But here’s something you might not know: Bear Lake is also home to some of the best off-road and snowmobile trails in the entire state. I’m talking Moab-quality terrain — only instead of red rock, you’ll be crawling through granite, tightly packed alpine forests, and summiting sweeping mountain vistas. If visiting in autumn like I recently did, the landscape turns golden yellow, crimson red, burnt orange, and tawny brown with the changing of leaves.

I had no idea the getting was this good until after my first stay with Beaver Creek Lodge and their unbeatable Uncharted Society (unchartedsociety.com) power sports tours. In the warmer months, you can enjoy guided and unguided off-road drives on the latest Can-Am side-by-sides or cruise the stunning lake on Sea-Doos. In the winter months, the lodge opens hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails.

With no snow on the ground, my brother-in-law and I took a half and half off-road and water tour: righteous trail-riding across all sorts of terrain in the morning (deserts, forests, mountains, and mud pools on private land), followed by a ginormous sack lunch from a local bakery, a few hours of jet skiing on the lake, and one last sunset ride back to the lodge. We got dirty. We got wet. We conquered both technical and wide open trails. And we bonded with our fellow riders and expert guide (and lodge owner), Nate.

It was a stunning, bluebird day that almost ended my marriage. By that I mean the trails were so gnarly I temporarily lost my wedding band of 22 years. I say temporarily because after scouring my vehicle, gloves, and retracing my steps as best I could, my brother-in-law pulled a needle (aka my ring) from a parking lot sized “haystack” made of gravel. “I’m still married!” I exclaimed to scattered laughter.

As for the lodge, fewer places in Northern Utah are more cozy, clean, and rustic than Bear Creek. We stayed two nights and enjoyed the ridiculously comfy beds and pillows that only someone who rides all day can appreciate. With vibes like a bonafide bed and breakfast, Bear Creek Lodge looks and smells brand new. Giant showers. Spacious game and dining rooms to unwind after a long day outdoors. There’s even a bonfire pit in the shadow of the surrounding trees and mountains that we didn’t get to use, because we were so darn tired from a full day of fun.

Like many Utahns, I’ve pilgrimaged to Bear Lake for decades, exclusively for boating and occasionally those “famous” raspberry shakes. I’ll will return for those. But I also have my sights set on offroad trails and epic snowmobiling now, in addition to its already proven water sports. To borrow the phrase, “I was once blind, but now I see.”

Thanks to the fine folks running Beaver Creek Lodge and the Garden City chapter of Uncharted Society, I learned that Bear Lake is so much more than the “Carribean of the Rockies.” It’s a hidden gem of top-rated off-road trails, in a state that’s internationally known for its amazing off-road trails.

That’s saying something.

Blake Snow contributes to fancy publications and Fortune 500 companies as a bodacious writer-for-hire and seasoned travel journalist to all seven continents. He lives in Provo, Utah with his wife, five children, and one ferocious chihuahua.