Great Salt Lake Nature Center - Spring

The Great Salt Lake Nature Center in Farmington is a great place to go bird watching. There are 3 short trails to enjoy. I typically come here in the winter, but lately I have been having great luck with bird sightings that I find myself wanting to come back more often. I started out interested in Bald Eagle sightings, this grew to other large birds, and then other birds of prey, and well, I hate to accept this as fact but I think I have turned full on bird watcher. They really are fascinating things to watch. The Nature Center is better than any Aviary or Zoo as you get to watch the birds in their natural environment doing their natural behaviors. The only downside is you will likely need binoculars or a good telephoto lens to really enjoy it.

Again, I had other plans for today, but we had rain for most of the day and it was just me today. I didn’t want to try a new trail out on my own, so I figured I’d be alright with the familiar Nature Center.

Quick Details:

Length: Depends what you decide to do. From .4 - 2 miles or more.
Difficulty: All DR2
Elevation Gain: 0 All trails are flat.
Restroom: Yes at the Visitor Center
Dogs? Seasonal. Dogs are allowed, on leash between September 16th and February 29th. They are not allowed March 1st - September 15th.

There are 3 main trails all of which I have done this year:
Farmington Creek Trail 1.5 m loop
Glovers Pond Trail 1.2 m loop
And the Upland Trail. 1.5 m out and back (with option to add  .5 mile out and back to Goose Egg Island).

To get here:

Take i15 toward Farmington. Take exit 322. Take the first right and follow it around the curve to the frontage rd. Turn right onto Glovers ln. Drive 1.6 miles to 1325 w, and there is the small parking lot on the left before the gate. If the visitor center is open the gate will be as well and you can drive right up to it. If not, you can park here and still hike around by going through the access opening.

The Great Blue Heron Nesting Tower.

Speaking of Great Blue Herons, one happened to fly overhead. I think this is my best shot of one yet.

I decided to walk around Glovers Pond and see if I could get some good shots of the herons.

This pretty Red-Winged Blackbird singing from the top of a cattail didn’t seem to mind how close he was to me.

Duck coming in for a landing.

Not sure what these guys are but they are pretty.

Geese nesting on the island.

Great Blue Heron. Actually a very pretty bird.

The one in the nest below got up.

This one shows the neck feathers better.

Okay, I enjoyed being able to see these guys better, but I decided to turn back and explore elsewhere.

American Pelican.

American Avocet.

Various ducks and other waterfowl. It looks like almost all of them are looking for food.

A hawk soaring over some herons.

After enjoying a serious abundance of birds around Glovers Pond, I decided to hit up the Farmington Creek trail.

I thought these were a type of duck at first, but they are American Coots. I noticed they tend to dive pretty deeply and thought it was unusual for a duck, but I’m not a bird expert. My little Birds of Utah guide has been really helpful in identifying most birds.

Looking out towards Goose Egg Island. This can be accessed from the Upland Trail or from the dike roads.

The never-ending flatness out towards Antelope Island.

I believe this is Mitigation Pond.

More geese! These guys are just hanging out all over the place.

Entering the boardwalk section over the marshes and ponds.

Farmington Creek.

More boardwalks.

Cattails.

Big Pond. You can see the viewing blind and viewing dock on the right there.

Bridge over Big Pond.

With the Oquirrh Mountains.

East pond.

The Great Blue Herons again.

And I ended my day watching for hawks in the front field.

Another Great Blue Heron.

Another Northern Harrier.

I am starting to think I won’t ever get lucky enough to get an amazing close shot like I did the first time we were here this winter, but I still really enjoying watching these guys hunt.

I love the way they hover for a second looking down before striking.

Hovering again.

Gorgeous birds.

Hanging out, eyeing the landscape.

Closest, but not best shot of the day.

Last couple shots before I called it a day.

Stop sign graffiti.

Great day for birding at the Nature Center today. I am glad I came back out. I went back and forth on whether or not to post this, considering I just recently posted all 3 trails on the Nature Center, but I got some good shots of birds I wanted to share, so here we are. Seriously, if you want to see some birds doing what birds do in the wild, come check this place out. You will not be disappointed.10 out of 10 squirrels today.

As for difficulty, its completely flat, most trails are wide, some boardwalked even. DR2.

Dogs are allowed, on leash between September 16th and February 29th. They are not allowed March 1st - September 15th.

September 16th - February 29th

March 1st - September 15th

Bountiful Lake - Spring

Bountiful Lake (AKA Bountiful Pond) is a small lake located in Woods Cross. It is a popular fishing spot, but is also a nice easy walk to do. We did this last winter, and have fished here a few times.

Sunday is our normal hike day but today was so beautiful I couldn’t not go and do something. So, after finishing some chores around the house, so we found ourselves here today.

Quick Details:

Length: About 1.3 miles.
Difficulty: DR2 Mostly paved, flat.
Elevation Gain: None
Restroom: At parking lot
Dogs? Yes. Please clean up after your furry friend.

To get here, take 500 S in Bountiful and head west. Go over Legacy Parkway, and the road will curve to the north. After a mile or 2 you will see the lake to the left. A lot of people park on the street, but there is a parking lot.

Bountiful Lake sign. I guess the pond/lake dispute is over.

Last time we were here we went clockwise, so today we went counter-clockwise.

The first little island.

It looks like they have been doing some work raising the shore over on this side. Can’t find any info on that, but hopefully they are still working on it.

Both of the small islands.

The 2nd little island.

American Pelican. I thought there was something wrong with it, but that little hump on it’s bill is normal. I happened to pick up a ‘Birds at the Great Salt Lake’ pamphlet while we were at The Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve last weekend. And this guy is one of the few pictured in it. Anyway, guess I never noticed it on a pelican before.

The little island again.

Starting to get some of the great mountain views now. Lets see, from left to right: Stone Creek Canyon, Holbrook Canyon, Mueller Park, North Canyon.

The outlet.

We found a thin trail leading out into the cattails and decided to see where it lead.

Oops. End of the line. Didn’t get very far.

The west side of the lake. Stone Creek and Holbrook Canyon in the background.

And looking slightly north. Let me see here, left to right again: Ford Canyon, Barnard Creek, Parish Canyon, Centerville Canyon (AKA Deuel Creek), Stone Creek. Wow, going on 8 of 8 canyons here! But I mean, these are close to me, so of course I have explored them all.

Panoramic.

Pathway. The entire thing is not paved, but the sections that aren’t are like paved.

The lake again.

Another panoramic.

The American Pelican again.

Both islands.

Goose.

You can see Elephant Rock in Mueller Park from here.

I think this is a bat box.

The mountains above.

The lake from the east side.

Hearing a ton of frogs in these side puddles, but can’t see em.

One of the few fishing docks along the lake.

Swan with a little updo.

I really enjoy Bountiful Lake, and probably should visit more often since it is so close to home. It really is just a great easy walk with some great views and lots of birds to enjoy. I also saw a muskrat while fishing here once. Removing 2 squirrels just for how many people there are. 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, It is mostly paved, and what isn’t paved is like paved and completely flat so DR2.

As for dogs: Leash required.