An Isle in the sun

ANTELOPE ISLAND — Astronauts and cosmonauts can't miss the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island when they float over the United States.

The new manager of Antelope Island State Park wants to make the park more visible to those on the ground.

Some 300,000 visitors a year drive the 7.2-mile causeway from the western edge of Davis County to the northern end of the island and the park entrance. Ron Taylor, park manager since June 2002, believes that number can be doubled without negatively affecting the park's wildlife and habitat. His bosses in the Division of State Parks agree, and Davis County's tourism officials and tourist-oriented businesses enthusiastically endorse the idea.

Too many Utahns think of the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island as a place where flies bite, the shoreline stinks and there's nothing to do, tourism officials say. But that's a wrong impression fostered by a superficial acquaintance with the real lake, they say.

"Most residents of Utah ignore the Great Salt Lake because they don't think of it as an attractive place," says Spence Kinard, assistant director of the Utah Travel Council.

The best view of the Great Salt Lake is from Antelope Island, where a fresh, saltwater smell wafts across the water, the bugs don't always bite and the best sunsets in the West can be seen. Add to that the smooth, "soft" oolitic sand that makes up the beach on the north end of the island, along with the experience of seeing wildlife, and the experience is unrivaled.

How do park officials persuade people to visit the 28,000-acre park, especially the 630,000 annual international visitors to Utah and the 17 million nonresident visitors?

Park manager Taylor is forming a committee in February to conduct a yearlong study of access issues and make suggestions on improving visitor numbers. "This process will give us the science of doing things right. We want to see how much access the island can bear — how much we can do without sacrificing its pristine nature and silence, things our visitors tell us they cherish the most," Taylor said.

"One of the things we want to promote is the view of the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island. There is no other place you can see the lake and the beautiful sunsets like from the island," he said. "We hear stories of people who live in Davis County and have never been on the island. They've never seen the views or the historic Fielding Garr Ranch."