Hiking Antelope IS State Park, UT

[Jim Kenney]

A quick 10 photos from 22 March 2024 at a great state park (22k acre island surrounded by the Great Salt Lake) about 40 mins from downtown Salt Lake City. Took a break from skiing today to do two short/scenic hikes. Weather sunny and 60 degs. You want to visit Antelope Island (AI) before late spring as tiny flying insects can be bad later. Saw swarms of them driving causeway to island, but none once there.

First stop was the parking lot for Buffalo Point. Pretty day not much wind, not too many visitors. This is near north end of island.

Heading up Buffalo Pt trail.

View west from top of Buffalo Pt. White Rock Bay looks almost tropical if not for snowy mtns in distance. "White Rock" is tiny in center of photo. Some years it is not surrounded by water.

There is some cool wildlife on AI, including antelope/pronghorn, birds of prey, and lots of Buffalo.

After the one mile Buffalo Pt hike I drove a couple miles to do a three mile hike to Dooly Knob near center of island. This sign is about half way there from the spot where I parked my car.

Hiking to Dooly Knob, elevation 5278'.

Quick photo op on way to Dooly, that's Frary Peak in background to the south.

View looking north to Buffalo Pt from top of Dooly Knob.

View east towards Ogden from top of Dooly Knob, believe Snowbasin ski area is on other side of white mtns to left. My parking spot is to lower right.

Black specs in lower center of this shot from Dooly Knob is a larger herd of Bison.

Bonus shot, Returning south toward SLC, this mountaintop structure is visible looking east from I15 near Bountiful. Is this part of Snowbasin or something else, an observatory?

Antelope Island is a great outing for an off day if you're an Easterner on a ski week to Utah.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Correction about Snowbasin location, I think it's further north than my initial guess, it's in the white mtn range to the left in this photo, and the FAA observatory is to the far right:

 

[Daniel]

Jim, the tiny flying insects you referred to are brine flies. The brine fly hatch is probably in its early stages right now and those insects are an important food source for the great variety of bird life that resides around and migrates through the Great Salt Lake area. The huge domed structure (resembling a golf ball) situated on the crest of the Wasatch Mountain range above Davis County houses a massive antenna and is associated with the Federal government's defense network. I haven't been up there for probably 3 decades but one used to be able to get reasonably close to it. I've ascended the ridge line by van, dirt bike, and mountain bike and that terrain can be accessed from both Farmington and Bountiful. Lots of switchbacks and not recommended during mud season or long holiday weekends (no guardrails back then and possibly still none now). Here's a Hill Air Force Base link for more information about the "golf ball": https://www.hill.af.mil/News/Commen...hat-is-that-golf-ball-on-top-of-francis-peak/

 

[bbinder]

Any thoughts on the relative level of Great Salt Lake compared to previous years?

 

[Jim Kenney]

Any thoughts on the relative level of Great Salt Lake compared to previous years?

This is just from a quick google, and it's hard for me to find definitive numbers, but record low of elevation of the surface of the lake might have been 4191' in Aug 2021. Current level I believe is 4194. So it's low, but not record level.

 

[Daniel]

Any thoughts on the relative level of Great Salt Lake compared to previous years?

Here's some factual information that should answer your question:

Great Salt Lake's levels are now as high as last year's peak. How much more will it gain?

How much the Great Salt Lake gains this year is to be determined, but a new ballpark estimate offers hope that it could reach an

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