Antelope Island, the largest of 10 islands on the Great Salt Lake, is home to hundreds of bison and deer, a small herd of antelope, and a few coyotes, bighorn sheep, rabbits, bobcats, golden eagles and a variety of birds.
 Buffalo graze on Antelope Island.  Tom Smart, Deseret News |
Minutes from office buildings and shopping centers, 1,300-pound bison are loping through a meadow that looks the same as it did 1,300 years ago. Aside from the sparsely developed northern tip of the island, and with the small exception of the historic Fielding Garr Ranch on the southeast side, this oasis on the lake remains an original, untouched land.
For decades the island was owned by private ranchers, but now the island is a state park where visitors can experience the delicate balance of nature and get a taste of the island's historic value.
Antelope Island State Park is accessed by crossing a 7-mile causeway that begins five miles off I-15 west of Layton. To reach the causeway take exit 335 north of Layton Hills Mall, turn west and follow Antelope Drive to the water's edge.
The island's two campgrounds remain open year round. The island's many hiking and biking trials, and scenic drives, provide great views of the Great Salt Lake. Currently, there are about 20 miles of trails in a root-like pattern leading from the park's gate. Mountain biking is the park's No. 1 choice of transportation. From the trailhead, bikers can pedal along a flat section near the shoreline or climb into the rugged cliffs along the little-seen western side of the island, past White Rock and Split Rock and Elephant Head, eventually coming out near a point where pioneers built a corral out of rocks found there.
Antelope Island is also a favorite for bird watchers, who love to view the migrating fowl gorging on brine flies or nesting in the shoreline's salty marshes.
The main attraction to Antelope Island continues to be the bison herd, which ranges between 550 and 700 head. The herd is the third-largest publicly owned herd in the United States, following only those found in Yellowstone National Park and South Dakota's Custer State Park. Although between 50 million and 60 million bison roamed the plains more than two decades ago, the animals were nearly wiped out in the 1800s by greedy hunters.
Bison, however, are not native to Antelope Island. In 1891, Ogden publisher William Glasmann was visiting a friend in Texas when he saw a privately owned buffalo herd grazing on the ranch of "Buffalo" Jones. Obsessed with the thought of buffalo in Utah, Glasmann purchased 12 and had them shipped to Ogden.
The four bulls, four cows and four calves, grazed for two years on the Great Salt Lake's south shore until Glasmann sold the herd to a rancher who agreed to place them on Antelope Island. Historians say the craft carrying the buffalo to the island nearly capsized.
Archeological evidence suggest that American Indians visited the island at least 6,000 years ago, but the island was first occupied by pioneers in 1845. In 1848, Brigham Young assigned Fielding Garr to oversee the LDS Church's cattle herd, which was located on the island. Garr's adobe house is the oldest pioneer structure still on its original foundation and is the longest continuously lived-in house in Utah, having been occupied until 1980.
The LDS Church owned the island until 1872, then sold it to a private ranching interest. It remained a private ranch until 1981, when the state of Utah, which owned a small tip on the north end, purchased the entire 28,000-acre island for $4.2 million.
For more information go to parks.state.ut.us/parks/www1/ante.htm.
© 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company