Best Trails in Antelope Island State Park

Short hike (~1.2 mi round trip) for some spectacular views! Great photo opportunities and trail is dog friendly. I usually bring out-of-state visitors to Antelope Island and we do this trail - good hike for all ages and it is a perfect vista of the Great Salt Lake. I hit this trail this weekend and bugs were not a problem. Visibility was affected due to the haze from area forest fires.

Went to go try floating. Gross flies all over water. Walked .5 miles to get to water and paid 10$ to get into park. Was not a total waste as we got to see bison and antelope. If you intend on going in the water be prepared for tiny flies all over you couldn’t stomach it.

Great hike! Comes in at 7.2 miles. Spotted a few animals. Take enough water!!

Quiet, flat trail. No shade along the path but cool temperature along lakeside made it pleasant. Most stretches after the first half mile are suitable for running. Great uninhibited views of surrounding landscape. Although the presence of spiders on webs adjacent to the trail is immediately noticed, I did not have an issue with them or other bugs.

great views, rewards all around to the top and back.

I hit the trail at 0600 this morning. It was perfect! last night's rain made everything smell fresh and kept the dust down. No issues with bugs either. 1hr 10min up and 30min down. It's a decent climb, 2000 ft gain. The beautiful views along the way and herds of Antelope make the lack of shade worth it. Take lots of water and go early. Watching the sunrise was so awesome!

only .9 miles, not 1.3. This is short but fantastic with amazing views. You can't hear a single sound at the peak if you are alone, besides the occasional fly or airplane. 360 view of Salt Lake and the rest of the park.

Beautiful view for such a short hike! Completely silent up top. Flies weren't an issue for us.

Great hike! We went early and got some shade - I would recommend this. I expected all uniform and boring terrain, but there was quite a lot of variety and some fun surprises with the rock formations. We saw deer and antelope and it was a good length for our 10-year-old.

At the ridge at 3 miles, take the right trail down unless you're ready for some wild rock scrabbling.

A good viewpoint of the Great Salt Lake. Many birds and other wild animals on the island. The inverted reflection in water is so beautiful, like mirage！

Even with the views being limited by a thick haze, what I could see was very impressive. I imagine they'd be amazing with higher visibility. I'd recommend an early morning hike for this one during the summer months. There's no hiding from the sun on this one. I did come across some sharp-tailed grouse near the weather station.

Spiders! This hike may be wonderful any other time of year, but please note that right now this area is infested with millions of spiders. There are several news articles about it. We got 5 mins into this hike first thing after sunrise and brushed away a few cobwebs thinking nothing of it. We came to a pass where we couldn’t get through the trail without facing several webs with three large spiders and turned around only to realize we’d been surround by webs all over the trail. Even driving off to leave the island we could see these webs and large spiders from the road. If they are your thing and don’t bother you, it’s a gem. If you prefer to avoid spiders, definitely not your hike right now.

The skies were so cloudy because of all the surrounding fires. Started early and had a slight breeze that was nice. This trail is almost entirely exposed until you get past the weather station, so that breeze was nice. Went down the left side after the station and came down across the ridge. That required some scrambling. And please people, if you have do poop, don't do it on the ledge of this trail! Can't you at least hold it until you get down or plan and go to the bathroom beforehand?! Not a nice thing to see when trying to find places for foot and handholds while scrambling.

Awesome day seeing the history of Salt Lake and Lake Bonneville. Saw some great wildlife sites including elk and wild buffalo. Had to take the chance to wade into the great salt lake. Once is enough for that! Highly recommend.

Not really a hike but gave some great views!

My first ever hike. 4th of July this year. Loved it! Would not rate it as hard or difficult, but its lengthier so take alot of water and sunscreen. No bug issues like some other posters have said; think it must vary from day to day at GSL. Took us about three to 3.5 hours up and back. Breathtaking views and an experience I will remember always and forever.

Visited in March 2018.....it was still a little chilly but a nice and easy hike with a few boulders to scramble up or around in some areas. Not too busy with people.

I will never do this hike again. Both times there were so many bugs, and gnats you can't keep off. We were bleeding all over from them. The views, volcanic arc rocks left behind and cap carbonates are something to experience, but only once.

Nice quick hike to lookout for awesome views of lake and surrounding mountains.

truely enjoyed the trail and like promised it was rewardingly difficult at times. the last little bit towards the peak was pretty sketchy and I was fairly uncomfortable as the trail was incredibly narrow tilted down towards the quite steep hill (as in if you messed up, youd fall down said hill) beautiful view from the top tho and was well worth it.

The trail is a bit steep in places, but not bad overall. There are amazing views along the way and at the top.

Quick hike. Great breeze made it nice in the heat. Kids had fun at the top.

Absolutely stunning if you go when the sun starts to rise. However, I won’t go back until fall as I was eaten alive by flies and mosquitoes everywhere.

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This is the best trail on Antelope! (My opinion) I have done this trail 3 times in the past month. The trick is going early....gates open @6:00am. This trail is moderate for the first 3 miles to the radio towers then after that it can be a bit tricky but nothing too bad. Yes if you are a first time hiker I would look at maybe doing lakeside trail. But this opens up a hidden side of antelope island. The first time doing this trail it took me 2hrs 49 min today I did it in 2hr 19min, not the fastest but I would say I’m a slower hiker but I jogged down. If you can do waterfall you can do this hike. If you are worried about the last half mile just go to the radio tower! Don’t miss out on the awesome views!

Short hike but great for kids. I came here on 6/21/2018. Lots of spider webs to walk through while I was climbing the rocks but to start your day on antelope island with this short hike is a must!

Great hike! And better views! Saw 3 bison on June 21st,2018. My GPS read 7.2 miles total though. From start to finish this hike took me a little over 3 hours. I stopped once mid way up and once at the peak. Descent took about 55 minutes but I was running most of it.

Some suggestions for first timers like myself:

1. Bring bug spray and lots of sunscreen. The bugs can get pretty gnarly at some points toward the beginning and end of the hike. If you have any open wounds (like me) make sure to cover them up. The bugs are attracted to this and will not leave you alone. Make sure to cover properly.
2. When you reach mile marker three stay right . Do not try and climb the rocky trail that looks like the right way. It’s dangerous and the trail needs to have a marker advising people that this is the wrong way.
3. Bring a hiking stick. You’ll thank yourself on the way up.
4. Wear proper footwear. Sneakers will do fine but beware there is some rocky terrain. If you have hiking boots or trail running shoes I would use though.
5. No shade on this trail. All sun which is what I prefer.

I would not recommend this for the first time hiker or somebody with mobility issues. This is not a beginners hike. The last .5-.7 miles was a bit challenging and quite steep.

LOTS OF WATER. I went through appx 2 L of water on this hike and wish I had more.

My kids loved this! We did it in early spring before all the bugs and it was perfect.

Short climb to a great view of salt lake. There were plenty of bugs so use bug spray.

My husband and I completed this hike on June 17.

We started at about 2PM..... not our best move. We also didn't pack enough water, so we were rationing the entire way. Fortunately, we remembered sunblock (the trail is 100% exposed) and bug spray. Additionally, we had the good luck of having an occasional breeze accompany us the entire way. That wind prevented us from being eaten alive by bugs. In fact, we were hardly bothered at all. In the two days since our hike, we've only discovered one bug bite each!

The trail was steep.... we took rest breaks every 10-15 minutes. The views were phenomenal! The crystal-blue water seemed to extend forever, and we could hardly stop looking at it.

Would recommend this for anyone up for a challenge!