Bear Lake

2 hrs $

There are many public campgrounds on the east side i.e. North Eden, South Eden, Sisco. They all charge about $10 per vehicle. Some have trees, some don't.

They are all on the beach side of the highway. The drive up past Huntsville and Monte Cristo may be quicker to the east side in the summer. There is another public campground west of Bear Lake just above the sinks and before you start to descend to the lake coming from Logan called Sunrise but the sites are rather close. There are also a few public campgrounds on the road to Minnetonka Cave west of St. Charles i.e. Davis Canyon, Porcupine, Cloverleaf and North Fork. Most of them need to be reserved months ahead of time at www.recreation.gov , but a few are first come first serve i.e. sites 2-9 in Cloverleaf. Below is a nice site in the North Fork Campground just below Minnetonka Cave.

Fees are $12-20. There are also a couple free places to camp at the top of Bloomington Canyon near Bloomington Lake with just fire pits and outhouses nearby. See the Bloomington Lake page.

There is another public campground, Paris Springs, west of Paris, in Paris canyon see http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/paris-springs-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=73766 but the sites are pretty close together. The Paris Ice Caves are further up the canyon and there are some nice free camping spots nearby. Just watch for signs to the ice caves. The road past the Paris Springs isn't real great, but doable.

Bear Lake is a great place for doing the 50 miler for the cycling merit badge. It is about 51 miles all the way around. Except, try to do it in the spring or after Labor Day, since the traffic is so bad in the summer. There are some bicycle paths along the highway. The two worst parts without much of a shoulder are the north shore and the south shore (east of Ideal Beach) so try to hit one of those in the morning. The northeast side has a lot of hills. The Trapper Trail's Council sponsors an annual Bike the Bear with snack stations and nice t-shirts. It is September 25-26 in 2015. You can camp the night before at Hunt. See: http://trappertrails.doubleknot.com/event/tri-fitness-bike-the-bear-2015/1711842