Western Stampede Fair and Butterfly House

 The west Jordan Western Stampede event is wow, quite a bit exciting! We have lived nearby for a few years now and well, after a few years out of quarantine we decided maybe we should check it out finally. The part that I enjoyed the most was the Butterfly House.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about 2.4 miles wandering around.
Trail Type: Meander.
Difficulty: DR3. It’s flat, but grassy fields.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Several.
Dogs? Its in a park so they are allowed there, but I doubt they are allowed in the Butterfly House. Plus its a big crowd, so I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable having to worry about keeping an eye on them.
Other Info: The fair and Butterfly House are free, but the rodeo and rides cost money.

To Get Here:

The festivities were being held at Veterans Memorial Park 1985 West 7800 South. There is normally ample parking around the park, but I imagine its a bit rough during the event. YMMV.

Alternately (and recommended) you can take Trax using the West Jordan City Center Station. It is then just a ~10 minute walk. Bonus: If you are going to the rodeo, your Trax fare is included in the ticket price (at least that is the case for this year, and I also assume if you buy it in advance so you have proof when you ride the train).

The Trail:

Moody clouds.

We made it to the park before long.

The first thing I wanted to do was the Butterfly House. It took us a minute to find it, but we eventually did.

They explained the rules before we entered which all escape me now except the whole, watch where you step cause they might be on the ground.

This fun little event is run by Riverbottom Butterflies.

Lots of butterflies! Woo.

So, as we were leaving I asked what kind of butterflies they had today, I thought I recognized a few. Today they had monarch, painted ladies, buckeye and admirals. I did indeed recognize the monarchs, but that is an easy one. I should have recognized the painted ladies, but I did not.

This looks like a buckeye.

They just want to be free!

Painted lady.

Back in 2019 there was a super bloom in Southern California which resulted in millions of painted ladies migrating. It was so noticeable here in Utah that I looked up what was happening and I found this article (outside link).

Another.

I forget the exact instructions we were given, but we were allowed to pick them up. I wanna say it was using only 1 finger, present it to their front and they will climb on. Either way they were was less strict about it that some other places.

Another painted lady. 

With it’s proboscis (what you might think of as it’s tongue).

A couple of buckeyes.

Another painted lady. Actually, I think this is a red admiral. The painted ladies and admirals are closely related and some of their morphs look very similar and are a little harder to differentiate. But, after much trial and error, I think I might have them down now. I am even less confident haha. Anybody with better identifying skills feel free to chime in.

Another buckeye.

A lot of them were hanging out at the top heading for them blue skies.

Another red admiral/painted lady?

Another.

Buckeye. These are almost as neat as the giant owl butterfly we saw in the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point.

It was busy, but not crazy. I think they were limiting how many people could be inside, and we showed up at a moment when there was not a wait.

Another buckeye. This one landed on me of it’s own accord. Hello cutey!

Finally, a monarch.

A monarch and a buckeye.

Another buckeye.

Lots of butterflies!

Painted ladies underside.

I don’t know why, but Landis attracts all the pretty insects to his legs.

Another red admiral/painted lady?

A monarch friend.

This red admiral was super easy to identify and did not require me deep diving and questioning myself.

Painted lady/red admiral?

Another monarch friend.

Buckeyes.

Then we were done.

The Riverbottom Butterflies logo on the outside.

I actually kind of wish I had come back and gone through it again with the knowledge of the 4 species they had today. But, maybe I can get another chance next year.

This was between the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point and the Butterfly Encounter at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in terms of enjoyment. But hey, you cant shake a stick at free!

After that we wandered around the park for a little bit. Starting with the vendors. I did not find anything I couldn't live without today.

Then we moved on to the carnival rides.

Ferris wheel.

Carousel.

Various rides that are all sorts of NOPE for me.

Orbiter.

Little fountain in the memorial section of the park.

Neat walls.

Oh, it is called Military Services Monument.

It’s pretty.

Nope. Nope nope nope. I didn't get a shot of the rides name, but a quick google search suggests it is likely called Fire Ball, though I imagine some of the older variants probably still exist.

Moody skies.

I generally am not interested in these kind of carnival rides that just… pop up in random places cause you know… what's the meme, it just came out of a suitcase? Yeah, no thanks. But, I did consider getting on this Gravitron looking ride for a moment, but I didn’t know what I would do with my camera. Maybe next time. It was one of my favorite rides at the 49th Street Galleria.

Ferris wheel.

Fun Slide.

We wandered around looking at all of the food trucks and other random food vendors, and well, nothing really looked great except for all of the nacho options. But, I am a sucker for nachos. Even the basic chips and queso dip nachos haha. Anyway, I wish I had just settled on the nachos, cause we ended up leaving to find food elsewhere and I did not enjoy what I ended up getting.

Apparently there used to be a train stop here. It really is a shame that passenger trains fell out of favor.

Moody clouds.

That was kind of fun actually. It was busy but not like shoulder to shoulder busy. I really enjoyed the Butterfly House, but the fair was kind of fun to wander about for a little while too. We didn’t bother with the rodeo… that’s not really our jam. Maybe next year we’ll go on the actual 4th and see the fireworks a little closer. However I imagine that day might be a little more crowded so.. eh, we'll see. The butterfly house gets a solid 10, the carnival eh, maybe a 7.

As for difficulty, it is pretty flat but on grass. DR3.

Dogs… I think they are technically allowed since it is a public park, but I wouldn’t with the crowd. Plus, I don’t think they would be allowed in the butterfly house.