Liberty Park, with fountains and formal pathways, is a traditional park with 100 acres set aside for walking and relaxing. The Main Walk is a spacious, lighted promenade under spreading cottonwood trees; narrow off-shoots include strolls like the Pine Walk. In the south end is the Tracy Aviary with more than 1,000 birds on display from around the world. The park can be found from 500 to 700 East Street and 900 to 1300 South Street. A half hour out of the city to the northwest you can hike with your dog in Antelope Island State Park, in the Great Salt Lake. Only the Dead Sea holds saltier water than the Great Salt Lake, the biggest lake in the American West. The salinity can be as high as 27% - eight times saltier than ocean water. Antelope Island is the largest of the Great Salt Lakes 10 islands. The ancestral antelopes for which John Fremont and Kit Carson named the island in 1843 disappeared but were reintroduced to the 28,022-acre park in 1993. But the animal stars of the park are the bison, first shipped here in 1893 and now 600 strong. Sheep also grazed here for decades, supporting the busiest sheering operation west of the Mississippi River. The first state lands on the island were purchased in 1969 and the entire island became a state park in 1987. At the heart of the 20-mile hiking system on Antelope Island is the White Rock Bay Loop, over 9 miles of long ascents and descents from the shoreline. Like most of the canine hiking in the park, the trail is open all the way and gets hot in the summer. There is no fresh water avail-able so bring plenty to keep your dog refreshed. The trail is often paw-friendly sand. A quicker way to see the island is the Buffalo Trail, a one-mile round trip that features benches to stop and gaze around the native vegatation of the Great Basin. For extended views get on the Mountain View Trail that provides hours of easy canine hiking. Everyone will want to include a quarter-mile trail to Beacon Knob on the day hiking agenda. This trail high point serves up panoramas of the Wasatch Front Range across the water. To get close to the Great Salt Lake the Lakeside Trail is a 3-mile out-and-back shadow on the shore. Antelope Island State Park is 7 miles west of Layton at Exit 355 off I-15. copyright 2006 |
