travel dates: June, 2022
In 1970, artist Robert Smithson hired a crew to haul nearly 7000 tons of rock to the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah and arrange it into a 1500 foot long spiral jutting counterclockwise into the lake. The sculpture is stunning to look at, and it has a lot to say–about history and prehistory, about change and transformation, about the relationship between people and the environment. But today, more than 50 years after its creation, perhaps the most striking thing it says to us echoes what we can read in the news and see in photographs: the Great Salt Lake is in trouble.
When Spiral Jetty was completed in 1970, the lake was at historically low levels, leaving the rocks visible until 1972, when rising water levels covered the spiral and left it hidden for the next two decades. The jetty spent the 90s playing peek-a-boo as water levels rose and fell, but now, thanks to drought and water overuse, it’s been visible since 2002.
Looking at Spiral Jetty now, in a dry lake bed of white sand, with the water impossibly far away, it’s hard to imagine that it spent so long hiding under the water’s surface.
Smithson was fascinated by the concept of entropy; Spiral Jetty was intended in part as a commentary on decay–it was to be something that would start to break down as soon as it was created. Smithson couldn’t have anticipated the ironic opposite of that idea: the manmade sculpture as a steady presence while the ancient lake disappears around it.
I’m certainly not the first person to ruminate on Spiral Jetty’s role as a harbinger of dark days to come for the Great Salt Lake. But the evening after we saw Spiral Jetty we took the dogs for a walk in the neighborhood by our RV park, 50 miles away in Brigham City. Surrounded by perfect green lawns and the hum of sprinklers, it was hard not to notice that there didn’t seem to be any sense of urgency. The lake hit its lowest level in recorded history in November, 2022 (though it’s risen some since then in the wake of a particularly snowy winter) and there are estimates that it could be completely dry in five years.
After this ominous introduction, I’ll add that getting to Spiral Jetty feels a bit like entering a post apocalyptic world. Which is to say that the road is extremely bumpy and there are no public restrooms.
The kids were familiar with Spiral Jetty from art history classes, and we all very much wanted to see it. We planned our short stay in Utah around it, in fact. But I’d read a good bit about the 16 miles of dirt road one needs to traverse to get to the site, and I was a little apprehensive. Still, I was very brave and made it perhaps five miles in to the washboard-y journey before suggesting we turn around. Dave was having nothing to do with this idea, though, and we pressed on, through an extremely desolate landscape, surrounded by ranch land and no signs of other humans. It was not pleasant. We lost a hubcap. I had many visions of us sliding off the road and waiting for hours in the heat for another car to come along to help us. But we made it! It was a very hot day when we went, with highs in the upper 90s forecast. We tried to leave early to beat the worst of the heat, but we underestimated how much the terrible road would slow us down, and it was already pretty toasty by the time we made it out there. But we spent maybe 45 minutes checking out Spiral Jetty from assorted angles–climbing the hill to look for above, then walking out onto the Jetty and walking the rocks themselves.
It was a very cool experience and something I’m glad we did and that I will almost certainly never do again. Unless they pave the road.
The last vestige of civilization on the road to Spiral Jetty (and the last place to use the bathroom) is Golden Spike National Historical Park, the NPS site commemorating the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.
I’ve been trying to think of some way to tie this all together with Spiral Jetty….something, something, something anxiety about technology, blah, blah. Maybe I could do it, but, honestly, we went here because trains are cool, and it was on the way to Spiral Jetty. The two are an odd pair, really; we have esoteric tastes ourselves, but I’m not sure how much overlap there is in general between people who want to see a cool train/history site and people who want to see a decidedly contemporary earthwork sculpture. I mean…some overlap, sure.
Anyway, though, it’s a whole lot easier to get to than Spiral Jetty, so if you’re into trains but not art, you’re in luck!
We liked them both, but wouldn’t have made a special trip just for Golden Spike, most likely. It’s one of those modest NPS sites that can be seen easily in a couple of hours, but, like nearly all NPS sites, it’s well done and certainly worth a stop if you find yourself nearby.
We admired the cool sculpture out front (more art!)
Then checked out the reproduction of one of the locomotives that met on the newly joined track (thing I learned! the two railroad companies laying the track couldn’t agree on where it should meet and actually laid track past each other, but miles apart, before Congress intervened to broker a compromise so the tracks could finally be joined). The other locomotive is around, too, but it wasn’t out while we were there:
If you’re there at the right time, you can watch a little ceremony recreating the moment when the golden spike itself was driven in to connect the tracks. We were not there at the right time. But Abe still got a junior ranger badge:
And we explored the small museum and watched the park film.
Tips for Visiting Spiral Jetty and Golden Spike National Historical Park
*The closest city with gas and food is Corinne, UT, about 25 miles from Golden Spike….but there’s not much in the way of campgrounds there, so we opted to stay a few miles farther away in Brigham City
*Spiral Jetty is very remote–especially for those of us coming from the east coast who aren’t used to being able to go so long without encountering other humans. So prepare yourself for that. For example:
*Pay attention to the weather and plan accordingly. It was extremely hot and sunny on the day we went, so we went straight to Spiral Jetty and stopped at Golden Spike on our return, to take advantage of the coolest part of the day at the totally exposed Spiral Jetty site. Bring plenty of sunscreen, water, etc. because you won’t be able to get it there.
*Stop by Golden Spike for a map with driving directions. You won’t have a cell signal anywhere near Spiral Jetty, and your GPS won’t be reliable, so make sure you know where you’re going. And that someone else knows where you’re going and when you plan to be back. We saw no one else at all on the way out or while we were at Spiral Jetty, but did pass 3 cars on our way back.
*Have I mentioned the road to Spiral Jetty? It’s not great! It’s about 16 miles of gravel road after you pass Golden Spike. The first 5 miles or so aren’t bad, but then things get extremely washboard-y. At least they did when we were there; it might depend on weather conditions and on how recently they’ve graded the road. We have a van with rear wheel drive, and it didn’t feel terribly safe to me–it was not only bumpy, but felt like we were sliding around a good bit. The rear wheel drive will do that. It should also be noted that our big ol’ van isn’t really designed for comfort, so the bumpiness might have been accentuated for us. A 4 wheel drive vehicle would be ideal, in my opinion, but people definitely drive the road in all kinds of vehicles. It took a lot longer than we expected to get out there, since we were going 10-15 mph for a lot of the drive, as faster didn’t feel safe with the slidiness.
*Allow at least half an hour to check out the Jetty itself, more if the weather is nice. We would have liked to spend more time climbing in the area around the sculpture for different views, but the temperature was rising rapidly, and we wanted to get back.
*Remember that there are no services at all at the site: no bathrooms, no food service, no attendants at all, no trash cans.
*Golden Spike is still pretty remote (32 miles from Brigham City), but it’s accessible via nice, paved roads! There are bathrooms and lots of shaded picnic tables, but no onsite food (other than drinks and a few snacks at the gift shop).
*Allow maybe an hour to an hour and a half for Golden Spike, unless you can time your visit when a scheduled activity is going on.
Golden Spike RV Park
The fact that this place is called Golden Spike RV Park even though it’s more than 30 miles from Golden Spike National Historical Park should tell you what you need to know about the availability of accommodations in the Golden Spike/Spiral Jetty area. We stayed here because it was the closest place we found, and it had pretty good reviews. And…it was fine! Fairly tight spaces, but not bad. Lots of long term residents more at the back of the campground. It’s a tiny little campground tucked into a residential, suburban location; there’s a Walmart right across the street and other shopping nearby. Clean bathrooms, laundry, small camp store. Our site was right by a nice grassy area where we could take the dogs for a quick walk. A site will run you around $60/night for full hookups. And, as usual for last summer, there were lovely mountain views:
Next up: Montana at last!
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