Antelope Island: The Sentry Loop

The Sentry is a prominent peak located on the southern end of Antelope Island. There is not a trail up to the top of the steep peak but there is a great loop up to it and around it. It offers incredible views east and west. There are a couple steeper sections but otherwise it was pretty easy going. We barely even noticed that it was a 5.6 mile loop. The trail is adequately signed but in general, keep to the left.

View of The Sentry

View from the top.

Quick Details:

Length: 5.65 mile loop. (Note the road is closed to vehicles at Fielding Garr Ranch and this will add an additional 1.2 miles for a total of 6.85 miles.
Difficulty: DR4. Definitely has a climb, but not too bad.
Elevation Gain: 1100 ft.
Restroom: No, but there is one at the nearby Fielding Garr Ranch.
Dogs? Yes. Leashed. Rangers have recently reported that there has been a problem with loose dogs harassing wildlife, getting lost and even some dying due to the elements or predators. Don’t let that happen to your little buddy. Plus, you could be fined.
Other Info: There is no shade, I don’t recommend doing this on a hot day. Antelope Island is a fee area. $10.00 per car.

To Get Here:

Take the Antelope Drive exit from i15 and head west. Stop at the ranger station to pay your fee and continue across the causeway. When you hit the island take the left fork. Take the 1st left again (signs for Fielding Garr Ranch). If the gate is closed, park at the ranch. Otherwise continue .6 miles down the dirt road and park in the dirt parking lot to the left.

Driving across the causeway looking north (DBP).

Park sign and the Visitor Center above (DBP).

Buffalo! (DBP).

Frary Peak (DBP).

The back end of Beacon Knob (DBP). Which doesn’t look like much from here.

Fielding Garr Ranch (DBP). We decided to explore around for a minute.

It is kind of sad they need to put these kinds of warnings in the restrooms.

Some of the cool old buildings on the ranch.

Pretty mossy pond.

Murmeration of Starlings.

We didn’t explore the ranch too much as we wanted to get to our hike. But if you want to see more check out my visit in 2015.

Buffalo off in the distance.

The dirt road between the ranch and the trailhead. We drove on it when we hiked up to Mushroom Springs and it’s not bad at all. Even small cars should be fine.

The Oquirrh Mountains.

The Trail:

Trailhead Sign.

Note: While researching this trail a couple sites I found mentioned needing a backcountry permit to hike here. This is either wrong, or just outdated information. It is not stated as so on the sign, and I even asked the ranger at the fee station just to be sure. They do have a sign in sheet though.

Trail map.

The trail below The Sentry. Most of the trail is an old double track jeep trail so it’s nice and wide.

The peaks to the south and the herd of buffalo.

Looking back towards the lake, which this far south is currently just the Jordan River making it’s way north.

The Sentry above Mushroom Springs. 1st trail split. Right goes to the springs, left continues to The Sentry.

The springs don’t seem to be active today.

Peak to the north. I don’t know if it has a name.

Looking back down. Nice overcast day.

The buffalo herd again.

Up to this point the trail has been pretty mild. But now starts the actual climb. Oi.

Looking east towards the mountains again.

Another little spring.

2nd trail split. You can’t read the little signs but to the right says no hiking, so stay to the left here.

The trail follows this ravine for a little bit.

I’m not sure if this is just a really white tree, or the sun lit it up just right, or both but it looks almost silver.

I can’t believe how far away the ranch looks. We sure got up here in a hurry.

Big rock.

Rocky hillside.

A couple of the switchbacks go back to being fairly flat so you get a break between bursts of uphill.

I love when the clouds are low enough to cut of the tops of the mountains.

I love these little rolling hills.

The Jordan River in the dry lake bed.

The view below. Wow we are sure up there! Mushroom Springs near the bottom and the trailhead near the top.

The Sentry looks like a perfect cone from this side (spoiler, not so much from the other sides).

After 1.89 miles you will reach the 3rd trail split. this is the beginning of the 1.87 mile loop around the sentry. If you just want a semi shorter hike take the left trail up to the ridge then back down. That was my original plan today so left is the way we went.

As far as I could tell there is no trail up to the summit, however obviously it has been done as there is a pole on it.

I love the way this one came out. Little hole in the clouds right above The Sentry.

And you can see where the light from the hole in the clouds is hitting the lake bed below.

Such a fun little peak.

Looking down at Fielding Garr Ranch. Whew! We are up there!

Making our way around the south side of The Sentry.

Looking south. More rolling hills.

Almost to the ridge.. just a little bit further.

Directly south of The Sentry.

WOW!!! Check out that view!

The top of the ridge looking south. I was a little worried there might be some scary spots up near the top here but it’s super wide with gradual drop slopes all around. Nothing to be afraid of at all on this trail.

The Sentry again. See, not so much a cone from this angle.

I am loving this view out west towards Stansbury Island.

Oh I took a 3D 360 degree panoramic here. If you have VR goggles you can view that here.

Cool rock formation and the peaks towards the south.

The Oquirrh Mountains and the Kennecott Smoke Stack. You can see that a little closer, and get a cool view of Antelope Island from the Lee Creek Trail.

The view again. On the east side of the island the lake is practically dry but on the west side there is tons of water.

However, you can see the shoreline is receding from here as well. The lake has been really low lately.

The old jeep trail continues down the other side of the hill but that is closed to hiking. Look for this single track trail heading north. It’s pretty easy to spot.

There is even a nice picnic table just like we found on Beacon Knob. We decided to take advantage of it and have a quick break and eat some snacks while enjoying the incredible view.

View from the table.

I think this is the back side of Frary Peak. I am kind of trying to work my way up to that one, but am not sure if it is one I can do.

As I mentioned I had planed on making it to the ridge and then heading back down however we were both really enjoying the trail today so we decided to complete the loop.

Time to get back to it.

Panoramic view out west.

The sentry from the west.

This section of trail is a little thinner, but the shelf is wide and comfortable.

A couple of crows around the peak.

View north.

Another panoramic of the view out west.

More rolling hills.

The valley below.

Neat little cave on the back side of The Sentry.

North again.

The little cave again.

I thought the trail would just swing around the peak but actually we are going to go across this field towards that peak on the other side there.

Another view of the lake.

View below.

Lone tree.

The Sentry from the north.

The peak we are heading towards. Not sure if it has a name.

The ridge and grey skies.

Another look out west.

Heading towards the peaks.

Loving the way the lake looks today.

At the base of the next peak you will find another picnic table and another trail split. Right will continue along the loop and return you to the trailhead. Left will take you to the Buffalo Scaffold Trail (closed March 10th - May 20th). We haven’t done that one yet but it does look lovely.

Back to double track jeep trails.

I can think of a way to trim probably a good mile off of this trail. haha. But we were still enjoying it.

Nearing the top of the ridge, one last look west.

Looking east.

Looks like there is a little fire damage here. I remember a fire last year, but I don’t think it was on this end of the island so it might be older than that.

View below.

The trail.

The Sentry is starting to look more cone like.

Neat burnt out trunk. Made me think of some of the hollowed out trees you can see in The Redwoods.

Panoramic of the view to the east.

With all the clouds and such it’s a little hard to make out downtown.

The Sentry again.

Back down to the trail split. 3.76 miles down 1.89 to go. Plus the extra on the road.

I did manage to find downtown.

Buffalos!

Downtown as the sun kit it before it set. Love the lighting!

More buffalo.

Starting to get a nice sunset.

I love the different layers of color in this shot. It looks like a painting.

More sunset.

The Sentry with some sunset.

Almost down to the trailhead.

Back to the trailhead. Wew, only .6 miles to get to the car. We should make it back before full dark.

The last few times we have been here we tended to be on the island around dusk and had the wonderful experience of hearing coyotes howling.

This time I thought to get a video.

Last look at The Sentry before it gets too dark to take pictures.

Continuing down the road.

This would have come out better with a tripod, but the cities are lighting up for the evening.

Oh and we found some deer.. at least I think they were deer.

Just to prove that we were allowed out that way.

I was just as nervous driving off the island in the dark as I was driving in Yellowstone in the dark. Super dark, hilly, curvy roads and you just never know if there might be a buffalo chilling on the road after a hill or a curve. But we made it.

I really enjoyed this trail today, even if my legs felt like wet noodles for the rest of the night and well the next day haha. It was great to be on the west side of the island this far south and see the lake. I thought the signage was perfectly adequate and it was easy to stay on the intended trail. We barely even noticed the climb and even saw some wildlife today. It was all in all a rather fun trail. Of course, I think the weather was just about perfect. If it was a hot day I know we would have hated this trail. Plus, we didn’t run across a single person anywhere on the trail. FYI. Super bowl Sunday is a great time to hit the trails. 9 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, this one was a little longer than I planned but the elevation gain is mostly pretty gradual with a few steeper parts. Going with a DR4.

Dogs are allowed, leashed. Please follow this rule. Rangers have recently reported that there has been a problem with loose dogs harassing wildlife, getting lost and even some dying due to the elements or predators. Don’t let that happen to your little buddy. Plus, you could be fined.