We spent a few days in the Perry/Brigham City area of Utah. They are located north of Salt Lake City. This was primarily just a rest stop but we did go visit Antelope Island State Park. We had planned on going one morning but it was mid afternoon before we arrived. We headed out but spotted a big RV dealer on the way and decided to make a short stop. Bruce is looking for new windshield wipers for the coach as he had to replace one of ours a couple of weeks back. These wipers are hard to find so he likes to keep a pair of spares with us at all times. We have not had any luck finding the size we need so tried once again with no luck. We then drove about 20 miles to a pharmacy to pick up a refill on a prescription, stopped at an auto parts place to look at wipers, had lunch then finally got over to Antelope Island.
It is only 42 square miles, is the largest of ten islands located within the Great Salt Lake. The island lies in the southeastern portion of the lake, near Salt Lake City, and becomes a peninsula when the lake is at extremely low levels. It was extremely low while we were there.
You have to drive over a long causeway to get to the park and it is supposed to be home to bison, mule deer, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope and other desert animals. They also have millions of birds that gather on the shore. We saw bison and the millions of birds, the mosquitos and flies.
When we first got into the park we stopped in a parking area to get our cameras out and ready, that is when we discovered the very large mosquitoes and flies. We somehow managed to bring a few back to the RV with us and I spent the next day killing them as we drove to our next RV park.
The island has a long history of settlement much of it by Mormons who used it for cattle. The land changed hands many times and there is a historical old ranch on the island that can be toured. They have also used it for mining of slate and for materials to help build roads. Eventually it became a state park. It was called Antelope Island because of all the Antelope on it when it was originally discovered. Over the years the type and number of animals on the island have changed because of various problems that have wiped out the population. They have had to reintroduce the pronghorn and goats to the island and brought in the bison.
Because of the size of the island they must control the animal population so each year at the end of October they have a bison round. You can come out and watch the roundup or if you can ride a horse and know how to drive cattle you can volunteer to participate in the roundup. They round the bison up into corrals where they are given health check ups, vaccinations and ear tags for identification. About a week later they start their annual sell off. They can only maintain a herd of about 550 bison because of the limited resources.
Bruce thinks we need to come back in October to watch the round up and then buy a pair of young ones to start our own herd. That will not be happening.
We drove all the roads you could access on the island but did not go for any hikes, a little too hot, too long and too steep. They have campgrounds and are busy building new areas. After spending a few hours there I don’t see any reason I would need to come back there for camping. Not much shade and because the water level is so low it is a long walk if you actually want to get in the lake.
The glare off of the lake is very blinding.
We spotted a few bison shortly after entering the park and then saw a lot of them when we got down to the area of the historical ranch. That is where they start the round up each year.
Below are pictures of some of the bison.
Not sure why they have a fence running out into the lake.
As we went to leave the island, right before getting on the causeway we discovered the birds. We saw some as we entered but apparently they come in later in the day. We stopped and watched for awhile as they were very entertaining. They liked to spin around in the water, then duck under. We guess they were stirring up stuff on the bottom. Below are some of the pictures and videos of the birds.
If you are in the area, not a bad place to spend a few hours but would not drive a long distance to get there.
Our RV park was very close to another bay that is part of the Great Salt Lake and when you were driving past it the glare was also bad. You really need good sun glasses to drive in this area.
When we got back close to the RV park we made a few stops. They had an Amish bulk foods store that we went in so I could purchase a lemon filling that I like to use in my kolaches. I have to order it online or if I see an Amish food store I can usually get it. I stocked up on the lemon filling since I was out at home. We also stopped at two different fruit/vegetable markets. The road that we use to get back to the RV park is lined with fruit and vegetable markets. Some are very small and probably just belong to the individual farm where they are set up and some are a little bigger. Loaded up on white peaches and few yellow ones plus fresh sweet corn. The peaches were great but I had to freeze part of them because there was no way I could get them all eaten before they ruined. The corn was the best we have had on this trip, we did not eat it until we had already left town otherwise I would have drove back for more.