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.