Skip to main content

Bridge Monday; Antelope Island Causeway (former Utah State Route 127)

Back in 2015 I was ending a long road trip in the Northwest Region on of the Continental United States and had an extra day to kill in the Salt Lake City area.  That being the case I decided to head out to Antelope Island in the middle of Great Salt Lake on the Antelope Island Causeway.


Antelope Island is the largest within Great Salt Lake at 42 square miles and is entirely located within Davis County.  Antelope Island is home to Antelope Island State Park which was created in 1969.  The creation of Antelope Island State Park led to the development of the first Antelope Island Causeway which was located over Farmington Bay just as the current structure.  The first Antelope Island Causeway was part of third Utah State Route 127 which was created in 1965 and still exists between UT 110 and UT 108.

The waters of Great Salt Lake fluctuates wildly depending on winter rainfall.  Great Salt Lake has been known to shrink to only 950 Square Miles in dry years and as high as 3,300 Square Miles during the wettest years.  In 1983 the first Antelope Island Causeway closed due to flooding and needed to be replaced.  The Utah State Legislature approved funding to build the current Antelope Island Causeway in 1991 and the structure was opened in 1993.  The current Antelope Island Causeway is seven miles in length and is maintained by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.

From the western end of the Antelope Island Causeway much of Great Salt Lake can be seen.  2015 was a relatively wet year which is reflected in the depth of the waters around Antelope Island.









Antelope Island State Park is mostly known once privately held buffalo herd and the name antelopes.  The ruins of the buffalo ranch on Antelope Island date back to the 1890s and were the result of failed homesteading.







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hawaii Route 8930

Hawaii Route 8930 is a 2.5-mile State Highway on the Island of O'hau.  Hawaii Route 8930 is aligned over Kualakai Parkway over the course of its entire alignment south from Interstate H-1 to Kapolei Parkway.  Hawaii Route 8930 is one of the newest Hawaii Routes only having been completed during 2010.   This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page.  All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 8930 The history of Hawaii Route 8930 is brief given it is a modern facility.  Hawaii Route 8930 and what was known as "North-South Road" were built to facilitate the developing areas of Kapolei on western O'ahu.  According to hawaiihighways.com the first stage of Hawaii Route 8930 was completed from Kapolei Parkway north to Farrington Highway as a four-lane highway during November...

Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road

Madera County Road 607 is an approximately seven-mile rural unsurfaced highway which spans from Road 600 near Raymond west to Road 29.   Road 607 west from Raymond Road Cemetery (established in 1905) is part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road corridor surveyed in 1853. The corridor lies in the gap between Fresno Crossing at the Fresno River west to Newton's Crossing at the Chowchilla River. The Buchanan Copper Mine would be along what is now Road 607 in the namesake Buchanan Hollow during July 1863. The Buchanan Mine is thought to have once had a population of between 1,000-1,500 residents by the early 1870s. Copper prices would decline in the decade after the Civil War and much of the activity at Buchanan shifted towards cattle ranching. The last businesses in the community would shutter during World War II and it is now a true ghost town. Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road What is now Road 607 was a component of the larger Sto...

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...