Eye Witness Stories of the Bear Lake Monster on the Idaho, Utah Boarder Will Keep You From Swimming

I watched Jaws when I was far to young and still have a slight fear of swimming in lakes and rivers if I cant see my feet in the water. Even as an adult there is a little fear in me that something that I cant see will grab me and pull me down. After hearing and reading the stories about the Bear Lake Monster, I don't think I would be brave enough to swim at least not deep and definitely not at night in the massive lake.

Bear Lake is the largest lake in the state and spans over Idaho and Utah. Bear Lake is so big in fact that it can be seen from space. According to a RD article, "Oceans aren’t the only large bodies of water to be captured by astronauts and satellites. One of the Rocky Mountains larger lakes, the 19-mile long Bear Lake, is on the border of Idaho and Utah. The lake caught the eye of an astronaut; this photo was taken with a Nikon digital camera on September 6, 2016."

It is so big that just about anything can hide in that massive body of water, maybe even a sea monster. According to Legends of America, "The serpent-like monsters were up to 90 feet in length, could move faster than running horses, and were witnessed by several different people. According to the many who have spied the serpent, it has a thin head, a largemouth, and small legs that it utilizes to move swiftly through the water.  Others have said they have seen the monster crawl up onto the beach with short flipper-like legs and can hold its head high and turning it from side to side as it looks about."

While the fishing is great in the massive lake, to this day, many especially locals who grew up hearing the stories, refuse to night fish on the lake. Wikipedia says, "In recent years the monster is considered to be a tourist attraction. The last reported sighting of the monster was in 2002."

If you have a little over 20 minutes and want to learn ALL about the Bear Lake Monster this youtube video does a deep dive -see what I did there- into the history and current beliefs about the beast.

The local and surroundings communities have really take hold of the Bear Lake Monster stories and have businesses, events and more named after it.