Rainbow Cove Campground

(Video pending at YouTube.com/GrandAdventure, and will be added here as a blog once available)

This place can be busy from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but right now in late September we're the only folks here for the second night in a row. We're only about 25 yard back from the gorgeous azure waters of Bear Lake. The setup is somewhat unusual in that the sites are all massive, built in pairs, and each has two picnic tables and one metal fire ring. It's $12/night dry camping for the first vehicle per site, and $10 for each additional vehicle as it's clearly built to have several RV friends camping together at each site. They're built like small group sites.

There's no shade at all as ground cover is limited to sagebrush. Our site is immaculate. At this time of year we have non-stop solar from 9:30 a.m. when the sun rises above the ridge east of the campground, to 7 p.m. when it sets across the lake. Verizon 4G LTE is 3-4 bars and a solid 36.1 Mbps down/44.4 Mbps up, unboosted.

In the 14 years I've lived in Utah the east side road at Bear Lake used to access this campground was somewhat narrow gravel. However, they're presently in the midst of a huge reconstruction project to widen, grade and pave the road that is to be completed by late October 2018. Although the road signs say "Closed - Local Traffic Only," campers in the lake's east side campground are considered local traffic and all three Utah campgrounds along the road are open.

Some campgrounds along the lake were filled with RV's. Others were empty

The sites are pretty big, we had no problems finding a spot for “Mo” our 35’ Toy hauler which is also a pull through. The sites have fire pits and picnic tables. Great spot to go SUP or kayaking, there’s even a boat ramp at the entrance. We are just spending one night but we will be back!!

A very nice part of Bear Lake state park, as all along the east side they have several other camp areas to pick from. Riding my bike on the roadside path I could get a good look at the others. Rainbow Cove offers the best big open campsites with all but 2 on the lakeside. All you get is a picnic table & vault toilet access for amenities, but came use the main camps dump & water station before arriving. The views are wonderful, surrounded by mountains 360, clear mt water, we could see huge carp swimming along the shore from our elevated campsite. A short trail from each campsite maybe 20 feet down to the lake, where you can launch kayaks, fish, take walks. It did start fill up come Friday afternoon, by Saturday morning it was full. Which makes getting this one further out better, as the ski dos are mostly in the southern section of the lake closer to the main campground.

Stayed here 9/7/2020 to 9/13/2020. I got in on a Monday (Labor Day) just as everyone was clearing out. I nearly had the place to myself for most of the week, but people started coming in on Friday. I would guess that during peak season it could be tough to get a spot here on the weekend. Rainbow Cove is all first come first serve dry camping, but there are many other campgrounds in the park, as well as RV parks in the surrounding area if you aren't able to get a spot.

I was worried about finding a spot to fit my 26' TT based on some of the other reviews, but found that the sites in Rainbow Cove are MASSIVE. The people next to me had 4 rigs in one site, plus a boat. I think they're setup more for groups. Either way, it made for really easy access and a lot of privacy, especially at the end sites. I'd recommend driving through and checking out all the sites before picking one, because when you get to the end there is a large turnaround.

The Verizon signal here was fantastic. I usually had 3-4 bars, but the speeds were lightning fast (unfortunately I never did a speed test so I can't give any numbers). If you need to dump/fill, you can use the main campground at Rendezvous Beach. They have a really nice area with 3 dump stations.

As far as views go, this was one of the best campsites I've ever had. It was amazing to open my door every morning and see the bright blue water with the mountains in the background. Some nights when there was a breeze you could hear the waves hitting the beach and it felt like you were camped on the ocean. And to top it all off, you're surrounded by sagebrush so when the wind hits just right you get an amazing herbal smell.

All the sites seem to have a small trail that takes you down to the water where you can swim and hang out on the beach. I'm not sure if there is normally a policy for dogs on the beach, but it was so quiet while we were there that my dog had a blast playing in the water the whole week and no one gave us a hard time.

Overall this was one of my favorite campsites in my last year and a half on the road. We had some crazy wind the first couple nights due to a random winter storm that passed through the area, but aside from that everything about this place was perfect.

The Lake is beautiful and will present with different Colors depending on the weather. Was here from Sept 9 to the 11 th. Had some kick ass winds the first two nights. Trails to the lake from each site. Paved road all the way to the site. If you need supplies or dump & propane KOA at Garden City about 20 miles on the west side. You can rent boats or jetski's there as well in Garden City. Want to keep animals away from the brush. There are rattlers about.

First... don’t come down from the north on the east side of the lake. You’ll find 10 miles of washboard dirt to navigate. Took me nearly 30 min and felt like an earthquake.

All the campgrounds on the East are great spots and they all have some room for my 34’ rig. Rainbow has no power or water, so is $15/nt. I was shocked when I saw the campground was closed already (oct 10), but I got lucky with 1 site of the 4 left open large enough. These sites next to the boat launch apparently are open all-year. The closed sites look amazing though and I would come back here when they are open.

The bigger drawback is the mouse infestation. I am up to 12 kills so far in my first 4 days. There were 5 inside the RV by midnight on the first day. Running the generator all night seems to keep them out; which isn’t so bad since the temps are 30ish. But still would be perfectly ok saving the fuel and bundling up. If I hadn’t already paid for the week, I likely would have gone down the road to the OR campground to pay $30/nt for electric and water sites.

We checked out the full-hook up site north first which was 99% full, but thank God we didn't need that and could boondock because we ended up with our own 3 acre parking lot right on this beautiful lake. There were about 4 other sites north of us (only one occupied), also with their own lake access and very private, and there are other dry campgrounds along this part of the lake. The down side is we were in a gravel parking lot, but did have a picnic table at least. The beach is rocks and not practical to access the lake for swimming, but there is a little dock nearby at the boat launch. Amazing view, 4/5 comfort.

We checked in late on a Friday and had a nice big campsite all to ourselves. Came in late evening, swam in the lake, and left the day after. The road into the campsites was a decent dirt road and shouldn't be difficult for any vehicle to get through. Make sure to pay via envelope at the gate before settling in a site.

Spots are large and have a great view with access to the beach. The sunsets from this side of the lake are stunning. Pit toilet was super clean. Annoying that non residents have to pay $25 while residents only pay $20. The sign coming in says water at each site but there was no water to be found.
We found out that if you stay at one of the primitive camping sites owned by the State Park, you can drive up to Rendezvous Beach and use the showers there for free.