Antelope Island is one of the crowning gems of the state park system. It's also probably the best way to experience the Great Salt Lake without a boat.
The view from Ladyfinger Point
The lake at sunset- you basically can't go wrong with a sunset over this lake. Always spectacular
There's experiences for the family, the casual traveler, and the more intense hikers and mountain bikers. There are many trails for these activities, notably the Frary Peak trail. This peak is accessible pretty much every day of the year except maybe immediately after a huge snow, and relatively easy as far as peaks around SLC go. It will give you a different view than the peaks in the Wasatch as you will be looking at them instead of in them. I climbed this one in November a couple years ago.
View from the top
Benchmark
Another view from the top
My husband in a little tunnel you get to pass through on your way up
Frary Peak from the north side of the island
A sampling of the other trails- the path to Centry Peak and mushroom spring on the south side of the island
I only recommend the island in the colder months, late October-early April at the latest. This is because of the Brine Flies. The stench of swarms of the brine flies. You will catch a whiff on your way down the causeway. If you go in winter, don't worry, that will be gone once you reach the island. If you go in summer, welcome to your next few hours. I remember as a kid not wanting to go anywhere near the water, because in summer there's just mats of dead brine flies several yards out at least from every shore. And brine flies just swarming around your head and not so slowly driving you insane. When you go in winter, you'll see the mats of brine fly carcasses on the shore. Luckily they aren't stinky unless it's hot out. The smell associated with the island is dead brine flies. Just don't do it. Don't go in summer. Also, that's when there will be more swarms of out-of-towners, people coming for weddings and stopping on their way to Yellowstone after flying into SLC.
The darker brown patches are brine fly mats
Idk why but it doesn't get that cold out there in the winter and I was able to camp here in February comfortably before. It got down right to freezing, but it often does that in the mountains in summer, so no different than I was used to.
Camping in February- sunrise
I was able to comfortably wade into the lake in February. Note- your skin will get SO salty. Bring a towel and some lotion if you plan to do this!
There is a ranch on the island near the end of the road that I remember being super fun as a kid. They had ropes where you could learn to wrangle a barrel horse, and you could kind of play around with some stuff in the barn I think. There also used to be an injured deer that roamed around there as a pet basically, but it recently passed. There's always volunteers there to tell the human history on the island.
Whisper the Deer
It's called Antelope Island, but you're more likely to see a buffalo! There are bison, pronghorn antelope, and bighorn sheep on the island. If you drive through the whole island, you are very likely to spot a herd of bison. The bison are not there naturally, they were brought by ranchers. They maintain one of the purest bison herds as far as DNA goes on this island, as in they haven't mated with other tamed ungulates ie cows. They do a round up here every October and check on the health of the bison, do any vaccinations necessary, and sell off the excess bison that the island can not support to other ranchers. They also sometimes introduce a couple of these bison into Yellowstone to help diversify the gene pool. Pretty neat!
Lynsie and I at the buffalo round up
I went on a Tuesday after I taught at an elementary school in Syracuse, only 20 minutes away. I wandered around Ladyfinger Point, which is a walk-in campground; you have to walk your gear a couple hundred feet from your car to camp. There are 5 non reserve-able spots at this campground. This is also my favorite places to access the shore of the Great Salt Lake. It's rockier and tends to have less flies than other places I've been. I got to see some neat plants, and saw some ooids- these are sedimentary rocks found at the shoreline that form in layers around something small in the center, usually a brine fly carcass!
Ooids right at the shoreline
It was very quiet there, when you're on this side of the island, the island blocks the noise from I-15 and you can just hear the wind and the lake and the birds. When I was standing there peacefully, I could kind of see how a lot of folklore came to be back in the day. I heard birds screeching that I couldn't see- easy to see how people might think there are hidden banshees screeching out there. The rocks were changing colors and their shadows as the clouds moved and the sun started setting- easy to see how someone might confuse the movement of the shadows with a goblin or elf hopping around the rocks. It was so still out, but the vastness of the lake and movement of the light across the earth made everything seem alive- so easy to personify inanimate objects and give them life.
This park is awesome but only go when it's cold out! And make sure to pay attention to the little things- there's not a lot of large plants on the island, but lots of beauty in the details. Check it out.
Zooming in on the little beautiful details in a tiny puddle
Note: If you have the annual state parks pass, you will still need to pay the $2 causeway fee, as the causeway to get on the island is not run or maintained by the Utah State Parks, and is a wholly separate pot of funding.
