ST. CHARLES – The sleepy, little town approximately 10 miles north of Garden City on the west side of Bear Lake is mostly known for its turn off to North Beach State Park. It is also known for the memorial for Gutzon Borglum (the sculptor of Mount Rushmore), Minnetonka Cave and the Minnetonka Market and Cafe which is open 12 months a year.
The sleepy little town may see some big changes in the next few years, however. It would not be out of the question to double or triple the population of the town if the Seven Mile Ranch grows to capacity as expected.
Currently, the town has a population of less than 150 residents. Seven Mile Ranch is expecting to have more homes than there are St. Charles residents.
The housing development with a mile of beach front property along the west side of Bear Lake has the same white sand as North Beach State Park. When the development is finished, they expect to have 200 upscale 3,000 to 5,000 square foot homes.
Gary McKee, a broker with Bear Lake Realty, said they’ve been working on the development for about seven years getting the logistics done, like the water rights and permits and other requirements.
“The whole project is about a 200-acre development of beach front, high-end houses,” he said. “Bear Lake has never seen anything like it.”
Thom Morgan, the developer of what they call a reserve not a resort, has lived in the Bear Lake area for about 20 years. He is originally from the Wasatch Front and has several developments he was instrumental in building. McKeller said they expect it to take 10 to 20 years for the development to reach capacity.
“We expect to have pickleball, tennis and basketball courts on the property as well as an indoor swimming pool,” he said. “Some of the residents will live there year-round and others will use theirs as vacation homes.”
They expect 25 percent to 50 percent of the home owners to live on the premises year-round and the others will use the homes for vacations.
“One of the main attractions is the trails to canyons nearby,” he said. “There are trails to Green Canyon, Bloomington Lake, Minnetonka Cave and others right out their backdoor.”
McKee said there are already 15 lots sold, and some are already under construction.
“We pump ground water into a man-made water feature that runs across the development into a pond we call Little Bear Lake,” McKee said. “The water circulates from an engineered ground water system. People can paddleboard and kayak on it.”
“It is a great hub for going to Garden City, Bear Lake State Park Marina and other Bear Lake locations,” he added. “We re expecting buyers from along the Wasatch Front. When I say the Wasatch Front, I’m talking anywhere from St. George to Idaho Falls and even over to Twin Falls.”