Antelope Island: Fielding Garr Ranch

 Fielding Garr Ranch is a really neat historical ranch located on Antelope Island that offers some great glimpses into it’s 133 year history. It is a fun, informative pit stop on the south end of the island.

Quick Details:

Length: Maybe a quarter mile, depending on how much you want to do.
Trail Type: Some paved, some dirt, etc.
Difficulty: DR3 multi surface options.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Yes, flush and pit toilets on site.
Dogs? Yes, leashed.
Other Info: Fee area. $15.00 per carload to cross the causeway.

To Get Here:

take i15 to Antelope Island Drive (exit 332) in Layton, head west. Pay the fee just before the causeway, then cross that onto the island. Then take the East Island Ranch Road to the far south end of the island, turn into the signed Fielding Garr Ranch.

The Adventure:

The Fielding Garr Ranch was first settled in 1848 and represents 133 years of western ranching history. While exploring the ranch you will learn of it’s colorful past and discover that many periods of history are represented here. Evidence can be found from the earliest pioneers to a fully modernized 20th century home.

The shearing barn and blacksmith shop. We’ll come back to that.

The Sentry. That is also a fun little adventure.

Looking down the ridge, which apparently is called Daddy Stump Ridge.

I thought this building would have it’s own name, but I guess it is part of the shearing barn. Anyway, next to the middle door is a sign that says begin here. I suggest following that advice, as you can pickup a pamphlet to help you do a self guided tour.

I think this is the bunkhouse.

The porch on the Ranch House.

I didn’t take a picture of the newest addition, the restrooms, added in the 1940’s.

The kitchen. This was added in the 1880’s. In the summer, the foreman had 15-20 ranch hands to keep fed.

The dining room. All of the workers squeezed into this room at 6:00 for breakfast, Lunch at 12:00 and dinner at 5:00.

Huh, I guess I did not get a shot of the living room either. It is the oldest part of the house, built in 1848.

The Spring House. An early form of refrigeration. Water evaporating from the spring kept the house cool enough to store milk and cheese. Electricity did not come to the island until the 1950’s.

In the back forested area. Looks like a couple of the trees have fallen in the last wind storms we have had.

Robin.

The tree fell into the springs run off.

Fun little tree arch.

Hello Mr. porcupine. Until my first porcupine sighting a few years ago, I had no idea they were tree climbers, but they definitely are!

Hard to capture though the mess of branches.

Little digital crop lets us see his face better.

His backside.

Then I spotted another little friend.

A great horned owl.

Hello handsome!

I just love these guys!

So regal.

Checking out the surroundings. It’s crazy how far they can turn their heads.

Hello again.

Caught a grooming moment.

Look at the size of those talons!

It’s neat to see some grooming activity.

It’s like your average cat or dog.

Long talons again.

Oop, I’ve been caught watching an intimate moment. Sorry bud!

Back to the porcupine. You can see his orange incisors.

His little paws.

Back to the great horned owl.

One last shot.

The cellar.

Inside. This was used as a pantry for the foreman’s wife. It contained a lot of canned goods, due to being so far from civilization. 

The shearing barn and silo. You can also see the mechanic pit to the left. 

Inside the shearing barn, we both loved that they used horse shoes as drawer pulls.

The silo again.

We didn’t explore the north end corrals and equipment today, but we did that another time.

The blacksmith shop.

Inside the main area attached to the shearing barn.

A package from Z.C.M.I. Which no longer exists, as of a few years ago, if I understand it correctly.

Fun old lantern.

Old chaps.

Old machinery.

Another old lantern.

The Dooly’s, for which I believe Dooly Knob is named after.

Old farm tools.

Apparently they had a trespassing problem back in the day.

Random trench.

We saw some birds soaring above, looking at my images it looks like a pair of ravens.

Bison.

I borrowed a few images from our 2020 trip to show a little more of what you can see here.

The corrals can hold 1000 head of cattle or 10000 sheep. Currently, they are used to store some of the old farm equipment.

You can see the different building material as the corrals were expended over the years.

Neat old trucks.

Old boat and wagon.

More old equipment up front.

I went into more detail on our trip out here in 2015.

I really enjoy the ranch, for all of it's history and neat stuff. and I love that we had some fun wildlife experience here today as well. It is a little busier than I would like, but not too bad. Going with 9 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, it is pretty flat and mostly paved, DR2 - DR3

Dogs are allowed, but must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet.