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
| Information Updated: | 05-20-13 |
| Highs | Mid 60's |
| Lows | Low 40's |
| Day Use | OPEN |
| Camping | PARTIALLY OPEN |
| Surface | OPEN |
| Boating | OPEN |
| Water Temp | 54 degrees as measured inside the Bear Lake Marina. |
| Water Level | 5917.15' |
| Fishing | OK. Call 435-946-8501 for more information. |
| Snow Depth | 0" |
| Road Conditions | Good |
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:
- Bear Lake Whitefish
- Bear Lake Sculpin
- Bonneville Cisco
- Brook Trout (trace populations)
- Brown Trout
- Cutthroat Trout
- Lake Trout (Mackinaw)
- Rainbow Trout
- Redside Shiner
- Utah Chub
- Utah Sucker
- Yellow Perch
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.