The Ogden 25th Street Dragon

 From The Archives. A post I made recently I wanted to refer to this cool old sign and realized I never posted it when we went out to see it. So here, way back from March of 2015, it is.

The Historic 25th Street Dragon is a beautifully restored old neon sign located in downtown Ogden. The original sign was for Star Noodle Palace opened in 1948 the sign quickly became a popular icon on 25th Street. Unfortunately, Star Noodle Palace closed in 2007. The sign was taken down in 2008 for restoration work on the building. It was restored and came back up in 2015, which was why we decided to come check it out. The historic building now includes the Pig & a Jelly Jar among a few other businesses.

Quick Details:

Length: Can be drive by and see, or however much you want to walk around to see it.
Trail Type: NA
Difficulty: Drive by and see, DR1, or walk along a paved sidewalk DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: I am sure there is one inside.
Dogs? I mean, sure but you probably can’t go inside with them.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take i15 to exit 341 for 31st St. in Ogden. head east. Turn left on Wall Ave. then right on 25th St. The sign will be on the right.

The Adventure:

It really is a fantastic sign! I am glad it came back.

Before the Star Noodle Palace opened in 1948, the building was a theater called The Rex Theater built in 1912.

Closer view. The sign contains 250 feet of neon and 58 smaller lights.

From the front.

From the other side. Back in 2015 none of the businesses were open yet, which made getting some good shots without people pretty easy. I am sure it is not so easy any more.

I found this image on Google maps from 2008. before they added the Historic 25th Street part it said Star Noodle.

Anyway, most of the facts I found for the sign and more plus more old photos of it can be found in this article (outside link).

Bonus Union Station neon sign.

Bonus Ogden Sign. “It pays to live in Ogden home of Weber State University (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Dragon Sign is probably the most amazing neon sign I have ever seen! It’s just really cool. I am glad that it was restored and brought back. As far as I can tell from the linked article, the new owner didn’t get any incentive for bringing it back (which does not mean it didn’t happen, just not reported). But, either way it is cool, and I just love that we can enjoy it for years to come.

Farmington Bay WMA: Dike Road

 Farmington Bay is a fantastic area along the shores of the Great Salt Lake that is excellent for birding. It features a short drive along the Dike Road with quite a few options to explore more on foot. We had the holiday off so we decided to come back and see if we would have better luck today. We like to come out at least once each winter, preferably in February with hopes of seeing bald eagles. Some years we have good luck, others, like last time, not so much.

The Dike Road.

A bald eagle.

Scenic Drive Details

Length: The dike Rd. is about 7.2 miles out and back.
Time Needed: About an hour, plus whatever additional exploring you want to do.
Road Conditions: Bumpy dirt road, but should be accessible by any vehicle.
Summit: NA
Restrooms: Yes, near the north entrance.
Interesting Things:  hundreds of species of birds! Including bald eagles this time of year.
Other Info: The Dike Rd. closes to vehicles at Goose End Island after February 28th and doesn’t reopen to cars until September 26th.

To Get Here:

This is located behind the Great Salt Lake Nature Center Eccles Wildlife Center (the name changed). You will want to take exit 322 in Farmington. Immediate take the first right on to the frontage rd. Then take the first right onto Glovers Ln and head over i15. Go about 1.4 miles and turn left on 1325 west. If you hit the Wildlife Center you went too far.

Downtown Salt Lake (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

The Adventure:

Onto the Dike Rd. (PSP).

WMA sign (PSP).

We stopped at the information/rest area where I found an American kestrel.

Switched to the telephoto lens and got a little better shot.

Then I saw what appears to be a red-tail hawk.

Then we continued along the dike road (PSP). It turns to dirt after the rest area.

Not much further along I spotted this cute little bald eagle (PSP). I am pretty pleased to say I noticed it, before I noticed the traffic jam looking at it.

I wasn’t sure if he was eating or preening, but now it looks like he was preening.

Really getting in there.

He finally popped his head back up.

Look at the size of that beak!

Super cool getting to see one of these guys somewhat close. I’ve only been closer to one at Silver Lake last year, on the 4th of July of all days.

Again, look at that beak!

Back to preening.

Such a cool bird.

Back up.

Nice side profile.

Looking right at me.

One final shot before I decided we should move on.

Continuing along the dike road (PSP).

There are a couple narrow bridges to cross (PSP).

We decided to walk along Unit 2 just a little ways.

Fun clouds.

The smelter stack out west. You can get a little closer to that at the Great Salt Lake State Park.

Pelican.

We didn’t go too far, as we just did it last week, and were really just hoping to see more eagles today.

More pelicans.

Water landing.

Hanging out in the water.

Duckies!

Radio tower.

American coot.

Back on the dike road (PSP).

I saw a kestrel so I asked Landis to pull over.

I love kestrels. Our cutest little murder birds.

Off it goes.

Hovering.

A bunch of American coots (PSP).

A bunch of pelicans (PSP).

Some more (PSP).

Here come some more (PSP).

Goose Egg Island (PSP).

We did a quick jaunt along the service road, which was formerly called the Upland Trail. It connects Farmington Bay to the Eccles Wildlife Center. I made that a separate post here.

Lagoon as we work our way out of the area (PSP).

Continuing along the Dike Rd. (PSP).

We decided to do a quick stop at the Eccles Wildlife Center just to get a closer look at the heron nesting poles.

Said poles with a couple of herons on them.

All of the poles.

Another closer shot.

The Wildlife Center. It wasn't open today so we didn't pop in. They are always closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Well, we had our fun, but we decided to head back and hopefully beat rush-hour, even though it is a holiday it could still be yucky. Plus it appears a storm is blowing in.

The radio tower and a bridge on the new West Davis Corridor (PSP). I wonder how that affected the Buffalo Ranch and Great Salt Lake Shoreline Loops. They do still appear to be on the 2023 version of Farmington Trails so, I don't know. Eh, maybe I should check them out again sometime.

Random rodent on the road (PSP). I thought it was a mouse at first but now I am not so sure.

Downtown SLC (PSP).

Lit up storm clouds (PSP).

More sun rays (PSP).

That ended up being a fun day. There were not a ton of birds as we have seen other times but we did have a pretty darn good bald eagle sighting! So that that made the trip worth it. Plus, for a holiday it was not very busy at all. 8 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, today was mostly get out and see, DR1. We did a little bit of walking but not much, and most of the trails are flat and hard packed. DR3.

Dogs are allowed, leashed September 16th to February 29th.