Spiral Jetty
Unlike 'Metaphor, the Tree of Utah,' (we call it the weird Ball Tree) which is easily viewed from I-80 as you head for Wendover to gamble, Spiral Jetty is located on the Great Salt Lake's north shoreline. You can wander it to your heart's content, but ....
The first thing you should know? There are no exit signs stating 'Jetty' along I-15. So if you're coming up from Salt Lake City, you either know to take the Corinne exit (also known as the Golden Spike State Park exit). Or you don't.
Then you drive. Through Corinne, through the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, past numerous public gun ranges, past NASA's huge in-the-middle-of-freaking-nowhere propulsion testing facility. An easily-missed 'take a left here' keeps you on the paved road and aiming for the Golden Spike [tiniest state park ever, open 10-5/362.]
Passing Golden Spike means you're getting closer. It also means you're about to leave paved roadbed.
As dirt roads go, the road to the Jetty isn't a bad one. There are numerous cattle guards to cross (5, exactly, and lift your feet for good luck), and a few forks in the road aren't clearly marked (TG for GPS). At one point Siri became delirious and had to be shut down, as she kept insisting the 'destination was on the left' when in fact the only thing on the left were numerous Kettle Cattle Company signs warning KEEP OFF or face the consequences. No cattle could be seen.
For a long while, the Great Salt Lake shimmers in the distance, leaving you to wonder 'Are we There Yet?' Then, rounding a bend, you see a strange, ghostly collection of old piers fixed into basically dry lake bed (the lake's water level is quite low) and after that: the Jetty.
My daughter claimed it was the most anti-climatic moment of her life, but for reasons I won't elaborate, I disagree.
The Jetty is made of basalt (a form of lava), sand (actually, it's oolite, but whatever) and salt. It spirals into the lake bed in a great swirl. Thrilled to have arrived, and frankly shocked by how many other people were there, we hopped from the car and settled into exploring.
Having been on Antelope Island and the southern shore of GSL (a huge, dead lake, though not nearly the size it was in prehistoric times when it was a fresh water lake covering about half of Utah), I was not prepared for lava rock. But it made sense. The northern shore of the lake is not that far from Idaho--and Idaho, in its Jurassic prime, was a volcanic waste land.
Sorry, I digress.
We wandered the Jetty, taking pictures and marveling at people who had walked off across the lake bed in search of the water (about a mile off). Then we went back to the abandoned piers and wandered those too. I found an old nickel, collected a bunch of salt (it looks like clear, sharp rocks) and investigated a buoy so large it could orbit the Earth as our third moon. (I'll post pics of it on my IG one of these days).
So! If you're ever itching to get off the beaten path, Spiral Jetty may be for you.
Disclaimer. I feel compelled to share the 'locals' secret: don't ever, EVER visit the Great Salt Lake in spring (especially May). You'll be eaten alive by invisible gnats [the things are flying piranha]. The bugs are immune to insect repellent (in fact, I think they're drawn to it like I am to chocolate), and even a two-minute walk will leave you with hundreds of bites along your hairline. I should know. Been there. Done that.
Just sayin'
M
The first thing you should know? There are no exit signs stating 'Jetty' along I-15. So if you're coming up from Salt Lake City, you either know to take the Corinne exit (also known as the Golden Spike State Park exit). Or you don't.
Then you drive. Through Corinne, through the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, past numerous public gun ranges, past NASA's huge in-the-middle-of-freaking-nowhere propulsion testing facility. An easily-missed 'take a left here' keeps you on the paved road and aiming for the Golden Spike [tiniest state park ever, open 10-5/362.]
Passing Golden Spike means you're getting closer. It also means you're about to leave paved roadbed.
As dirt roads go, the road to the Jetty isn't a bad one. There are numerous cattle guards to cross (5, exactly, and lift your feet for good luck), and a few forks in the road aren't clearly marked (TG for GPS). At one point Siri became delirious and had to be shut down, as she kept insisting the 'destination was on the left' when in fact the only thing on the left were numerous Kettle Cattle Company signs warning KEEP OFF or face the consequences. No cattle could be seen.
For a long while, the Great Salt Lake shimmers in the distance, leaving you to wonder 'Are we There Yet?' Then, rounding a bend, you see a strange, ghostly collection of old piers fixed into basically dry lake bed (the lake's water level is quite low) and after that: the Jetty.
My daughter claimed it was the most anti-climatic moment of her life, but for reasons I won't elaborate, I disagree.
The Jetty is made of basalt (a form of lava), sand (actually, it's oolite, but whatever) and salt. It spirals into the lake bed in a great swirl. Thrilled to have arrived, and frankly shocked by how many other people were there, we hopped from the car and settled into exploring.
Having been on Antelope Island and the southern shore of GSL (a huge, dead lake, though not nearly the size it was in prehistoric times when it was a fresh water lake covering about half of Utah), I was not prepared for lava rock. But it made sense. The northern shore of the lake is not that far from Idaho--and Idaho, in its Jurassic prime, was a volcanic waste land.
Sorry, I digress.
We wandered the Jetty, taking pictures and marveling at people who had walked off across the lake bed in search of the water (about a mile off). Then we went back to the abandoned piers and wandered those too. I found an old nickel, collected a bunch of salt (it looks like clear, sharp rocks) and investigated a buoy so large it could orbit the Earth as our third moon. (I'll post pics of it on my IG one of these days).
So! If you're ever itching to get off the beaten path, Spiral Jetty may be for you.
Disclaimer. I feel compelled to share the 'locals' secret: don't ever, EVER visit the Great Salt Lake in spring (especially May). You'll be eaten alive by invisible gnats [the things are flying piranha]. The bugs are immune to insect repellent (in fact, I think they're drawn to it like I am to chocolate), and even a two-minute walk will leave you with hundreds of bites along your hairline. I should know. Been there. Done that.
Just sayin'
M
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