Boating in Utah, Bear Lake

I was talking with a good friend many years ago about boating. This friend was a recent transplant to Utah from Oregon. He was shocked to hear me talk about boating.

“Who in Utah has ever really been boating? Utah is a desert!”

But Utahns love to boat! You’ll see boats next to many homes in Utah. And there really is a large choice of available lakes in Utah for boating, water sports and fishing.

So this is a short entry, hopefully in a longer series of entries about boating in Utah. Our first stop is Bear Lake.

Bear Lake is very beautiful. Coming over that mountain pass and catching that first sight of Bear Lake is an unforgettable experience.  The water is an amazing color of blue.

Bear Lake is twenty miles long and eight miles wide. It’s kind of a rectangle or oval. It’s big enough that no matter how many people are out on the lake, it never seems crowded.

The water activity season is relatively short. The elevation at Bear Lake is high, and the lake is surrounded by alpine mountains. We like to go in August, rent a boat for a couple hours, and do some water skiing and wakeboarding.

There are other activities in the areas, like ATV trails and caves to explore and camping.

Garden City and Laketown have lots of good entertainment, and the area is famous for raspberry shakes. People come to Bear Lake just for the ice cream.

The Oaks

There was never a more beautiful setting for a restaurant. The menu isn’t the most exciting you’ve ever seen, but a visit to The Oaks is an experience you’ll talk about for years.

Ogden is about half hour’s drive north from Salt Lake City, and Ogden Canyon can be accessed by taking the 12^th Street exit. 12^th Street goes right up Ogden Canyon.

The Oaks is set on the Ogden River there is lots of outside dining. The tables are set into cozy nooks with wonderful string lighting. The sound of the water rushing by is very soothing. The hummingbirds flit around from table to table. Because of the canyon setting, the temperatures are always cool and refreshing in the summer time. In the Autumn the Fall colors are spectacular.  

The Oaks is open year round and the inside dining is very lovely.

The menu is great. This isn’t fast food. There are sandwiches and soups and salads and burgers. Everything is great.

Farther up the canyon is Pineview Reservoir and two great ski resorts, Powder Mountain and Snow Basin. The towns of Huntsville and Eden offer other fun dining choices that will be discussed here later.

Don’t miss dining at The Oaks. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience.

In Utah

This is a blog about what’s going on in Utah. If you’re interesting in visiting, you’ll find what you’re looking for here.

There’s no denying that Utah is a beautiful place.  There’s a great variety of landscape here from desert to alpine mountains. And the scenery changes with the seasons. There’s tons of fascinating history here. You’ll also find amazing things to do and see here in Utah.

One of the main reasons I’m putting this blog together is to provide information about Utah to those who are planning on visiting Utah as tourists. As I’ve researched information for this blog, I’ve been surprised to find that there is little information in blogs and internet videos about all the great things going on in Utah.

I happen to love Utah.

I’m the product of generations of people who lived in and loved the state of Utah. I have Mormon pioneers in all parts of my family tree. My personal feeling about Utah is that I am happy to live here, and I want to contribute to my community and make it a better place.  I don’t suppose I’m different from anyone else who is happy with the place where they live.

Our family tries to take advantage of all the beauty and action available in this state.

I love to ski when I can afford it. Skiing was different when I was a kid. We got on the lifts for about $10.00. Skipping school was a required part of skiing for my generation. We skied in our jeans and drank soup out of a thermos to keep warm.

It’s a little different now. The equipment is very high tech, and the outfits are expensive, and passes are more than $60.00,  but I’ll be posting all about the resorts and the best deals for skiing.

We like to get out and go camping. Our family has dirt bikes and we love to explore the trails in the mountains and out in the desert. Utah is famous for endless off road trails. I love to golf in Utah, and we try to get involved in all the community events that we can.

So I want to spend some time here on this blog talking about Utah and things that are going on in Utah. We’ll do resort reviews, product reviews, restaurant reviews, and we’ll talk about the sights.