What can you do on the Great Salt Lake? (Salt Lake City: to live, moving to)

[captainbob2]

I like how the SLC region offers easy access to mountain activities. What do people usually do with the lake for fun? Does it's shallow, stagnant water and frequent surface area changes (from what I read) prevent water sports from being popular, such as sailing, boating, SCUBA, waterskiing? Any decent beaches or do you pretty much have to wade out a quarter mile to find 5ft of water?

[sp2007]

People sail in the GSL. But not too many. Considering its size, if it existed in FL (for example) there would be a million boats on it in the summer, not here.

There are beaches off the Great Salt Lake. We took the kids to a place called Willard Bay near Ogden and there are sorta beaches there. We also went to Moon Lake high in the Uintas Mtns in July. Although the lake had a nice beach, it was freezing cold, even in July!

But the beaches here are nothing like they are in CA or FL.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by captainbob2

I like how the SLC region offers easy access to mountain activities. What do people usually do with the lake for fun? Does it's shallow, stagnant water and frequent surface area changes (from what I read) prevent water sports from being popular, such as sailing, boating, SCUBA, waterskiing? Any decent beaches or do you pretty much have to wade out a quarter mile to find 5ft of water?

The Great Salt Lake is much the same as the Dead Sea in the Holy Land. It's a really interesting experience to float in it, and I would actually recommend that everyone try it at least once. There is a nice spot out on Antelope Island that's probably the best spot on the lake to experience the sensation of not being able to sink in water.

I know a man who has had a sailboat out on the Great Salt Lake for years. He is an avid sailor and loves it. That's about the only kind of boating you will find on the lake, though. Actual swimming, scuba diving, or water skiing are simply impractical due to the extremely high salt content -- sometimes as high as 28%. Antelope Island itself is a fun place to go, maybe once a year. There are a lot of hiking trails and wildlife to see there, and the view of the "mainland" is gorgeous. There are times when the island actually takes on a really surrealistic atmosphere.

There are plenty of good spots for typical water sports here in Utah. The Great Salt Lake, however, isn't one of them.

[markg91359]

I've always gotten a lot of questions about the Great Salt Lake from people who don't live here. I think it stands out when they see it on a map. Also, they may heard somewhere that it is difficult to "sink" in and the novelty of that idea is somewhat appealing.

I've lived here all my life and I honestly find the Great Salt Lake to be one of the least appealing things here. If you get in that salt water you are going to want to wash that salt off of you as soon as you get out of the water. Its very sticky. Than you'll run into those pesky little creatures that we call "brine flies". They swarm around all the beach areas in the summer time and can drive you just about batty in the process. None of the beaches at the Great Salt Lake are really that good (even the ones on Antelope Island). The lake tends to slope very gradually and you have to wade quite a distance out to cover up your legs and waist.

If you must visit the Great Salt Lake than Katzpur's suggestion about going to Antelope Island is probably the best advice you could get. Its really the only place I'd even consider. Rather than get in the water though, I'd simply encourage you to drive around the island and go hiking on some of the trails there. The views are beautiful. Its certainly different scenery than you will find in virtually anyplace.

When visitors talk to me about things to do in this area, I almost always try and talk them out of going to the Great Salt Lake. I don't think its the best use of limited time here. I didn't see where you mentioned the time of the year you were going to be here. That could make a difference in terms of recommendations about things to do. If you want to engage in watersports, you don't want to be in that salty water that you can literally choke to death on (its happened). We have reservoirs and fresh water lakes that you can use for watersports and such.

[captainbob2]

Thanks for the help. I wouldn't mind moving to the Rocky Mountain area for a couple years for the experience and I saw how the SLC area offered easy mountain access, a decent enough sized metro area to offer things to do, and a giant lake which made it stand out compared to some cities in CO. I bet the time of year makes a big difference. I used to live along Lake Erie and that lafe effect snow is something else!

[Calibelle]

There are many other lakes near Salt Lake City, very beautiful ones. I don't think much activity happens on the Great Salt Lake. It's NOT like the ocean. Tons of brine flies, INSANE salt content. I went to the actual lake once as a kid, and remember the salt being so concentrated that it burned my legs.
Lot's of beautiful mountain lakes up here, but the Great Salt Lake is not a hopping place full of fun like the Great Lake area, etc.
A once in a lifetime must see, great to look at from a distance, but not a place I would hang out.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

When my daughter visited and wanted to float in the lake (I think it's somethoing we all have to do at least once), I took her west on I-80 to the marina. She scrambled down some rocks and was in the deep wster immediately. She enjoyed it except for the sticky ride back home!

[irman]

Often right next to the shore that lake stinks, and I do not speak of *expressions*, like that stinks, that sucks ...

[lolagranola]

Listen, there is no "beach" in Utah. There's dirt at the edge of the water. Although the GSL does appear to look somewhat like a lake, it is not a place where you're going to want to put a blanket down & lounge for the day. It IS fun to go to as a novelty every few years.

[Arm&Hammer]

When I first flew over salt lake the water looks so nasty and dirty looking I would not even come close to that water... maybe terminated or polluted