Bear Lake

Historic Water Levels

Water level at the lake varies from year to year and within a given season. In an extreme season, it can vary by as much as 10 feet in elevation. Elevation is defined as the surface level of the lake above sea level. From a historic perspective, the lowest it has been in recorded history is 5,902 feet and the "full" mark is at 5,923.6 feet. The graph below shows yearly lows and highs dating back to 1998. If you are interested in more information about the Bear Lake watershed, check out this link: https://bearriverinfo.org/watershed-description/bear-lake/index

Where's the Beach?

Our main reason for tracking lake elevation is to understand how far you have to walk to get to the water. Below are some photos from past seasons showing how far out the beach is located relative to lake elevation. 2004 was the lowest it had been in 70 years. 2020 has been more typical of the past 4 years.

Satellite Images

These images are from Google Earth showing two extremes from 2004 to 2011.

Water Level Tracking

For the past several years, water levels have been somewhat similar. The chart below shows how the level changes throughout the year and how the current year is tracking by comparison.