How to vacation at Bear Lake

For our 2015 summer family vacation we went to Bear Lake. We are already talking about when we can repeat our great Bear Lake vacation, so I wrote a guide we can refer to when we do it again.

#1: Bring good friends

Three families (the Francis’, Forstners, and we Johnsons) stayed all week long. The Bergerons and Bunkers were also able to come up for a couple days and join us. Our kids had plenty of playmates, and it never got boring. There was always someone to play with.

Another benefit of good friends is the housing hookup. The Francis’ had access to several 2-bedroom condo units for the week, which worked out great. We all stayed in separate units, but we were close enough together to share meals — another fantastic benefit from having good friends along. The Francis’ made some spicy meatballs and rice, the Forstners contributed some pork sandwiches complete with coleslaw and pasta salad, the Bergerons hosted a bring-your-own-meat cookout. We made some imitation Cafe Rio salads and burritos. It was fun to all eat together, and even better was that we didn’t have to think about where our food was coming from.

#2: Spend several days on the lake

Bear Lake is beautiful. The water is clear and blue. The Francis’ and Bergerons both own boats, so the kids had a great time tubing, hanging on for dear life. When we weren’t on the boats, we were out on the beach. Bear Lake has plenty to choose from.

City beach is accessible off the main drag in Garden City. Good for a walk along the beach on a windy evening. Some days, the city will open the gates and let you drive down onto the beach, but otherwise you have to walk the several hundred yards out to the waterfront.

Midweek we decided to rent a couple hours on a lake trampoline at Epic beach. It’s a private beach where they rent jet-skis, boats and toys, and they let us set up on their beach for the day. The kids had fun on the trampoline, but two hours was plenty. One hour is probably enough.

Rendezvous beach is along the south side of the lake and was a great spot. The days we were there the wind and the crowds totally died down after 3pm, so it was a great spot. You can drive right down onto the beach, and there were nearby dumpsters and bathrooms which was handy. It’s a Utah state park, so there was a $10 entrance fee for the day, but it was clean and had nice facilities and was well worth it.

North beach was crowded but probably our favorite beach of them all. It’s on the north end of the lake across the Idaho border. The sand was super nice and fine and it was shallow enough to wade out for a hundred yards or so. The kids had a blast running out into the surf to see who could survive the longest.

The Forstners rented a wave runner at North Beach Rentals for a couple hours and they were kind enough to share some of their time. It was fun zipping around and giving rides.

#3: Haul up your own toys

We wanted to rent some kayaks and paddleboards to use at Bear Lake. We did a little bit of shopping around and found a local place (SUPrentalsutah.com) that would rent a bunch of toys for a week for the price of a half a day rental at most places on the lake. The only catch was that we would need to haul them up in a trailer we borrowed from the Rowberrys, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

We rented a two-man kayak, a one-man kayak, two kids’ kayaks, and two stand-up paddleboards. They were used every single day. I was skeptical about the two kids’ kayaks, thinking that the younger ones wouldn’t be able to figure out how to steer and paddle. I was wrong. The kids picked it up amazingly quickly and had a great time out on the water.

Each day at the lake we would pull our borrowed 14′ trailer full of these toys right down onto the beach. It was easy to get the toys in and out of the trailer, which was also a good changing station and shelter once everything was emptied.

We also brought bikes, rollerblades, skateboards, and the Rowberry’s 4-wheeler (and still had plenty of room in the trailer). The bikes were a great idea since there is a very useful bike path through most of Garden City. It’s a small town, and it was much easier to get to locations on a bike rather than worrying about pulling the trailer.

There are only a couple substitutions I would make. First, I would have liked a bigger SUP board — we had two of the same model, and they were a base model. Also, a side-by-side (like a RAZR) would be better than a 4-wheeler. It would have been nice to be able to take more than one person out on the rides.

Shovels, buckets, and other sand toys were also well used and totally worth bringing.

#4: Explore places to eat

Bear Lake is famous for its raspberries. Nearly every shop in town sells a “world’s greatest” raspberry shake. So, try them all and see which place is your favorite. We tried Lebeau’s, Merlin’s and Quick-N Tasty. To spice things up a little, try some in some additional ingredients to counter some of the tartness of the raspberry. Raspberry-Oreo and Raspberry-Banana were two highly recommended alternatives.

Bear Lake Pizza was also a fun stop. We didn’t brave the Old Ephraim (a giant 28″ diameter pizza named after the famous grizzly bear), because it was cheaper to buy several large pizzas instead.

Our family also enjoyed breakfast at Crepes & Coffee. We shared five different crepes, but the winners were the Vegg Out (lots of vegetables), the Classico (ham, eggs, and cheese), and the Raspberry (of course).

We also went on a date to Cafe Sabor for some good (and quite affordable) Mexican food. Definitely worth a visit.

We loved trying all the mom and pop restaurants and drive-ins.

#5: Enjoy the mountains too

When the Bergerons and Bunkers came up, they stayed at the new Conestoga Ranch which specializes in “glamping” (glamorous camping). We visited them one night for a cookout and had a blast. It was up on the hillside overlooking the lake, so we had a beautiful view as we barbequed, played games, and roasted s’mores.

One day when the weather wasn’t ideal for a beach day (not uncommon at Bear Lake) we went for a hike in the Mountains. Only a couple miles up Logan Canyon there is an easy 1-mile loop hike to an old Limber Pine. It was a fun and easy distraction.

Jake and I went out and played a round of golf at Bear Lake Golf Course. It was a nice course and a fun diversion from the beaches for a couple hours.

We also took the 4-wheeler up into the mountains for some twilight rides. We didn’t see any wildlife but the views were incredible and the trails were plentiful.

So, there are five great tips on how to have a wonderful vacation at Bear Lake.