The guide at the Capitol Building, said the best way to see the Great Salt Lake was from Antelope Island. Since it was close to the airport and I had a few hours before my flight home, I went over to take a look.
At the entrance, Tinky Winky took a Bison ride.
Signage at entrance: “Antelope Island Causeway – A 7.2-mile, earthen causeway follows a natural sand bar extending from this shore area to the northern tip of Antelope Island. It separates Farmington Bay on the south and the main body of the lake. The original road, constructed by Davis County, was completed in 1969, when Antelope Island was designated a state park. Picnic and swimming facilities were built at beautiful Bridger Bay and tourism blossomed through 1981."
"Then in the early 1980s, northern Utah received unprecedented amounts of rainfall. In three years, the lake rose in elevation from 4,198 feet above sea level to a historic high of 4,212 feet. Eventually this causeway was under eight feet of water and the island was closed to the public. During the flood years, a unique vehicle called a Gamma-goat was used to drive to the island.”
“Cause For A Causeway – In 1990 and 1991, pressure mounted on the state legislature to rebuild the Antelope Island Causeway and reopen the park...new causeway was dedicated October 31, 1993. Antelope Island State Park is one of northern Utah’s favorite tourist attractions. As you drive along the causeway, notice the difference in water color between the two sides. This is due to the difference in salt content between Farmington Bay and the main body of the lake.”
Signage: "California Gulls of Egg Island – The cycle is many centuries old. Each spring when sunlight chases the winter chill from the boulders strewn about on Egg Island, thousands of California Gulls return to nest. Instinct brings them here year after year. Other birds have nested here. Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Caspian Tern and American White Pelican. But since Stansbury first recorded California Gull in 1849, this species has been the most regular and abundant. California Gulls raise their young with security from predators that this island site provides. Gulls are noisy and gregarious. Adept and agile on the wing, they can fly strong, straight, and graceful; hover stationary while surveying below, plunge headfirst with a splash into the water, and perform a variety of complex aerial acrobatics."
“In April and early May, thousands of adults sit on nests scattered about in every nook and cranny of this one acre island. The nest, a shallow depression, scantily lined, usually holds three splotched eggs. Piping peaks in May...but remain for days or weeks near the nest. Early summer is hot. Sparse is even a solitary bush or blade of grass. But cooling shadows cast by rocks or a standing parent shield the rapidly growing chicks from the scorching sun. In five to six weeks, the gulls are adult size...mid-July, young California Gulls hatched on Egg Island begin appearing on the Pacific Coast. Many will remain there until they are ready to breed at four years of age...As the gulls approach maturity, instinct bring then back to Great Salt Lake to breed.”
Another Bison ride:
They also had a visitors center with a gift shop:
Bison camouflage:
There were so many of these birds nesting outside the visitors center, the entrance was a dropping hazard.
At the airport, Tinky Winky finds another large bear:
