The Spiral Jetty is an earthwork sculpture located north of Salt Lake City. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Provo, where I lived, so even though this was one of the top things on my Utah Bucket List, it took until we had almost moved out of Utah to finally make this excursion.

Some websites list the Spiral Jetty as a “hike” — and there is a walk up a hill if you want another overview — but primarily this is just a really cool place to check out and see another part of the Great Salt Lake as well as an interesting artwork. Plus, on the way there was an unexpected surprise – the Golden Spike National Monument!

Golden Spike National Monument

The Golden Spike commemorates the historic event of the two railroads – Central Pacific and Union Pacific – meeting in the middle to become the first Transcontinental Railroad in the United States (connecting Sacramento, CA to Omaha, NE).

My favorite story was that the actual event happened on May 10, 1869, however, the Golden Spike that commemorated the event is engraved as May 8, 1869 because that was the agreed upon date and the Jupiter (Central Pacific train) got there on May 8th and had to wait a few more days for the Union Pacific to arrive. Since it was already engraved, they couldn’t change it.

I loved that they had the re-enactments and so much information on the history of the railroad here.

The Spiral Jetty

From there we made our way along a bumpy dirt and gravel road to the jetty. It’s simply a really cool site. Not just the jetty, but the land that it’s made on – it’s right along the Great Salt Lake, and the day we went with the blue sky provided the most beautiful colors and feeling. It was kind of like the Bonneville Salt Flats where you feel like you’re walking on another planet. People were swimming in the lake and in some areas the salt was this beautiful light pink or coral and with the blue of the water and white of salt, it was really incredible and inspiring. This is one of the many times where photos just don’t do it justice.

Because of the drive and the subsequent stops, I would plan for at least a half day and to pack some food. There’s a little restaurant you can stop at on the way out or back, but really not much is out here for a long while.

Let me know if you get a chance to go!