The elevation of these valleys is close to 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and the rest of the county is covered by mountains, including the Bear River Range.

[citation needed] Because of the high elevation, the climate is cold in winter and mild in summer, and the population is limited.

Various Native American peoples inhabited the Rich County region for thousands of years.

Rich County was believed to have first been visited by European-descended explorers in 1811, when trapper Joseph Miller discovered the Bear River.

In 1827, the first annual rendezvous of trappers occurred on the south shore of Bear Lake, a tradition that is still marked today.

The Oregon Trail, a heavily traveled route to the Northwest Territories, passed through the upper part of the future county (as defined by its original description).

Mormon leader Brigham Young, fearing this would lead to an influx of non-Mormons, called members of his flock to move to the area and begin its settlement.

The first settlement within the county's present boundary was Round Valley in 1863; located southwest of Laketown (settled 1864), it is now a ghost town.

The boundary as originally defined extended beyond Utah into southwestern Wyoming and southeast Idaho.

[7] The 1870 census for Rich County, Utah Territory enumerates a total of 1,672 residents in the eight Idaho communities of Bennington, Bloomington, Fish Haven, Liberty, Montpelier, Ovid, Paris and St.

[6][10] The county terrain slopes from the Bear River Mountain crests which form its western border, toward the east.

The Bear River Mountains lies along the western edge of the county, and Logan Canyon opens up to the west of Garden City, which is a quaint tourist town that lies on the western edge of Bear Lake.

The eastern slopes of the Bear River Range are an increasingly popular location for cabins.