Great Salt Lake State Park & Marina

06/13/2026

06/12/2026

🌊 LAKEFEST 2026 IS TOMORROW!

Looking for the perfect Saturday plans? Grab the family and head out to Great Salt Lake State Park for a FREE, family-friendly celebration of our favorite lake!

Here is what we have lined up for you from 10 AM – 4 PM:

⛵️ Thrilling Boat Races

🎨 Hands-on Art Workshops

🎶 Live Music & Local Food Trucks

🔬 Great Salt Lake Education (Come learn how we can bring more water to the lake!)

When: Saturday, June 13th | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Where: Great Salt Lake State Park
Cost: The event itself is free, but there is a $10 day use fee for the park.

Don't miss out on the fun, the views, and the community.

👉 Get more info and register ahead of time at: growtheflowutah.org/lakefest

See you lakeside! 👋✨

06/10/2026

When you visit Great Salt Lake State Park, you might find yourself echoing Will Smith's famous line from the 1996 blockbuster, "Independence Day." That's right, the actor's unscripted query, "And what the **** is that smell?!," wasn't just movie magic – it was a genuine reaction to the lake's characteristic aroma.

The culprit? Our very own "lake stink." While it might not be pleasant, this odor is actually a fascinating and natural occurrence. You see, the Great Salt Lake is an important ecosystem teeming with brine shrimp, brine flies, and microscopic organisms. These little guys are constantly feeding on organic matter, and when they do, they release sulfur compounds as a byproduct. When these compounds mix with the air, voila – you've got our signature scent!

So, the next time you visit, don't be alarmed by the odor. Just think of it as the scent of a thriving ecosystem... and maybe bring a nose clip, just in case!

Movie - Independence Day (1996)

06/07/2026

📢 Salty Sundays: Great Salt Lake vs. Lake Magadi (The White Soda Pavement!) 📢

Welcome back to our Salty Sunday series! Today we are heading to the Great Rift Valley in Kenya to visit one of the most chemically extreme lakes on the planet.
Drumroll please...

It’s Lake Magadi! While we are a classic salt lake, Magadi is a "soda lake" almost entirely covered by a solid crust of crystalline minerals.

Let's break down how these two salty titans compare:
🌊 Lake Magadi vs. The Great Salt Lake: A Salty Showdown! 🌊

Salinity & Chemistry:
• Lake Magadi: This is an ultra-alkaline soda lake. It is so concentrated that much of the surface is a solid "pavement" of trona (sodium sesquicarbonate).
• Great Salt Lake: Our lake is a sodium-chloride (table salt) system. While our salinity is extreme (up to 27%), we remain a liquid body of water rather than a solid mineral crust.

Size & Depth:
• Lake Magadi: A relatively small basin, roughly 12.4 miles long. It is incredibly shallow; in the dry season, the water disappears almost entirely, leaving behind the white salt flats.
• Great Salt Lake: We are a landscape giant typically covering over 1,000 square miles. Even at our shallowest, we hold a massive volume of brine compared to the thin sheets of water at Magadi.

Location & Temperature:
• Lake Magadi: Located in the scorching heat of southern Kenya. It is fed by hot springs that can reach a blistering 186°F (86°C), making the lake water itself dangerously hot in places.
• Great Salt Lake: Right here in Utah, USA! While our summers are hot, our water temperatures are much milder, and we even see snow on our shores during the winter.

What Lives There?
• Lake Magadi: Despite the heat and high pH, it is home to the Magadi Tilapia. This amazing fish has adapted to live in alkaline water as hot as 113°F.
• Great Salt Lake: Our water is too salty for fish! Instead, we support billions of brine shrimp and flies that feed millions of migratory birds.

Bonus Fact: Lake Magadi is so rich in sodium carbonate that it has been mined for "soda ash" for over 100 years. This mineral is a key ingredient used globally to make everything from glass to laundry detergent!

06/06/2026

It's officially National Great Outdoors Month, and there are so many beautiful things to celebrate this June! ☀️

This month is all about taking pride in our public lands and remembering that nature's beauty is rooted in its diversity. Whether you're a lifelong Utahn or visiting for the first time, Great Salt Lake State Park is a welcoming place where absolutely everyone belongs.

Here is how you can celebrate with us all month long:

Catch a vibrant sunset: The salt in the air and the shallow, mirror-like water reflect a brilliant, full spectrum of colors—from deep violets to bright oranges—creating some of the most stunning skies on earth.

Float effortlessly: The lake is currently about two to seven times saltier than the ocean, meaning you can easily float like a cork and just let go.

Stroll Silver Sands Beach: Join a park ranger for one of the scheduled walks this month to discover the rich diversity of our local ecosystem, spot migratory birds, and watch the moon rise. Or join one of the daily deck talks on the weekends.

Get out on the water: Rent a kayak or paddleboard, or simply enjoy a relaxing picnic near the marina with the people you love. Or join Exclusive Excursions for a boat ride on the lake.

June is the perfect time to explore, protect, and show up exactly as you are to enjoy the great outdoors. Pack some water, bring your favorite people, and come see what makes this salty ecosystem so spectacular.

Drop a comment below and let us know how you are getting outside to celebrate this month! 👇

05/31/2026

📢 Salty Sundays: Great Salt Lake vs. Lake Hillier (The Perpetual Pink!) 📢

Welcome back to our Salty Sunday series! We’ve seen twins and cousins, but today we’re visiting a visually stunning wonder from Down Under that puts our pink North Arm to the test.

Drumroll please...
It’s Lake Hillier in Western Australia! Often called the "Bubblegum Lake," this saline gem is famous for a vibrant pink hue that stays perfect all year round.

Let's break down how these two salty wonders compare:
🌊 Lake Hillier vs. The Great Salt Lake: A Salty Showdown! 🌊

Salinity & Color:
• Lake Hillier: Its salinity is remarkably high, often compared to the Dead Sea. Unlike other pink lakes that change color with the weather, Lake Hillier stays a solid "bubblegum" pink 365 days a year—even if you put the water in a glass!
• Great Salt Lake: Our North Arm turns pink due to salt-loving microbes, but our South Arm stays blue-green. Our color is much more variable and depends on how much salt is in the water at the time.

Size & Depth:
• Lake Hillier: A small, shallow island lake, only about 600 meters long and 250 meters wide. It covers roughly 0.15 square kilometers, making it a "pocket-sized" wonder.
• Great Salt Lake: A massive landscape feature! We typically cover over 1,000 square miles and average 16 feet deep. You could fit thousands of Lake Hilliers inside our shoreline.

Location & Geology:
• Lake Hillier: Tucked away on Middle Island off the south coast of Western Australia. It’s a terminal lake separated from the dark blue Southern Ocean by just a thin strip of sand and green forest.
• Great Salt Lake: Right here in Utah, USA! We are a remnant of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville, sitting at the bottom of a massive desert basin.

What Lives There?
• Lake Hillier: No fish can survive here, but it is teeming with Dunaliella salina (red algae) and halobacteria that create its famous pink pigment.
• Great Salt Lake: Our ecosystem is built on brine shrimp and brine flies, which feed millions of migratory birds! While we have similar pink bacteria, our lake is a much busier biological "refueling station."

Bonus Fact: Lake Hillier was discovered in 1802 by navigator Matthew Flinders. While the water is safe to swim in, the lake is in a protected wilderness area, so most people have to enjoy its pink perfection from a helicopter!

05/29/2026

Catch a Great Salt Lake Snippet! 🌅

Heading out to Great Salt Lake State Park? Take a quick break and join us on the deck for our "Great Salt Lake Snippets" ranger talks!

These 15-20 minute chats are the perfect way to learn something new about the lake's unique ecosystem, history, and wildlife while enjoying the beautiful views. Topics change daily, so there's always something fresh to discover.

Event Details:

What: Great Salt Lake Snippets (Deck Talk)
Dates: June 5, June 6, and June 7
Time: 2:15 PM daily
Duration: 15-20 minutes

Bring your sunscreen, your questions, and your curiosity. We can't wait to see you on the visitor center deck! ✨

05/27/2026

The Great Salt Lake might be 11,000 years old, but it isn't letting that stop it from getting in on the internet's latest trends. 📸 I went out to enjoy some scenery and found out the lake itself is doing the 67 trend right there in the oolitic sand. Catching a geographical icon trying to go viral was absolutely not on my bingo card today! Honestly, though, the penmanship is top-tier for a giant, ancient salty basin. Stay salty, Utah! ✨🧂😂

05/24/2026

📢 Salty Sundays: Great Salt Lake vs. Salar de Uyuni (The World’s Largest Mirror!) 📢

For our next stop, we are headed to the high Altiplano of Bolivia to visit a place so flat and reflective that it’s used to calibrate satellites from space! 🛰️

Drumroll please...

It’s Salar de Uyuni! While our Great Salt Lake is a deep-basin remnant of an ancient lake, Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat—a prehistoric lake bed that transforms into a shallow, salty mirror every rainy season.

Let’s see how our Utah landmark compares to this Bolivian wonder:
🌊 Salar de Uyuni vs. The Great Salt Lake: A Salty Showdown! 🌊

Salinity & Composition:
•Salar de Uyuni: This is a vast "salt crust" rather than a consistent body of water. It contains an estimated 10 billion tons of salt and is one of the world's richest sources of lithium.
•Great Salt Lake: We are a liquid lake with salinity levels up to 27% . While we also have mineral wealth, our ecosystem is defined by the brine itself rather than a solid salt pavement.

Size & Elevation:
•Salar de Uyuni: It is massive, covering over 4,000 square miles—nearly four times the size of the Great Salt Lake! It sits at a staggering elevation of 11,995 feet above sea level in the Andes.
•Great Salt Lake: We typically cover about 1,000 square miles and sit at an elevation of roughly 4,200 feet .

Location & Transformation:
•Salar de Uyuni: Located in southwest Bolivia. During the dry season, it is a white, geometric salt desert. During the wet season, a thin layer of water covers the salt, creating a perfect reflection of the sky.
•Great Salt Lake: Right here in Utah, USA! We don't disappear in the dry season, but our shorelines expand and contract, revealing our own salt flats (like the Bonneville Salt Flats nearby).

What Lives There?
•Salar de Uyuni: Despite the harsh conditions, it is a major breeding ground for three species of South American flamingos (Chilean, Andean, and James's flamingos).
•Great Salt Lake: We are a "bird airport" for millions of migratory species like American Avocets and Eared Grebes, who rely on our brine shrimp "buffet" .

Bonus Fact: The salt crust at Uyuni is so thick and level that people have built entire hotels out of salt blocks—walls, roofs, and even furniture are made of the lake's minerals!

05/21/2026

Looking for the perfect way to spend your long weekend? 🌊 Make a splash this Memorial Day Weekend at Great Salt Lake! Whether you want to catch an epic sunset, learn some local history, or actually get out on the water, we’ve got you covered. ☀️

Here is what we have lined up for the holiday weekend (Friday – Monday):

✨ Extended Visitor Center Hours
We are staying open late so you can shop, explore the exhibits, and catch those famous sunset views!

🕒 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Friday through Monday)

🎤 Daily Deck Talks
Join a park ranger on the back deck of the Visitor Center for a quick, fascinating dive into the history, wild science, and unique wildlife of our inland ocean.

🕒 Every day at 2:15 PM

🛥️ Boat Tours with Exclusive Excursions
Don't just look at the lake—experience it! Take a relaxing, narrated pontoon ride to hear fun stories and learn about the lake. Space is limited, so be sure to book your spot!

🔗 Book your tour directly at Exclusive Excursions https://www.parkcityactivities.info/great-salt-lake-boat-tours.htm

🚗 Park Entry: $10 per vehicle

Pack your sunscreen, bring the family, and come make some memories with us! 📸👇 Tag a friend you want to bring along!