North Beach at Bear Lake: The "Caribbean of the Rockies"
Known as the "Caribbean of the Rockies," North Beach at Bear Lake is remembered for its clear, turquoise waters and the neighboring historical hot springs.
The sandy shores of North Beach at Bear Lake meet the turquoise waters that inspired the nickname “Caribbean of the Rockies” and have made the beach a main tourist attraction at the Utah-Idaho border. North Beach sits on Idaho territory and provides activities such as boating, fishing, jet skiing, kayaking, picnicking, sunbathing, and swimming. Paired with these activities are the amenities, which include a boat launch ramp, grills, campgrounds, and picnic tables. In 2022 alone North Beach had over 300,000 visitors as it is a great place for families to come and wade in the shallow, warm waters.
Bear Lake has 12,000 years of Indigenous history as Native Americans would settle on the beach’s shores and use the waters for fishing and the surrounding areas for plant gathering and hunting. The native tribes that live near North Beach today are the Shoshone and Bannock tribes of southern Idaho. Following the Oregon Trail, Mormon settlers were the next prominent group to live in Bear Lake Valley. They negotiated with the Shoshone tribe for part of the land and established the community of Paris in 1863. Joseph C. Rich was an early pioneer at Bear Lake and married Ann Eliza Hunter. Together they developed the make-shift hot springs at North Beach in 1888 that used an underground pipeline to bring the hot water from the springs to the bathing pools.
Decades later in 1911, Ethel Bates became the owner of the Grand Hotel built next to the hot springs bath. The hotel became a well-known place to enjoy the scenic views of Bear Lake and allowed visitors to have multiple days at the beach. In 1939, the hotel burned down, leaving only a few pillars and stairs people can visit today. Ruth and Lorenzo Hemmert bought the property in 1950 to rebuild the lodging amenities and renovate the hot spring pools. They owned the property until 2018 when it sold to a land developer who plans to tear down the existing buildings to make room for a subdivision called Lakeview.
After years of rising popularity, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was much conversation about expanding the facilities because of overcrowding. In 1969 the Idaho State Journal noted that about 3,500 persons visited North Beach daily during peak summer days. Construction occurred during the early 1970s and included new campgrounds, restrooms, picnic facilities, and access to running water to mitigate overcrowding and improve sanitation.
The popularity of North Beach still reigns true and visitors must reserve a spot on the beach, up to one day in advance. Bear Lake and especially North Beach have also been the victim of drought over the past years. Bear Lake Idaho’s brochure notes the “low water levels” and how public use and the exposed lake bed have “created a concern for the lake’s environment and safe recreation use.” Respecting the beach is crucial for a future of sunbathing, swimming, and other beach activities at the “Caribbean of the Rockies.”
Images
