Visiting Utah's Antelope Island State Park

Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah (about 40 miles from Salt Lake City) is one of the most scenic and unique state parks I've ever visited. It's a place of scenic beauty, wildlife, beaches, hiking, biking, boating and history located within a short drive from the urban sprawl of Salt Lake City. We spent a few hours there last summer - on my birthday actually - and I was just mesmerized by this place. 

History of Antelope Island

Antelope Island is the largest of 10 islands located within the Great Salt Lake. When Mormon settlers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, the island was used as a cattle and sheep ranch. The Fielding Garr Ranch was owned by the church until the 1870's - you can still visit the ranch today - and the ranch house, built in 1848, is the oldest Mormon built home still on it's original foundation in Utah. Settlement by outsiders came by way of the Homestead Act but most settlers were extremely unsuccessful. John Dooley Sr. purchased the island for one million dollars and it became one of  the largest sheep ranching operations in the western US. The state of Utah purchased it in 1984 and started converting the island to a state park. 

Antelope Island State Park

Today Antelope Island State Park is home to free-ranging bison, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and antelope along with millions of birds. Visitors can hike or bike, camp or stroll along the beach or visit the historic Fielding Garr Ranch. There are kayak and paddle board rentals at the marina in the park, you can swim in the Great Salt Lake, learn about the park at the Visitor Center and it is an international dark sky park ideal for star gazing.

Scenic Drives and Wildlife Viewing

You access the park by driving over a 7 mile causeway with almost mystical views of the salt flats and the Great Salt Lake. We started our visit by stopping at the Visitor Center to learn what we could about the park. Next we drove the scenic roads of the park to do some wildlife viewing. The most famous residents of the park are some 600 American bison which were introduced to the island in 1893. They can be seen in fields, along the roads and laying in the salt flats near the lake. (Please be advised that you need to have extreme caution and not get close to the bison - the week before we were there a runner was gored and killed by a bison) It's a pretty cool way to see bison up close and personal - though admittedly at a safe distance - in the wild. We also saw some of the parks namesake antelope (pronghorn) along with some beautiful scenery.

The Great Salt Lake

We decided that we also had to visit the lake since it was our first visit. We parked at the beach and made the trek down to the sand to put our feet in the lake. The salt is so prevalent that you can even smell it. And the other really unique thing about the lake were the bugs- brine flies- that we kicked up as we walked along the beach - you could see easily see them hovering in droves by our feet. That was a bit intimidating but we learned at the visitor center that they don't bite or even land on humans. Brine flies are one of only 4 things that are able to live in the salt of the lake - brine flies, brine shrimp, algae and bacteria. All of which bring the birds to the lake. So we want them around.

Visiting Antelope Island was such a unique place, such a cool experience and such an enjoyable day. Utah has a real gem on their hands!

How about you? Have you visited Antelope Island? Or been in the Great Salt Lake?

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