Bear Lake State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, USA, along the shore of Bear Lake on the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

border. It offers three recreation areas: Rendezvous Beach, Bear Lake Marina, and East Side, which comprises several more segments. The park also hosts many annual events, such as a Mountain Man Rendezvous and Bear Lake Raspberry Days. Recreational activities include

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

. Anglers enjoy year-round fishing for

cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus ''Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific trout ...

, mackinaw trout, Bonneville cisco, and whitefish.

Recreation areas

Rendezvous Beach

Rendezvous Beach is named for the historic rendezvous of

fur trappers The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...

and Native Americans held here during the summers of 1827 and 1828. A thousand or more Native Americans and

mountain men A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

, including

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and ...

, attended these gatherings. There were so many campfires at the south end of the lake at these trading sessions that one observer called the area "a lighted city." Today Rendezvous Beach is a recreation area with 220 campsites, along with restrooms, showers, and utility hookups. It is a popular area for large gatherings such as

family reunion A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year. A typical family reunion will assemble for a meal, some recreation and discussi ...

s. A local business rents small boats and

personal water craft A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...

Bear Lake Marina

The Bear Lake Marina area is located about 8 miles north of Rendezvous on the west side of the lake, about 2 miles south of the Idaho border. The Bear Lake Marina area provides a sheltered harbor, an -wide concrete boat ramp, boat slips, 13 campsites, restrooms, and showers. There is also a visitor center, along with a business renting boats and selling fishing and boating supplies.

East Side

The East Side portions of the park consists of six primitive

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more natur ...

sites and two concrete boat ramps. From the south end of the lake, about one mile up is and First Point with a boat ramp. Then 2 miles further begins the Cisco Beach area, which runs approximately three miles from South Eden campground at the south to Rainbow Cove on the north . And one mile further north, is the North Eden campground, at the Idaho border.

References

External links

* {{authority control Bear River (Great Salt Lake) Protected areas established in 1962 Protected areas of Rich County, Utah State parks of Utah Provincial and state parks in the Rocky Mountains