Bear Lake: Worth the lack of easy roads

Bear Lake from the shoreline. 

Bear Lake from the west overlook. 

From a high grade, the road came to flat ground, a crossroads at a highly anticipated shoreline. Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho all converged in this sparsely populated, mountainous country.  

After the dry lands and occasion trickles across most of Wyoming, Bear Lake was a different animal. This lake, split evenly between Utah and Idaho, almost glowed with a blue color produced by limestone suspended in the water. 

Behind those mountains

Bear Lake reminded me of Yellowstone Lake without the national park - a deep blue lake framed by distant mountains and a scenic shoreline. The massive lake comes from out of nowhere, hidden in the mountain folds of northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho.

 Imposing but unknowable mountains formed its eastern shore, while flocks of birds soared everywhere. The waters are uncommonly blue and eventually lead to distracted driving.  

You have to earn your time on Bear Lake. Places to stop are not frequent, but I found a rest area and wandered out onto the sand and the reedy shallows around Bear Lake’s west shore. 

Bear Lake shore.

High-altitude solitude.

I immediately became entranced. I spotted pelicans and other waterfowl. After a few hundred dry miles, Bear Lake was an ecstasy of freshwater. 

Due to its 7,000-foot elevation, and friends who once received a scathing sunburn here, I coated myself in suntan lotion as quickly as I could. 

Despite the grandeur of Bear Lake, the surrounding towns felt almost quint.  Garden City, Utah is a beach town, with a roadside dominated by restaurants and ice cream places touting its signature beverage. The high-rise condos and other trappings of most resort towns have not reached Bear Lake. Nothing rises high, although some of the lodging has luxury feel to its architecture. 

Jackpot. 

Bear Lake has a notoriety due to a certain beverage. Bear Lake grows a notable raspberry crop, with an annual festival and high demand. But those who want to taste those wares outside of the season must go with a raspberry shake At 10:30 a.m. nearly every place known for their shakes had not opened yet. Most were lunch spots, so I understood. 

I had a lot of ground to cover, and I could not loiter, even for something as luxurious as a raspberry shake. 

But where the road climbs from Bear Lake when I made a hard turn. Luckily a gas station/travel center sold them, a whole corner of its general store turned over to raspberry shake assembly. With raspberry puree, ice cream, and mile, the Bear Lake beverage delivered. I sipped heartily. 

The shake was a magic drink. I didn’t bother to speed up as I left, and clearly annoyed other drivers but focusing on the raspberry over the road. 

A few miles up, I pulled off and enjoyed my drink at an overlook. The giant parking lot was empty, so I took my shake and wandered while looking down on Bear Lake. I had a feeling this might be my last chance to view Bear Lake, so I took some time to wander around and catch some fresh angles. 

Half a shake left, I decided to head into the next phase of a Bear Lake visit – a Logan Canyon drive. The road above Bear Lake climbed to a pass then began a 40-mile scenic descent to Logan, home the Utah State University. 

From the pass, which crests at 7,800 feet, the road drops 2,900 feet through the Bear River Mountains on its way into Logan. Leaving Bear Lake this way was preferable to arrival – at the construction zones, a hundred cars queued up, while those of descending had relatively short waits. 

By mileage, Logan seemed close, but getting to Logan took a while. Between construction zones, one-lane sections of the highway, and the need to keep a lower speed, I had plenty of time to spend with the Logan River and the mountain climes covered with blooming wildflowers. I didn’t really feel stopping was an option. 

There were numerous recreational spots in the Cache National Forest, but jumping out of the train of cars headed to Logan seemed unwise. 

I could enjoy the river at a reasonable speed, even if I deprived myself of hiking. While not navigable, the Logan River cascaded over rocks at a speed that made passage seem possible. The forestation continued into Logan, with Utah State’s main campus boasting a gardenesque feel. 

As a rapidly growing Utah metro, Logan is flush with new development, most indistinguishable from new development anywhere else. I let my mind stick with the forested campus, the one part of town that felt like an extension of Logan Canyon and the beauty that resides in the mountains above.

Taking my time in Logan Canyon.