Utah Road Trip Antelope Island to Spiral Jetty

Just 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, the island is Utah’s largest (and most surprising) high-desert wilderness. Entering Antelope Island State Park’s 28,000 acres feels like driving into a mirage–where the ethereal Great Salt Lake stretches silver-blue to the horizon and herds of bison move through the sagebrush. Frary Peak, the island’s highest point, rolls out panoramic views via an all-day, 6.6-mile switchback trail; Buffalo Point Trail’s one-mile loop is a more moderate haul that still gets you a grand vista payoff.

In warmer temps, daytrippers float in saline waters at Bridger Bay Beach. Binoculars are essential: Antelope Island is famous for its free-roaming bison herd, along with pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and countless shorebirds. Every fall, the arrival of cooler temps brings the Antelope Island Bison Roundup, a thrilling western spectacle where cowboys guide hundreds of bison across the prairie.

For more deep ranching roots, island-trekkers can visit the Fielding Garr Ranch–one of the oldest continuously operating ranches in the West—founded in 1848. Utah State Parks offers a self-guided tour of Garr Springs, where Indigenous people and wildlife sourced water long before European settlement, and where the ranch house is the oldest Anglo building still standing on its original foundation statewide.

Getting there from Salt Lake City is part of the pleasure of this journey. Heading north on I-15 toward Layton, drivers head through Syracuse to the seven-mile causeway that stretches straight across the Great Salt Lake. The drive is a cinematic 45 minutes, with pelicans skimming the water and Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains rising in the distance. Cell service–and services, more generally—can be spotty; it’s wise to fill up the tank and bring provisions for the day.