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Bear Lake
Description:
- Elevation: 5904 ft.
- Surface Area: 109 sq. miles
- Volume Capacity: 6.5 x 106 acre-feet
- Max. Depth: 208 ft.
- Avg. Depth: 94 ft.
Day Visits:
- Day-use permit: $8
- Annual day-use pass: $75
- Annual senior day-use pass: $35
Overnight Camping:
- Birch Campground: $25
- Big Creek Campground: $25
- Cottonwood Campground: $16
- Willow Campground: $75 Min.
- Boat Slips: $16
- Group Area: $75
- South Eden Primitive Campground: $10
For the latest Bear Lake fishing report,
click here.
Current Conditions:
Last checked for updates: 10/5/2017
Current Conditions
Day-Use:
Marina – OPEN.
First Point – OPEN.
Cisco Beach – OPEN.
Rainbow Cove – Launch ramp is OPEN. Bluffs campsites are closed. We plan to re-open this facility on or about May 1, 2018.
Rendezvous Beach – OPEN. Will close for the winter season on October 22, 2017 @ 5:00 p.m.
South Eden – OPEN. Will close for the winter season on October 29, 2017 @ 5:00 p.m.
North Eden – CLOSED. We plan to re-open this facility on or about May 1, 2018.
Launch Ramps:
Marina – OPEN
First Point – OPEN
Cisco Beach – OPEN
Rainbow Cove –OPEN
Rendezvous Beach – OPEN – NOT RECOMMENDED FOR BOATS OVER 16′ IN LENGTH. Will close for the winter season on October 22, 2017 @ 5:00 p.m.
Campgrounds:
Campfires must be within the metal fire ring at each campsite.
Rendezvous Beach – OPEN. First come, first served until closing for the season on October 22 @ 5:00 p.m..
South Eden – OPEN. First come, first serve until closing for the season on October 29 @ 5:00 p.m.
Cisco Beach – OPEN. First come, first serve.
Rainbow Cove – OPEN. First come, first serve for campsites 1 – 4. The Bluffs campsites (5 – 13) are closed. We plan to re-open this facility on or about May 1, 2018.
North Eden – CLOSED. We plan to re-open this facility on or about May 1, 2018.
Water Temperature:
@ 55.3 degrees as measured in the Bear Lake State Park Marina.
Water Level (elevation):
@ 5920.95′.
Full elevation: 5923.65′.
2017 high elevation: 5922.35′ (July 2017)
Fishing Conditions:
Ice Thickness:
No ice.
Road Conditions:
Air Temperature:
This past week, the day time temperatures have ranged from the low 40’s to the mid 50’s. The nighttime temperatures have ranged from the mid 20’s to the high 30’s.
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Last Updated: October 2, 2017.
_________________________
Bear Lake is one of two main bodies of water left over from the ancient
Lake Bonneville. The other one is Utah Lake.
Bear Lake was formed 28,000 years ago by earthquake activity. It is 20
miles long and eight miles wide. Originally, it was called Black Bear
Lake, by Donald Mackenzie, explorer for the North West Fur Company, who
discovered it in 1819 while scouting for fur-bearing animals. The name
was later shortened to just Bear Lake.
The cool, Caribbean-blue waters of Bear Lake are ideal for waterskiing,
swimming, scuba diving, and sailing. Anglers enjoy year-round fishing
for cutthroat, mackinaw, cisco, and whitefish. Bear Lake State Park
offers three recreation areas: Rendezvous Beach, Bear Lake Marina, and
East Beach.
Bear Lake State Park Rendezvous Beach is named for the famous
rendezvous of trappers and Native Americans held in the summers of
1827 and 1828. A thousand or more Indians and mountain men, including
Jedediah Smith, attended the gatherings.
East Side/Cisco Beach/South Eden/North Eden/First Point: These
primitive areas are located on the east shore approximately ten miles
north of Laketown. The terrain is rocky and the water depth drops off
quickly to 208 feet.
Cisco Beach is famous for its midwinter fishing with dip nets for the
small, seven-inch Bonneville Cisco, a member of the whitefish family.
For a week to 10 days every January, swarms of Cisco come close to the
rocky shore to spawn. They are easily scooped up by hardy fishermen
wading waist-deep in the icy water or through holes in the ice if the
lake is frozen.
Bear Lake is home to
several native species of fish that are not found anywhere else in the
world, including the Bonneville Cisco and the Bear Lake Whitefish, and
the Bear Lake Cutthroat
Trout. The lake is often referred to as Utah's Caribbean, because
of its turquoise blue color. Why is the water so blue? Its beautiful
and unique green-blue color comes from particles of calcium carbonate
(limestone) that are suspended in the water. Bear Lake is currently
listed as one of Utah's flat water 'Blue Ribbon' fisheries.
Bear Lake is located on the Utah/Idaho border north of Cache Valley in
Rich County. Its fishery is managed by both states.
Click here for a list of rules for the State Park.
Fish Species:
Current Regulations:
-
With a valid Utah or Idaho license, you can fish anywhere on Bear
Lake that’s open to fishing with one fishing pole. With the purchase
of a valid Utah or Idaho second pole permit, an angler may fish with
two poles anywhere on Bear Lake that is open to fishing. The second
pole or two-pole permit must be purchased from the state of original
license purchase.
- Dead Bonneville cisco may be used as bait only in Bear Lake
- Hand-held dipnets may be used to take Bonneville cisco, provided
the opening is 18 inches or less in diameter.
- Trout limit 2 fish
- Cutthroat trout and trout with cutthroat markings with all fins
intact must be immediately released. Only cutthroat trout that have
had one or more healed fins clipped may be kept.
- When ice fishing for fish other than cisco, the size of the hole
may not exceed 18 inches.
- Anglers may keep foul hooked Bonneville cisco that are taken
through normal, legal fishing activities.
-
A person may not possess a multipoint hook with a weight permanently
or rigidly attached directly to the shank; or a weight suspended
below a multipoint hook unless the hook is on an un-weighted dropper
line that is at least three inches long.
