Bear Lake is a popular destination for visitors from Utah and Idaho, known for its brilliant turquoise waters and spectacular scenery. The area around Bear Lake is a recreation playground, with dozens of fun activities both in and out of the water. While just hanging around the resort offers plentiful things to do for the entire family, there are some key places around Garden City you may want to explore on your next vacation.

Take a Scenic Drive: If you feel like getting out of the water and exploring the gorgeous natural scenery around Bear Lake, you can take one of the area’s landscape-rich drives, including the Oregon Trail-Bear Lake Scenic Byway, the Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway, the Bear River Heritage Area or Bloomington Lake. One these drives, you’ll have panoramic views of the lake and the surrounding Bear River Valley.

Celebrate Garden City’s Raspberry Days: The Bear Lake town of Garden City holds its Raspberry Days festival the first weekend of August, to celebrate the peak of the raspberry harvest. Raspberry Days events include a Little Miss Berry pageant, craft fair, parade, rodeo, a 5K fun run, pancake breakfast, dances, and fireworks on the beach.

The Pickleville Playhouse in Garden City, in business since 1977, performs hilarious melodramas and lighthearted Broadway favorites. It’s a fun date night or family outing after a day on the lake. The onsite restaurant, Bandito’s Western Grill, serves Western favorites like steak and grilled chicken.

For trail riding around beautiful Bear Lake, you can bring your own horses to explore trails in the Cache and Caribou National Forests, or hook up with an outfitter like Beaver Creek Lodge, which offers rides ranging from one to three hours. Beaver Creek can also plan longer day trips.

For winter fun, enjoy the excitement of snowmobiling and the invigoration of cross-country skiing. Beaver Mountain downhill ski resort is just 17 miles away. You are only 2 ½ hours away from the picturesque Teton Mountains and 4 hours away from Yellowstone National Park.