Antelope Island State Park

Antelope Island State Park, in the southern arm of the Great Salt Lake 30 miles from Salt Lake City, is one of the most extraordinary state parks in the American West — a 28,000-acre granite island floating in the hypersaline, pink-tinged waters of the Great Salt Lake (the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere), home to a wild bison herd of 500-700 animals, extraordinary shorebird and waterfowl concentrations, and sweeping panoramic views of the Wasatch Front.

The Great Salt Lake’s salinity (up to 27% in the south arm — 8 times saltier than the ocean) prevents fish and most aquatic life, but supports extraordinary concentrations of brine shrimp and brine flies that in turn attract millions of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl in one of the great bird migration spectacles in North America. Antelope Island State Park is a treasured natural icon of Utah.

Antelope Island State Park offers wildlife watching (the highlight — the free-roaming bison herd of 500-700 animals is the primary draw; bison are commonly seen from the road and trails year-round, with the annual bison roundup in late October a spectacular event; pronghorn antelope (for which the island is named), mule deer, coyotes and bighorn sheep are also present), birding (the island’s position in the Great Salt Lake creates one of the finest shorebird and waterfowl concentration sites in North America — millions of eared grebes, Wilson’s phalaropes, American avocets, long-billed dowitchers and other species concentrate here in spring and fall), hiking the trail network (the Frary Peak Trail to the island’s high point at 6,596 feet offers the finest panoramic view of the lake and the Wasatch Front), swimming in the Great Salt Lake (the hyper-buoyant brine makes you nearly unsinkable — a novelty experience), cycling the causeway and island roads, stargazing (the island has excellent dark-sky potential toward the west over the lake), and camping at the campground. The bison herd and the birding are the singular draws.

Spring (April through May) and fall (August through October) are the finest birding seasons — spring brings huge concentrations of Wilson’s phalaropes (sometimes a million birds in the south arm) and American avocets in breeding plumage; fall brings migrant shorebirds and waterfowl (eared grebes in the millions in August and September). The late-October bison roundup is the signature annual event — cowboys on horseback drive the entire herd across the island to the corral in a scene straight out of the 19th-century West. Winter brings stunning Wasatch views and cold-weather wildlife. Spring and fall for the birding, and late October for the roundup, are the highlights.

Antelope Island has been inhabited periodically since prehistoric times — Native American peoples used the island seasonally. Kit Carson and John C. Frémont explored the island in 1845 (naming it Antelope Island for the pronghorn they encountered). Ranchers John Dooly and William Wenner established a cattle ranch on the island in 1848; a bison herd was introduced in 1893 (making Antelope Island one of the oldest and most successful bison conservation projects in the American West — the herd today numbers 500-700 animals). The island was acquired by the state of Utah in 1969 and opened as Antelope Island State Park in 1981. The annual bison roundup (a veterinary and population management event) has become one of Utah’s finest cultural traditions.

Antelope Island is a Precambrian crystalline basement island — the granite and quartzite of the island (some of the oldest rocks in Utah, 1.7 billion years old) are exposed as a ridge rising from the Great Salt Lake, a remnant of the ancient mountain range that was submerged when Lake Bonneville (the great Pleistocene lake) covered the region. The island’s granite core is exposed on Frary Peak. The wave-cut terraces from Lake Bonneville are visible on the island’s flanks. The Great Salt Lake’s dramatic color variations (from gray to green to pink to deep crimson, depending on the brine concentration and the dominance of different halophytic algae and bacteria) are especially visible from Frary Peak on the island.

Antelope Island State Park supports one of the most diverse wildlife concentrations in Utah — the free-roaming bison herd (500-700 animals, one of the oldest conservation herds in North America), pronghorn antelope (the largest pronghorn herd in Utah), mule deer, coyotes, California bighorn sheep, and the birding spectacle of the Great Salt Lake. The south arm of the lake concentrates millions of eared grebes (a global proportion of the species’ total population) and Wilson’s phalaropes in late summer (August-September — one of the great shorebird spectacles in North America). American avocets, black-necked stilts, marbled godwits and other species are abundant in spring.

The Great Salt Lake’s extreme salinity (up to 27% in the south arm) prevents fish but supports extraordinary concentrations of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) and brine flies (Ephydra hians) — the primary food sources for the millions of migratory birds that depend on the lake. The Great Salt Lake is a globally critical migratory-bird stopover, supporting a significant fraction of the Western Hemisphere population of several species (eared grebe, Wilson’s phalarope). The lake level has been declining dramatically (by approximately 11 feet since the 1980s), exposing lakebed and reducing the brine-shrimp habitat area — a major conservation crisis with global implications for the migratory birds. Protecting the lake level and the brine-shrimp habitat is the most critical Great Salt Lake conservation challenge.

Antelope Island State Park holds a treasured place among the natural icons of Utah — one of the most unique island ecosystems in the American West, the site of one of the oldest bison conservation herds in North America, a globally critical migratory-bird habitat in the Great Salt Lake, and the setting for one of the most distinctive traditional events in Utah (the annual bison roundup). Its combination of bison, birding, lake-buoyancy swimming and Wasatch panoramas make it exceptional. Antelope Island is a cherished natural and cultural icon of Utah.

Antelope Island State Park is in Davis County, Utah, reached via I-15 north from Salt Lake City to exit 335, then the Antelope Island Causeway (7 miles) across the south arm of the Great Salt Lake to the island. The drive from Salt Lake City takes about 40 minutes. The causeway is paved. A Utah State Parks vehicle fee applies. The island has a visitor center, campground, marina area and picnic facilities. Check Utah State Parks for current conditions (lake level affects causeway access; brine-fly activity can be intense in summer — a minor nuisance), fees and campground availability before visiting.

Utah State Parks manages Antelope Island State Park. The Great Salt Lake water level is the most critical conservation concern — the lake has dropped approximately 11 feet since the 1980s, exposing vast areas of lakebed (dry, salty dust that blows into Salt Lake City as toxic dust storms) and reducing the brine-shrimp habitat. The state of Utah and water users throughout the watershed are working on water conservation measures. Visitors help by maintaining safe distances from bison at all times (bison are wild animals and dangerous — stay at least 75 yards away; they can run 35 mph and are responsible for more injuries in national parks than any other large mammal), respecting all trail closures, and packing out all trash.

Bison are wild animals and dangerous — maintain a minimum 75-yard distance from bison at all times; never approach, feed or try to photograph them from close range (bison can charge without warning and run 35 mph). The brine water of the Great Salt Lake is extremely saline and will sting eyes and cuts — do not let it get in your eyes; shower immediately after swimming. Brine flies are abundant in summer near the lake shore (a brief nuisance; not biting flies). The causeway can be affected by extreme lake-level events (check current access). Respect the bison distance, the brine-water eye hazard and the brine-fly season.

Utah State Parks vehicle fee required. Camping requires advance reservation (check Utah State Parks). Maintain 75-yard minimum distance from bison at all times. No collecting of organisms from the lake or shore. Pets on leash; not allowed on swimming beaches in season. Check Utah State Parks for any current brine-fly advisories, lake conditions or bison-roundup event dates. Pack out all trash. Swimming in the lake is permitted at the designated swimming beach (shower facilities available — rinse the brine off thoroughly).

The Great Salt Lake State Marina (on the south shore of the lake, 10 miles west of Salt Lake City — sailboat launching on the lake), the Spiral Jetty (Robert Smithson’s 1970 earthwork at the northeast corner of the lake — a 1,500-foot spiral of black basalt rocks in the pink hypersaline north arm of the lake; one of the finest works of Land Art in the United States), the Bonneville Salt Flats (60 miles west), the Wasatch Front ski resorts (30-45 minutes from Salt Lake City into the mountains), and Salt Lake City (Utah’s capital with the Temple Square and the Natural History Museum of Utah) define the region. Antelope Island and the Spiral Jetty together define the Great Salt Lake experience and make one of the finest day trips from Salt Lake City.

Visit in late October for the annual bison roundup (check Utah State Parks for the specific date — it changes each year but is typically the last Saturday of October) — watching 700 bison driven across the island by cowboys on horseback is one of the most dramatic and authentic Western experiences remaining in the United States; the roundup is free to watch from the designated viewing area. In late August and early September, drive to the south beach in the morning and count the eared grebes and phalaropes on the pink lake — sometimes a million birds are visible from the shore. Hike Frary Peak for the 360-degree panorama of the lake, the Wasatch and the island’s bison below.