Great Salt Lake
Since it has no outlets (except evaporation), a huge amount of minerals has settled in the lake over the ages creating levels of salinity that can reach as high as nine times that of seawater. This means that fish and most other aquatic species cannot survive in this super-salty brew. Only certain types of algae, tiny brine shrimp and brine flies can tolerate the high salt content. But there’s a silver lining at work in this seemingly horrid environment—in the fact that brine flies, numbering in the hundreds of billions, provide fodder for a huge variety of birds, including the largest staging population of Wilson’s Phalarope in the world as well as the nation’s largest colony of American White Pelicans. Astonishing too is the annual mass migration of up to five million Eared Grebes. Other winged visitors following the Pacific Flyway include Avocets, Bald Eagles, Snowy Plovers, Swallows, Sandpipers, Stilts, Curlews, and many others. A surprising number of four-legged critters reside on the lake’s 17 islands, principally on the largest of them, Antelope Island. Its 28,000 acres are home to a herd of 600 American bison along with antelope, mule deer, bighorn sheep and coyotes that can be seen roaming the vast rangeland of the former 19th- century Fielding Garr Ranch. The historic ranch, founded in 1848 by Mormon pioneers, continued grazing sheep and cattle until 1981 when it was signed over to become Antelope Island State Park.
Located less than an hour’s drive northwest of Salt Lake City, Antelope Island State Park is precisely where you should go for RV camping on the Great Salt Lake. Once you’ve paid the entrance fee and crossed the 7-mile Davis Causeway you should drop by the newly renovated visitor center for any information or directions you may need. The park offers quite a variety of things to see and do. You’ll definitely want to take a dip to experience the sensation of floating like a cork in the lake’s extremely salty water. (It’s a good idea to wear a scuba mask or goggles to protect your eyes from stinging). Hiking, mountain biking, birdwatching, and photography are popular visitor pursuits as well, and you can book horseback riding tours of the park through Rhodes Valley Outfitters (435-300-8563). A visit to Fielding Garr Ranch will add some historical perspective to your visit with a tour of four well-preserved ranch buildings dating to the mid- 19th century. Fronting Antelope Island’s finest beach, Bridger Bay Campground offers the park’s best RV camping with 64 sites, 35 of them with water and electric service and easy access to flush toilets and showers. The surefire way to reserve a site is to see utahstateparks. reservamerica.com or you can call 800-322-3770.
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COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE SUMMER 2026 | 29
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