Bear lake

French-Canadian trappers working for the Hudson Bay Company recorded sighting the unique turquoise blue water of Bear Lake as early as 1818.  Traveling bands of Shoshone, Ute and Bannock tribes had long used this prime area for hunting and fishing.  Donald “Fats” McKenzie attended an Indian gathering at the south end of the lake in 1819 and named Bear Lake, “Black Bear Lake”, because of the numerous black bear found in the area.  Mountain Man rendezvous began as early as 1827 and continue today in September of each year.  John C. Fremont first came through the area in 1842. He and Captain Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville wrote about their discoveries regarding Bear Lake Valley, with Fremont naming many of the mountain peaks, canyons and streams in the area.

Bear Lake is located on the Utah Idaho border, 20 miles from Wyoming.  Measuring 30 miles long and 8 miles wide, it has depths of over 200 feet.  A high mountain lake at 5,900 feet in elevation, the winters are long and cold.  Cisco fish, found only in Bear Lake, run in January and attract an unusually hardy bunch of anglers.  Garden City on the lakes west shore plays host to Raspberry Day crowds in August, serving up lots of raspberry shakes, creating rural gridlock with a parade down main street, a huge open air Boy Scout breakfast and a light parade of decorated boats and fireworks which ends the festivities.  Ironically, the day after Raspberry Days, Garden City appears to be totally abandoned.  Possibly all those tourists caught a glimpse of the infamous Bear Lake Monster and fled for their lives.

Another place of interest in the area is the Paris Tabernacle, designed in 1884 by Don Carlos Young, son of the Mormon Prophet Brigham Young.  Daily tours of this impressive Romanesque sandstone edifice are fact filled and introduce more interesting histories of the region.

The Minnetonka Caves just outside of St. Charles, on the north end of the lake are a great place to cool off (wear a coat) on a hot summer day.

For a seasonal organization, the Bear Lake Yacht Club has an impressive array of boats, activities and facilities for leisure as well as the serious racer.  The Bear Lake State Park Marina has a protected harbor for 305 boats, with power and water at slips, hot showers, rest rooms, covered pavilions and a pump out station.  Cisco’s Landing, inside the marina, provides a great breakfast, really expensive ice and gas and jet ski rental.  A clean, well-run facility, this marina is a must see for anyone who enjoys being out on the water.

Check the Bear Lake webcam here