Antelope Island – Utah

Sometimes the travel experiences that our close to home can be some of the most special. Lindsay and I learned this lesson on a random Saturday in the spring of 2008. We were living in Downtown Salt Lake City at the time and were looking for something to do. I had heard from some friends at school that Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake was definitely worth a visit. I had always assumed that this was just a boring island with a few buffalo and we both went with quite a bit of hesitation. However, our assumptions were fading quickly as we made our way across the long causeway that connects the island with land. The mountain/barren landscape was a beautiful contrast to the waters of the lake. As we continued through the island we passed numerous beaches that almost looked like the northern California coastline…okay, not that cool but certainly unique to Utah. :) We eventually parked the car and took a hike with our dog Sundance. We ended up on top of a small mountain with numerous boulders that had an incredible view over the lake. After that we worked our way down around the island until we eventually came to a beautiful set of cliffs that overlooked the lake. We spent another hour there just looking out over the vast expanse of the Great Salt Lake. By the end of the evening we were strolling along the far shoreline of the island as a storm was coming across the lake in the distance. It is hard to describe the scenery of this place but we were both very impressed with the natural beauty of the area. Something about the barren desert landscape meeting the water of a huge lake created a unique natural landscape. Eventually our day of exploring on Antelope Island came to a close but we will never forget how pleasantly surprised we were by the beauty, and remoteness, of this unique place.