The crown jewel is Bear Lake, a large scenic lake often called "Carribean of the Rockies" for its intense turquoise blue water. As visitors catch their first glimpse of the lake, they marvel at its color and wonder what makes the lake so blue. Sitting on one of its many white, sandy beaches, you can imagine yourself on your own little island. Bear Lake State Park is located in a high mountain valley in the extreme southeast corner of Idaho. At 5,900 feet elevation, the park offers a wide variety of both summer and winter recreation opportunities. Bear Lake itself is 20 miles long and 8 miles wide with half of the lake in Idaho and half in Utah. The lake is a water sports Mecca attracting boaters, water skiers, and beach lovers from all over the country. All that inviting water is hard to resist. Swimmers will enjoy a two-mile-long beach on the north end of the lake, plus a 1-1/2 mile beach on the east side. The gradual slope of the lake bottom provides an enormous swimming area. Ramps are available for boaters and water skiers who want to enjoy the water, too. Anglers can try for a native cutthroat or lake trout in the summer. In the winter, they can come back with buckets and nets when the Bonneville cisco run. The fish is found nowhere else on Earth. The Bear Lake State Park campground is located on the east side of the lake and offers 47 individual, and three (3) group campsites. The North Beach unit of the park offers over two miles of sandy beach for day use. Prior to Memorial Day and after Labor Day, it is less busy and fishermen tend to have the lake to enjoy for themselves. The weather in September can be some of the nicest of the year, with temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s. The Cache mountain range borders the lake on the western shore and offers miles of hiking, biking, and motorized trails. Minnetonka Cave is minutes from North Beach and is open from early June to September. During the winter, the park grooms almost 300 miles of snowmobile trails in these high mountains. The Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge borders the park on the north and offers great bird watching year round. No matter what your favorite activity, you can find it at Bear Lake State Park!
Wiki Excerpt:
Bear Lake is a natural freshwater lake on the Utah-Idaho border in the Western United States. It is the second largest natural freshwater lake in Utah[1] and has been called the "Caribbean of the Rockies" for its unique turquoise-blue color, the result of suspended limestone deposits in the water.[2] Its water properties have led to the evolution of several unique species that live naturally only within the lake.[3] Bear Lake is over 250,000 years old [4]. It was formed by fault subsidence that continues today, slowly deepening the lake along the eastern side.[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear Lake (Idaho-Utah)
Many different lures work to catch fish from Bear Lake, however, you should select a lure based on what the fish are feeding on at a particular time. A key point to remember is lure size. Often fish will be feeding on organisms of a particular size and are selective for food items of that size. If fishing is not productive in one area, a change of fishing locations and depths could be all that is required to find more active fish. Most fish are found near the bottom, and fishing as close to bottom as possible produces some of the best results. Bear Lake is a very unique body of water that offers anglers opportunities to catch native cutthroat trout, trophy lake trout, and endemic sport fish that are found no where else in the world. We are confident that you will enjoy success when fishing on Bear Lake. Either a valid Utah or Idaho fishing license is valid on the entire lake. There are no size limits for any fish on Bear Lake. The trout limit is two. This can be a combination of cutthroat trout or lake trout or two of one species. In an effort to protect natural, wild cutthroat trout in Bear Lake, you may only keep a cutthroat trout if it has a healed fin-clip. All other cutthroat trout must be immediately released unharmed.
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