If you’ve lived in Salt Lake for a while, you’ve probably seen (or at least smelled) The Great Salt Lake, in all its salty beauty.
The Great Salt Lake gives our city its name, and its mysterious saltiness was rumored about for years before fur trappers traveled far enough West to discover it.
Though it’s definitely not your traditional recreational lake, we think these briny waters are worth visiting. After all, it is the biggest natural lake west of the Mississippi!
Read on to learn even more fun facts about our iconic Great Salt Lake:
1. The Great Salt Lake is four to five times saltier than the ocean (or six to eight times saltier than the ocean in drought years!) and contains about 4.5 billion tons of salt.
Jimmy Emerson, DVM
2. The Dead Sea is the only body of water with a higher salt content
Brian Hansen
3. The Great Salt Lake is 75 miles long and is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River.
Scott Law
4. Brine shrimp in the waters of The Great Salt Lake cause the sulfur-like smell.
Shaun Fisher
5. There have been three separate buildings called Saltair that have been built on the south shore of the lake since 1893. (The first two were destroyed by fire).
frank thompson photos
6. The lake is a remnant of an ancient lake that once covered the majority of western Utah, called Lake Bonneville by geologists.
Rick Bolin
7. 17 islands on The Great Salt Lake have been officially named, including Antelope Island, Stansbury Island and Fremont Island.
Rick Bolin
8. Utah makes about $1.3 billion every year from The Great Salt Lake ($1.1 billion in mineral extraction, $136 million from recreation and $57 billion from harvest of brine shrimp.)
arbyreed
9. There is a legend of the North Shore Monster, who had a crocodile body, horse head, and attacked several men on the lake in 1977.
10. You can go on a boat tour around the lake via .
11. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a remnant of Lake Bonneville that has been completely dried up, and is located west of The Great Salt Lake.
Tom Kelly
12. Countless movies and photo shoots have taken on the Salt Flats, including “Independence Day,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” and “The Tree of Life”.
13. The Bonneville Salt Flats are frequently used for speed races, photo shoots and advertisements.
karshotz
14. Though swimming in The Great Salt Lake is a bad idea, you can kayak or sail the waters for a better look at one of Utah’s natural wonders.
Irwin Scott
15. The Great Salt Lake has a maximum depth of 33 feet.
Scott Law
16. “Spiral Jetty” is a notable sculpture on the northeast shore of the lake.
DennyMont
What do you like about the Great Salt Lake? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below:
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