Pink Salt Lake - Where to find it
We have been going to see the Pink Salt Lake for years and we have NEVER seen it this pink!
I didn't use a filter on any of the lake photos so you can see just how naturally pink the water is right now. If you have never been, now is the time to go! Its so awesome to see!
The spiral jetty was on our summer bucket list, so was floating in the great salt lake. We decided to go both on this trip, even tho there are no showers like on Antelope Island. Luckily my friend brought jugs of water so we could shower all the kids off after.
Keep scrolling for directions to find the pinkest part of the lake as well as tips for your visit.
It was very hazy from the fires in the valley, so it was hard to even see the horizon line between the pink lake and the blue sky.
I got this hat in Moab a couple weeks ago, but found in cheaper on line for those asking about it. Its awesome because the tie has saved it from flying off so many times.
Not only is the lake pink, but the Great Salt Lake is so salty that everything floats! Its so crazy to just sit down and you just float there. If you haven't tried it, its a MUST! Definitely the coolest and most unique experience.
Spiral Jetty is a work of land art constructed in April 1970 that is considered to be the most important work of American sculptor Robert Smithson. Smithson documented the construction of the sculpture in a 32-minute color film also titled Spiral Jetty
The best place to find PINK is right out front the spiral jetty. Once you reach the jetty after driving down a dirt road for 15 miles, you will park in the parking lot and the jetty will be right to your left. From there, walk straight out till you reach water. We found a little sandbar to put our stuff on, and beyond that, we just walked until it was deep enough. The water is shallow, so you have to walk a bit.
Do not trust google maps. It says there are 2 road options to get to the jetty. There is only one. It's about 2 hrs from SLC.
Walking the jetty is also super unique. The kids like to play the floor is lava and stay on the rocks.
By far favorite shoes for any adventure. The river, hiking, the jetty, and into the lake, these are great for it all! Especially in and out of water.
We took a bucket and water colors so the kids could paint with the salt water. When the paint dried it looked like we put glitter on the paper from the salt. These are our favorite water colors. I've had this single set for 4 years and we have barely made a dent.
While you are at the jetty, Make a stop at:
Directions
- Don't follow your GPS on this one. It will take you to a field in the middle of nowhere (we know from experience). Instead follow these directions:
1. Find the Golden Spike National Historic Site (appx 32 miles west of Brigham City, UT)
2. There will be signs for the Spiral Jetty beginning at the Golden Spike National Historic Site which are easy to follow. If you want some seriously detailed directions, you can find them here.
- Make sure you have gas in your car.
The Spiral Jetty is a good 40 miles from the nearest gas station and there really isn't much traffic on the road so if you ran out of gas it would not be fun.
- The road from the Golden Spike National Historic Site Visitors Center to the Spiral Jetty is a maintained dirt road. Any car could get there just fine but you it will get dusty. Totally worth it.
Tips
Take water! There is no water there for drinking or washing off and you will be grateful to get the salt off. It hardens as it drys, it also can get pokey. We took 4 gallons for 11 people and that was enough to refill water bottles and rinse everyone off.
Change of clothes. If you are swimming, you will want to change out of your swimsuit, as I said above, the salt drys and gets hard and can hurt. plus you don't want all that sand and salt in your car. There is nowhere to change, not even a tree, but the parking lot was almost empty when we went, so we just backed the van up to the hillside and showered off between the back doors.
Sun screen, there is zero shade.
Hat and sunglasses, the white sand is super bright
Water shoes, the salt crystals are in the water too, so it hurts to walk barefoot
Pack a picnic, the closest gas station or restaurant is about an hr away.
Pets welcome (please clean up)
No bathroom, no trash cans
Pack it in, pack it out
Fun for the kids: water colors, buckets, sand toys, bug cage, magnifying glass or microscope to look at brine shrimp
