy.

What's Worth Seeing

Start with the setting. The park spans 1,340 acres at the base of the Cajon Pass hills, with the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains in view, so you get a ridgeline behind the tents and stages.

Then the stages. Insomniac bills the festival on its whimsical stage designs, and the photos here show a stage built around a huge neon flower and a tree-shaped sculpture covered in lights, seen in two different colors. Hosted stages have included Bassrush and Insomniac Fridays, which leans on a 90s rave feel.

Nobody under 18 gets in, with or without a guardian. There's no re-entry unless you hold a camping pass, and nobody can sleep in a car in the parking lots. The festival's FAQ has the ID rules and links to the camping guidelines.

Keep an eye on fire conditions. The 2024 edition was canceled days before it was due to start because of the fires around the venue, so check the festival's site if there's smoke in the area.

How to Get There

The festival lists Glen Helen Regional Park at 2555 Glen Helen Pkwy. Its parking page also names the Glen Helen Amphitheater, which is in the same park at 2575 Glen Helen Pkwy. Either way, you come in on I-15 or I-215.

General parking is free, and the lots are color-coded, so note yours and pin it on your phone. Cars have to be out at the end of each day or they get towed. Rideshare and drop-offs use the Purple Lot outside Gate 2, at Glen Helen Road and Glen Helen Parkway, and you shouldn't walk along Glen Helen Parkway outside that lot.

Going home to LA, some lots send you north on Glen Helen Parkway to I-215. The festival suggests taking the I-215 north on-ramp and then the first exit to I-15 south. Insomniac also sells shuttle passes from Downtown LA, Fullerton, Riverside and Ontario through the festival's site, not at the stops. The parking page and our Glen Helen Amphitheater venue page have the details.

Nearby

• The rest of Glen Helen Regional Park is open outside festival weekends, with fishing in its two lakes and an 18-hole disc golf course. The county posts lake and campground notices on that page.
• The Mormon Rocks Interpretive Trail is an easy one-mile loop up the Cajon Pass, starting from the fire station on Highway 138 just west of I-15.
• The NOS Events Center in San Bernardino is where Insomniac holds Beyond Wonderland SoCal in the spring.