Salt Lake City Walking Tour
Temple Square, Pioneer Park and the stories behind them, on foot, in three hours.
3 hours
From
$44 per adult
Salt Lake Antelope Island Dark Sky Experience
A certified International Dark Sky Park, 45 minutes from your hotel lobby.
- 4.3 hours
- Hotel pickup included
- Instant online booking
Embark on an unforgettable celestial adventure with Southwest Adventure Tours! Our Salt Lake Antelope Island Dark Sky Experience whisks you away from the city lights to a hidden gem: Antelope Island State Park, a certified International Dark Sky Park. Enjoy a more personal experience with or small group tours (two guest minimum required)
This unique experience offers unparalleled views of the night sky. Our carefully chosen location boasts several advantages:
This stargazing adventure is offered spring, summer, and fall, weather permitting, with departures scheduled seven days a week.
Your day, hour by hour
This tour runs 4 different schedules. Pick the one that matches your dates.
May 1 to September 18:00 PM
8:00 PM
Hotel Pick up in Salt Lake City
8:30 PM
Travel to Antelope Island
9:15 PM
Arrive at Antelope Island
9:30
to 11:00 PM Night Sky Program
11:00 PM
Return to Salt Lake City
12:00 AM
Hotel Drop Off
September 1 to October 157:30 PM
7:30 PM
Hotel Pick up in Salt Lake City
8:00 PM
Travel to Antelope Island
8:45 PM
Arrive at Antelope Island
9:00
to 10:30 PM Night Sky Program
10:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City
11:45 PM
Hotel Drop Off
October 15 to March 156:30 PM
6:30 PM
Hotel Pick up in Salt Lake City
7:00 PM
Travel to Antelope Island
7:45 PM
Arrive at Antelope Island
8:00
to 9:30 PM Night Sky Program
9:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City
10:30 PM
Hotel Drop Off
March 15 to May 17:30 PM
7:30 PM
Hotel Pick up in Salt Lake City
8:00 PM
Travel to Antelope Island
8:45 PM
Arrive at Antelope Island
9:00
to 10:30 PM Night Sky Program
10:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City
11:30 PM
Hotel Drop Off
What’s included
- Professional Local Tour Guide
- Comfortable Transportation
- Bottled Water
- Applicable Taxes and Fees
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (select hotels only)
What is actually visible out there
The Milky Way
From roughly April through October, arcing up out of the south. This is the headline and it’s why the summer departures book out. From a site this dark the galactic core has structure. You can see the dark rift running through it. Most visitors from cities have never seen this and the reaction when it resolves is consistently the best part of the guide's night.
Planets
Whichever are up. Jupiter and its four Galilean moons are visible through binoculars and are usually the first thing that convinces people the sky is worth the drive. Saturn's rings, when it’s well placed, do the rest. Venus, Mars and Mercury come and go with the season.
Meteor showers
If you time it. The Perseids peak around 11–13 August and are the reason August evenings sell first; the Geminids in mid-December are technically richer but the island is bitterly cold then. The Quadrantids, Lyrids, Orionids and Leonids all produce good nights out here.
Deep-sky objects through the guide's optics: the Andromeda Galaxy, the Ring Nebula, the Double Cluster, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. And, unexpectedly for many people, the lake itself: on a still night the water goes glassy and reflects the sky, and the bison are audible in the dark somewhere out on the grass.
What to wear: you’ll be colder than you expect
This is the single most common mistake on this tour. You’re standing still, outdoors, after sunset, on an exposed island in the middle of a lake, for an hour and a half. Whatever the daytime temperature was, subtract a lot. Even in July it can drop into the fifties out there with wind, and people who came out in shorts spend the program in the van.
- Every season
- A warm layer more than you think you need, long trousers, closed shoes, and a hat.
- Autumn and winter
- A proper insulated coat, gloves, and something over your ears.
- Late spring
- Insect repellent for the gnats.
- A red flashlight
- Bring one if you own it, or put red cellophane over a phone flashlight. White light destroys your night vision and it takes about twenty minutes to get it back, which is most of the program. Your guide will ask you to keep phones dark for this reason, and it’s worth cooperating with.
- Binoculars
- More useful here than people expect. A cheap 10x50 pair shows you Jupiter's moons and the Andromeda Galaxy.
Do not bother bringing your own telescope. The guide brings optics and knows the sky; a strange instrument in the dark is a frustrating way to spend the evening.
Timings and how the evening runs
Pickup is from selected downtown Salt Lake City hotels and the drive out is about 45 minutes, roughly 41 miles up I-15 and then across the seven-mile causeway onto the island. The causeway at night is a strange and good piece of the experience in itself: water on both sides, no lights, nothing ahead.
On the island you get a 90-minute guided night-sky program, then the return drive. Start times move through the year to follow astronomical darkness: 8:00 PM pickup from May to early September, 7:30 PM from September to mid-October and again from mid-March to May, and 6:30 PM from mid-October to mid-March. Door-to-door the tour runs about four and a half hours.
Groups cap at fourteen. Departures run seven nights a week in season. Solo travelers are welcome to book; we just can’t run a departure for a single guest, so if nobody else takes your date we’ll move you to another night or refund you.
Photos
Before you book
- Available every evening, weather permitting:
- This stargazing adventure is offered spring, summer, and fall, weather permitting, with departures scheduled seven days a week.
- Enjoy a more personal experience with our small group tours (Minimum of two guests required)
- Available every evening, weather permitting:
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
Salt Lake Antelope Island Dark Sky Experience: your questions answered
Can you really see the Milky Way from Antelope Island?
Yes, from roughly April to October, on a clear night when the moon is down or close to new. Antelope Island State Park has been a certified International Dark Sky Park since 2017 and the water on all sides puts real distance between you and the Wasatch Front light dome. The galactic core rises in the south and on a good night shows visible structure to the naked eye.
What happens if it’s cloudy?
We watch the forecast and contact you rather than drive you out to look at an overcast sky. This tour is explicitly weather-permitting. If your night is called off we’ll rebook you onto another evening if your dates allow, or refund it.
Does the moon affect what we’ll see?
More than anything else. A bright or full moon washes the Milky Way out entirely and dims most deep-sky objects. If your dates are flexible, book within about ten days of new moon and you’ll see a dramatically better sky. Ask us when you book your tour and we’ll tell you what the moon is doing on your dates.
What time does the tour start and finish?
It follows astronomical darkness through the year. May to early September: 8:00 PM pickup, back around midnight. September to mid-October and mid-March to May: 7:30 PM pickup. Mid-October to mid-March: 6:30 PM pickup, back around 10:30 PM. The night-sky program itself runs 90 minutes and the whole tour is about four and a half hours.
Do I need to bring a telescope or binoculars?
No. Your guide brings optics and runs the program. If you own a pair of binoculars, bring them; even a modest 10x50 pair will show you Jupiter's moons and the Andromeda Galaxy, and having your own is more rewarding than queuing for an eyepiece. Leave a personal telescope at home; setting up an unfamiliar instrument in the dark is a frustrating way to spend the evening.
How cold does it get?
Colder than you expect in every season. You’re standing still on an exposed island with wind coming off the water. Summer nights can drop into the fifties Fahrenheit; winter nights are far colder. Bring one more warm layer than seems necessary, plus a hat. It’s the most common regret on this tour.
Is the stargazing tour suitable for children?
Yes for children who can stay up, stay warm and stay quiet for a 90-minute program, and it’s often the thing they remember from the whole trip. Less so for very young children, given the late finish. Children must be accompanied by an adult and reduced child fares apply.
Does it run in winter?
Yes. Departures run from mid-October to mid-March with a 6:30 PM pickup, and winter is when the air is driest and the sky most transparent. Orion and the winter Milky Way replace the summer galactic core. It is cold and exposed, so dress properly, but many of our guides consider these the best skies of the year.
Pair this with
The tours our guides most often suggest alongside this one, and why.
Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island
The same island in daylight: bison, the causeway, and the 1848 Fielding Garr Ranch.
Bonneville Salt Flats Adventure
Another dark, empty, enormous piece of the old Lake Bonneville floor.
Park City & Olympic Heritage Excursion
A full daytime tour that gets you back in time for an 8:00 PM stargazing pickup.
Read before you go
Longer background on where this tour goes, written by the people who run it.
Antelope Island: a visitor's guide
The largest island in the Great Salt Lake carries roughly 500 wild bison and sits 45 minutes from a downtown Salt Lake City hotel. Here is what nobody tells you before you go.
7 min read
The best time to visit the Bonneville Salt Flats
The single most useful thing to know about the salt flats is that they’re underwater for half the year, and that the flooded version might be the better one.
6 min read
Salt Lake City in winter, if you aren’t skiing
Half the people who land here in January are attached to somebody else’s ski trip. This is the guide for them.
6 min read
Still have a question about the Salt Lake Antelope Island Dark Sky Experience?
Ask us anything the FAQ above did not cover: pickup points, fitness level, what to wear in November. We answer within one business day.
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