Qualla: Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the desert west of Salt Lake City, a lake slowly disappears. Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, a remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville that once covered 20,000 square miles. Today, the lake varies between 1,000 and 2,000 square miles depending on conditions - and conditions have been bad. Drought and water diversion for agriculture have shrunk the lake to historic lows, exposing lake bed that blows toxic dust across the region. Yet Great Salt Lake remains remarkable: water salty enough to float in effortlessly, brine shrimp that support a global aquaculture industry, millions of migratory birds, and strange beauty where water meets desert. The lake is simultaneously dying and fascinating, a geologic wonder in slow-motion crisis.

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Image: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta | CC BY-SA 4.0

Great Salt Lake: The Salt

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA, CC BY 2.0. Great Salt Lake has no outlet - water flows in from the Bear, Weber, and Jordan Rivers, then evaporates, leaving dissolved minerals behind. The salt concentration varies by location and water level, ranging from 5% to 27% (the ocean is about 3.5%). The railroad causeway that cros...

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Image: Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA | CC BY 2.0

Great Salt Lake: The Life

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dr. Dwayne Meadows, NMFS/OPR., Public domain. Despite the salinity, Great Salt Lake supports abundant life - just not the kind found in fresher waters. Brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) thrive in the lake's salty waters, their eggs harvested and sold globally as fish food for aquaculture. The harvest is worth over $60 milli...

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Image: Dr. Dwayne Meadows, NMFS/OPR. | Public domain

Great Salt Lake: The Crisis

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Buaidh, CC BY-SA 4.0. Great Salt Lake is shrinking. In 2022, it reached its lowest level since records began in 1847. The causes are primarily human: agricultural diversion of tributary rivers, reduced snowpack from climate change, and increased evaporation from rising temperatures. As the lake shrink...

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Image: Buaidh | CC BY-SA 4.0

Great Salt Lake: The Experience

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carpenter, Kenneth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Swimming in Great Salt Lake is unlike any other water experience. The buoyancy is remarkable - you bob like a cork, unable to sink or swim normally. The salt stings any cuts or abrasions; getting water in your eyes is painful. The smell can be intense - brine fly larvae and decay...

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Image: Carpenter, Kenneth | CC BY-SA 4.0

Great Salt Lake: Visiting Great Salt Lake

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit pedrik, CC BY 2.0. Great Salt Lake is accessible from Salt Lake City via Interstate 80 (west) or Antelope Island State Park (north). Antelope Island offers beaches, trails, camping, and wildlife viewing (bison, pronghorn, bighorn sheep). The Great Saltair concert venue sits on the southern shore. S...

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Image: pedrik | CC BY 2.0