Random Rambler

Bridger Bay on Antelope Island is the best place for beach access. It has been built up with beach amenities like: restrooms*, picnic areas, showers*, and even a restaurant. So it is a great place to spend a day, if you don’t mind playing in the Great Salt Lake. Oddly enough, we have never done this one before, so we totally last minute decided to add it on to the end of the day.

*Note: right now there is no running water on the island (check the website for current conditions). So right now, the closet restrooms would be at Ladyfinger Point, since those are vault toilets.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about 8/10ths of a mile out and back. Plus whatever exploring you wish to do.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR3. Its fairly flat, and there are hard packed parts, but there are definitely super soft and squishy beach sand which is a little rough to walk on.
Elevation Gain: 20 feet.
Restroom: Yes, flush toilets (temporarily closed right now).
Dogs? Yes, leashed. Please clean up after your furry friends.
Other Info: Fee area, $15.00 per car. I also recommend checking their website for current conditions like bugs etc. Also, special conditions. Today we were surprised to learn there was no running water in the park. Luckily we brought along plenty for both of us. Also, be sure to have bug spray handy if needed.

To Get Here:

This is on the north end of the park. From the causeway, you want to go right follow the road about 1.8 miles and the parking lot will be on the right, east of Island Buffalo Grill. Or you can use the west one if it is full. (which is not much further).

For some reason the 2 parking lots just to the east were closed today (I think possibly running water related). But, they don’t seem to have the same amenities anyway.

The Trail:

There are several trails down to the beach, but I noticed these metal ramps. That seemed like a better option so we used those. The are just west of the east parking area. (or east if you parked at the west lot).

Wow! Whoever thought these up deserve a huge raise! Beach sand is tough to walk on when flat, it is much more tough on a hill.

Although, now that I am thinking about it, they are about tire length apart, so this might actually be intended to help emergency vehicles get down to and back up off of the beach. But, hey it is a happy coincidence that its helpful for us humans too.

I also thought (correctly) that they may assist in removing excess sand on the return trip. I can think of quite a few places I have been in my life where I would have liked something like this.

Short little bit of super soft sand, then it firms up a bit. You can see the transition here.

Buffalo Point to the west.

Ladyfinger Point to the east.

Expansive beach.

With millions of footprints.

Ladyfinger Point.

Buffalo Point.

This little sandbar with plant life in it was a little deceptive. I though it might be the edge of the water, but nope haha. But it is not much further to the shore.

Ladyfinger Point again.

Freemont Island.

Holy dead birds, Batman.

Nothing weird happening here. Millions of birds migrate through here. Some of them die. Then of course the very salty water kind of preserves them until they make their way to shore. It’s a little gross, but otherwise pretty normal and natural.

At about 4/10s of a mile, we made it to the shore. The lake fluctuates quite a bit depending on weather conditions, but barring any major weather events, I would guess it normally only fluctuates 10-15 feet or so here.

To the east.

To the west.

The lake is absolutely like glass today. It is amazing.

Panoramic.

I wasn’t sure what these darker rocks were in front of Freemont Island at first, I thought it might be Egg Island, but that doesn’t seem right, but it is between here and Freemont Island, so maybe it is? I don't know.

The clear water. I thought I spotted a brine shrimp, but I don’t see it now.

More lake bed.

Lady Finger Point with perfect reflection.

Ladyfinger Point.

Freemont Island.

Low sun.

Panoramic.

Cloud reflections.

Shallow lake.

Alright, we had our fun, but we were both getting hungry so time to head back.

Back to the dead birds.

Buffalo Point to the west.

Ladyfinger Point to the east.

Heading south towards the facilities.

Hard packed sand.

Quick soft sand section.

Back to hard beach sand. Heading back. The 3 buildings are a covered picnic area, the Island Buffalo Grill, and the restrooms/showers. You can also see Beacon Knob in the background.

Frary Peak (Tallest point on the island).

Weird sandy/salty rocks. They are like, a weird gritty shale texture. I wonder if there is a specific name for them.

Getting closer.

Closer. We observed 3 groups of people (4 including us) who went to check if the grill was open still. So obviously they would get some business if they stayed open later. But currently, they are only open until 5 on Sundays.

Current posted hours for the 2025 season (The season is Mar 1st to Nov 1st):
Saturday 12-6:00 pm
Sunday 12-5:00 pm
Monday 12-5:00 pm
Tuesday 12-5:00 pm
Wednesday-CLOSED
Thursday 12-5:00 pm
Friday 12-5:00 pm

One of these days we’ll get here early enough to justify having lunch here.

Another short spot of soft beach sand.

I mean SUPER soft. We couldn’t decide which was worse on the ankles, the soft sand here, or the boulder strewn trail on Buffalo Peak. Ultimately I think the boulders win as being more rough.

Back to the grated metal ramps to get us back up to the top. Again, these are amazing!

It does appear to be shaking the excess sand off of our hiking shoes like I thought it might.

The covered outdoor seating area.

The Island Buffalo Grill again.

Looking at their facebook page, it appears they had some difficulty opening this year, with the whole, no running water on the island issue. I guess they fenagled something that satisfied the Health Department and were able to open, just a little later than normal.

The east parking lot.

Panoramic from the parking lot.

Well, I am glad we finally came to check out the beach. I was tempted to try floating on the lake today, but I didn’t bring a swimsuit, and well, I would like to be able to rinse off after doing so so, not today. haha. Out of all of our adventures today, this was the least crowded, a few people but not so bad. It’s also fun to see the wonky shores of the lake from somewhere other then the Great Salt Lake State Park. Plus, that ramp, man. That is ingenious! 9 squirrels today.