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
Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island
Wild bison, a 7-mile causeway across the lake, and the oldest ranch house in Utah.
- 6 hours
- Maximum 14 guests
- Hotel pickup included
- Instant online booking
Embark on the ultimate Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island day tour—an immersive blend of adventure, wildlife viewing, and eco-education. Led by an expert local guide, you will explore Utah’s most iconic and timeless landscape while uncovering the fascinating history and ecological importance of the Western United States' largest saltwater lake.
You reach the island on a seven-mile causeway, and the lake is part of nearly every view you get once you are out there: the water on both sides on the way over, the open shoreline, and the reason the island looks and feels the way it does. It is a terminal lake with no outlet, the last remnant of Ice Age Lake Bonneville, and your guide will explain why that one fact accounts for the salinity, the brine shrimp and the complete absence of fish.
A highlight of the day is Fielding Garr Ranch. Built in 1848 and lived in continuously until 1981, it is the oldest Anglo-built house still standing on its original foundation in Utah, and the bunkhouse, the blacksmith shop and the natural spring that made the whole operation possible are all still there.
Antelope Island carries a free-ranging herd of roughly 500 bison, along with pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mule deer and coyotes. These are wild animals, and park rules require visitors to stay at least 25 yards away at all times. Your guide will hold that distance and will not approach a herd on foot. The island road runs through their range, so most departures get good views from the vehicle; bring binoculars or a telephoto lens if you want them closer in the frame.
The birdlife is the part most visitors do not expect. The Great Salt Lake is a migration stop of hemispheric importance, used by around 12 million birds a year: eared grebes staging by the hundreds of thousands in autumn, Wilson’s phalaropes stopping on their way to South America, and avocets, black-necked stilts and California gulls working the shallows right through the season.
None of which is guaranteed to last. The lake has no outlet, so what the rivers stop delivering it simply never gets back, and drought and diversion have between them pulled the water down far enough to threaten the brine shrimp the birds come for. Your guide will show you where the old shoreline sits against the new one, which is the clearest way anyone has found to explain the problem, and will talk through the restoration work now under way. $5 from every ticket on this tour goes directly to Great Salt Lake preservation — a per-person donation Southwest Adventure Tours makes on your behalf, not a marketing line.
Your day, hour by hour
This tour runs 4 different schedules. Pick the one that matches your dates.
Morning Departure (year-round)7:30 AM
7:30 AM
to 8:00 AM Hotel Pick Up in Salt Lake City
8:00 AM
Depart Downtown Salt Lake City
9:00 AM
Arrive at Great Salt Lake/Antelope Island State Park Visitors Center and explore
9:00 AM
10:30 AM Beach at Bridger Bay - Buffalo Point Hike (1-mile round trip)
10:30 AM
12:30 PM Fielding Garr Ranch for wildlife watching and learning about the historic ranch
12:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City for drop off
1:30 PM
Hotel drop-offs
Afternoon and Sunset Departure: April 1 to October 154:00 PM
4:00 PM
4:30 PM Hotel Pick Up in Salt Lake City
4:30 PM
Depart Downtown Salt Lake City
5:15 PM
Arrive at Great Salt Lake/Antelope Island State Park Visitors Center and explore
5:15 PM
6:30 PM Fielding Garr Ranch for wildlife watching and learning about the historic ranch
6:30 PM
8:30 PM Sunset at Beach at Bridger Bay - Buffalo Point Hike (1-mile round trip)
8:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City for drop off
9:15 PM
Hotel drop-offs (Varies based on sunset times)
Afternoon Departure: October 16 to February 281:00 PM
1:00 PM
1:30 PM Hotel Pick Up in Salt Lake City
1:30 PM
Depart Downtown Salt Lake City
2:15 PM
Arrive at Great Salt Lake/Antelope Island State Park Visitors Center and explore
2:30 PM
4:00 PM Fielding Garr Ranch for wildlife watching and learning about the historic ranch
4:00 PM
5:30 PM Sunset at Beach at Bridger Bay - Buffalo Point Hike (1-mile round trip)
5:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City for drop off
6:30 PM
Hotel drop-offs (Varies based on sunset times)
Afternoon Departure: March 1 to March 313:00 PM
3:00 PM
3:30 PM Hotel Pick Up in Salt Lake City
3:30 PM
Depart Downtown Salt Lake City
4:15 PM
Arrive at Great Salt Lake/Antelope Island State Park Visitors Center and explore
4:15 PM
5:30 PM Fielding Garr Ranch for wildlife watching and learning about the historic ranch
5:30 PM
7:30 PM Sunset at Beach at Bridger Bay - Buffalo Point Hike (1-mile round trip)
7:30 PM
Return to Salt Lake City for drop off
8:15 PM
Hotel drop-offs (Varies based on sunset times)
What’s included
- Professional Local Tour Guide
- Comfortable Transportation
- Bottled Water
- Applicable Taxes and Fees
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (selected hotels only)
What you actually see out there
The bison, watched from a distance
Antelope Island carries a herd of roughly 500 animals, descended from twelve brought over by boat in 1893. They are wild animals, bulls weigh up to a ton, and park rules require you to stay at least 25 yards away at all times. Your guide will hold that distance, and won’t approach a herd on foot. The road up the island runs through their range, so most departures get good views from the vehicle. Bring a telephoto lens or binoculars if you want them frame-filling. They are easiest to find in the cooler months.
Everything else with four legs
Pronghorn are common and much faster than they look. They’re the second-fastest land animal on earth and the island is one of the better places in Utah to watch them run. There are bighorn sheep on the rockier slopes, coyotes, mule deer, and the antelope the island is named for. Bring binoculars if you own a pair; the guides carry some.
The birds, which are the real headline
The Great Salt Lake is a hemispheric-scale migratory stop. Twelve million birds use it in a year. Eared grebes stage here by the hundreds of thousands in autumn, Wilson's phalaropes stop on their way to Argentina, and American avocets, black-necked stilts and California gulls work the shallows all season. If you’re even mildly interested in birds, the shoulder seasons here are extraordinary.
Fielding Garr Ranch
Built in 1848 and lived in continuously until 1981, it’s the oldest Anglo-built house still standing on its original foundation in Utah. The bunkhouse, the blacksmith shop and the spring that made the whole operation possible are all still there. You get 30 to 45 minutes on the ground here; the leg is scheduled at about two hours because the drive down the island stops wherever the wildlife is.
What to wear and what to bring
Salt Lake City sits at 4,226 feet and Antelope Island is only slightly lower. The air is dry, the sun is stronger than it feels, and the temperature swing between the shaded visitor center and the open shoreline can be twenty degrees. Layers beat a single warm coat in every season.
- Shoes
- Closed ones you don’t mind getting dusty.
- Sun
- Sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat with a brim.
- Water
- More than you think. The vehicle carries bottled water, but altitude and dry air dehydrate you faster than you notice.
- May and June
- Insect repellent and long sleeves for the gnats. We carry headnets and hand them out when the gnats are up.
- Summer evenings
- A light layer for after sunset, when the temperature drops fast.
- Winter
- A proper wind layer. There is nothing between the island and the Wasatch to slow the wind down.
Leave behind: sandals, anything white you care about, and expectations of a swim. Floating in the Great Salt Lake is a real thing people do, but not on this itinerary. The water access on the tour route is for looking at, not getting into, and the salt is punishing on skin and hair without a freshwater rinse afterwards.
Drive time and how the day is paced
Downtown Salt Lake City to the Antelope Island causeway is about 41 miles and takes 45 to 55 minutes depending on I-15 traffic. The causeway itself is a further seven miles across open water and takes ten slow, strange, worthwhile minutes. The road runs at lake level with nothing on either side, and in the right light the horizon disappears.
Morning departures pick up between 7:30 and 8:00, reach the visitor center around 9:00, take in Bridger Bay and the one-mile Buffalo Point hike, then run the ranch leg from 10:30 to 12:30 before heading back for hotel drop-offs around 1:30.
Afternoon and sunset departures run April 1 through October 15 with a 4:00 PM pickup, and finish with the Buffalo Point hike and sunset on Bridger Bay beach before returning around 9:15. Outside that window the afternoon departure still goes, at 1:30 PM from October 16 to February 28 and 3:00 PM through March.
On both, the two-hour ranch leg is mostly the drive down the island: the vehicle stops wherever the wildlife is, and you get 30 to 45 minutes at the ranch itself.
Groups are capped at fourteen. That matters more than it sounds on a tour like this one: a full-size coach can’t stop when someone spots a bighorn on a ridge, and a fourteen-seat vehicle can.
Photos
Before you book
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
- Minimum of two guest required
- English, Spanish, Dutch, German, and French
Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island: your questions answered
Will we definitely see bison on Antelope Island?
Very probably, but no guide will promise it. The herd of roughly 500 animals roams free across 28,000 acres, so sightings depend on where they have grazed that week. In practice the great majority of our departures get good bison views, and the odds are highest in the cooler months. Birds you will see in any season. Pronghorn are hit and miss and mule deer are only occasionally spotted, so treat both as a possibility rather than something we can promise.
How long is the tour and what time does it get back?
Six hours door to door. The morning departure picks up between 7:30 and 8:00 AM, from downtown Salt Lake City hotels and from hotels in the Layton District, and drops off around 1:30 PM. From April 1 to October 15 there’s also an afternoon and sunset departure that picks up at 4:00 PM and returns about 9:15 PM. Outside that window the afternoon departure still runs, at 3:00 PM in March and 1:30 PM from mid-October through February.
Can you actually float in the Great Salt Lake on this tour?
Not on this itinerary. The tour visits the shoreline and the causeway but doesn’t include swimming. There’s no freshwater rinse on the route, and the salt is hard on skin, hair and clothing without one. If floating in the lake is the specific thing you came for, tell us when you book and we’ll point you to the right access point to do it on your own time.
Does the tour smell? I have heard the lake is bad.
Sometimes, mildly, mostly in late summer. The smell comes from bacteria breaking down organic matter in the shallows and it’s strongest on hot, still days with an onshore breeze. Most visitors notice it for a few minutes near the water and then forget about it. It isn’t present in winter or spring in any meaningful way.
Is Antelope Island suitable for children?
Yes, with a caveat. Children pay a reduced fare and the wildlife is a genuine hit with most of them. But this is a six-hour tour with a long, slow drive down the island, open sun and no playground, so it suits curious school-age children better than toddlers. Children must be accompanied by an adult on every departure.
What about the gnats everyone warns about?
They are real and they’re seasonal. Biting gnats (no-see-ums) peak for roughly two to four weeks around late May and early June, and are largely absent the rest of the year. Long sleeves and insect repellent make them a non-issue, and we carry headnets on board and hand them out when the gnats are up. If you’re traveling in that window and want to avoid them entirely, the Bonneville Salt Flats tour is unaffected.
Is the tour wheelchair accessible?
No. The vehicle and several of the stops, including parts of Fielding Garr Ranch and the shoreline, involve uneven ground and steps. Call us before you book if that is a concern and we’ll tell you whether the day will work for you.
How much is the Antelope Island entrance fee?
It is already covered. The price you pay includes all applicable taxes, fees and park entry, along with your guide, transport, bottled water and hotel pickup from selected downtown Salt Lake City and Layton District hotels. There is nothing further to pay at the gate. Southwest Adventure Tours also donates $5 per person from this tour to Great Salt Lake preservation.
Do you pick up outside downtown Salt Lake City?
Yes, from Layton District hotels as well as downtown ones. Layton sits about halfway between the city and the causeway, so if you are staying up that way you get a slightly later pickup and a shorter drive. Give us your hotel when you book and we will confirm the time; if you are somewhere we do not serve, we will tell you the nearest point we can collect you from rather than leave you guessing.
What happens if I have to cancel?
This tour offers the Trip Protection Plan, an optional cancellation waiver costing 10% of your cart total. It is not insurance. It lets you cancel for any reason up to 11:59 PM the day before the tour and recover everything we collected for the tour and for any add-ons we sold you, with only the 10% fee retained, and it lets you move the booking once within twelve months. It has to be ticked at checkout, since it cannot be added afterwards, and it does not cover anything we did not sell you. Without it, the terms shown in the reservation system apply. Our terms have the full detail.
Pair this with
The tours our guides most often suggest alongside this one, and why.
Salt Lake Antelope Island Dark Sky Experience
Same island, after dark: a certified Dark Sky Park two hours from the same hotel lobby.
Bonneville Salt Flats Adventure
The other half of the Lake Bonneville story: what the lakebed looks like once the water is gone.
Salt Lake City Highlights Driving Tour
Three hours in the city itself, and it pairs neatly with an afternoon island departure.
Read before you go
Longer background on where this tour goes, written by the people who run it.
One day in Salt Lake City: how to spend it well
Most visitors get one day here, usually side-on to a conference or a ski trip. Here is how to use it, from the people who drive this valley for a living.
7 min read
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
Bryce or Arches: which national park day trip from Salt Lake City?
Both are thirteen-hour private days at the same price. They aren’t the same trip, and for a lot of visitors neither is the right call.
7 min read
Still have a question about the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island?
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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