One of my favorite movies is “Gentlemen Jim” starring Errol Flynn and Ward Bond. After a drunken night where Errol’s character wakes up in Salt Lake City, he is asked why did you come to Salt Lake City, he replied, “I wanted to see the Lake.” We wanted to see the Great Salt Lake too.
To view the lake, we traveled to Antelope Island, a state park that is easily accessed via causeway. We were both surprised at how large the Lake was and how close it is to downtown Salt Lake City. From the map you can see it’s proximity to the city.
The Great Salt Lake is the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere at around 1,700 square miles.
Because there is no outlet for the water, the Lake has very high salinity (far saltier than seawater) and its mineral content is steadily increasing. Due to the high density resulting from its mineral content, swimming in the Great Salt Lake is similar to floating. Its shallow, warm waters cause frequent, sometimes heavy lake-effect snows from late fall through spring.
Despite being called “America’s Dead Sea”, the lake provides habitat for millions of native birds, brine shrimp, shorebirds, and waterfowl. The Lake smells a little like sulphur due the minerals in the water.
While the name of the Island is Antelope Island, we didn’t see any, but we did see buffalo. Every year on the island, there is a buffalo round-up to control the population and raise money for the island.
We camped at the Wasatch View Estates and RV Park. We had a beautiful view of the Wasatch Mountain Range.
