Construction underway for new marina at Bear Lake
May 19, 2025, 9:03 PM | Updated: 9:04 pm
Bear Lake State Park, Jan. 2024 (Bear Lake State Park)
(Bear Lake State Park)
GARDEN CITY — Construction is underway for a brand new marina at Bear Lake State Park that promises hundreds of boat slips and easier access in and out of the water.
There’s often a big bottleneck on major holiday weekends at Bear Lake’s current marina. However, this new construction will do more than help boats get out. Park managers said a new second marina will help keep people safe during times when many boats are trying to come back in.
A new Bear Lake Marina could come to fruition in about three years.
“Oh, this is a really awesome point in time,” Richard Droesbeke, manager at Utah’s Bear Lake State Park, said.
Droesbeke pointed out that it took years to get here. Funding was approved back in 2022, but park officials had to find the right site and create and refine plans.
Richard Droesbeke speaks with KSL TV’s Mike Anderson. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)
“We’re moving a lot of Earth as a part of this project, and if winters are mild, our construction company can continue to work throughout the winter,” Droesbeke said. “If we have severe winters, it may take longer.”
About 360,000 tons of gravel will be brought in to build up the base and berm of the new marina. It will be larger than the current one, located just to the north.
“We’re going to have a launch ramp that’s 140 feet wide,” Droesbeke said.
The new marina will also have a few hundred boat slips and wider launching lanes. That will make it easier to bring in boats as tough storms roll in.
But there are also measures to protect the lake, as there will be a dunk tank to clean boats that may be contaminated by quagga mussels and other invasive species.
“(That) will mean a level of protection that it’s (the lake) never seen before,” said Brady Long with the Bear Lake Watch.
Long said he’s please to see that addition and the efforts made to minimize environmental impact, all the while, helping keep up with ever-increasing visitor demand.
“It’s going to promote more business. We’re going to have more boat services, more food, more amenities, all those things are just going to grow because of it (the new marina),” said Presidents of the Bear Lake Valley Chamber of Commerce, Patrick Lloyd.
As this major piece of growth is happening here, construction is also underway this summer on the Idaho side, for some new campsites and day-use beach area on the east side of the lake, another sign of the growing demand for waterfront space out here.
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