Can you walk on the Great Salt Lake?

I heard that the Great Salt Lake is so salty that you can walk on the water. Is that true? Yes. By all means, try it.



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  • Great Salt Lake Marina Path. Easy• 3.7(32) #1 - Great Salt Lake Marina Path. Great Salt Lake State Park. Length: 0.3 mi•Est. ...
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  • Black Rock Walk. Easy• 3.0(31) #3 - Black Rock Walk. Great Salt Lake State Park.


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Swimming in the Great Salt Lake is a One-of-a-Kind Experience. We loved the unique experience of swimming in the biggest body of water west of the Mississippi. There are so few Salt Lakes in the world, so its unique to say you have swam in a salt lake.

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I heard that the Great Salt Lake is so salty that you can walk on the water. Is that true? Yes. By all means, try it.

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The salinity of the water averages about 12%, making it much saltier than the ocean. The water is so buoyant that people can easily float.

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According to a recent study by Brigham Young University, it's possible that Great Salt Lake could dry up completely in the next five years.

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A recent report found that the lake could essentially disappear within five years. As a key stopover for migrating birds, the lake's loss could undermine whole ecosystems. These salty lakes occur in so-called endorheic basins—places where there is no outlet for the water to flow out to sea.

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The Great Salt Lake is home to many important biological and wildlife species, from archaea, to bacteria, to phytoplankton (400+ species). Perhaps the three most apparent species that can be seen with the naked eye are brine shrimp (tons), brine flies (billions) and birds (millions).

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Because of the abundant algae and halophiles, as well as the high salinity, the lake does not support fish — but it teems with brine shrimp and brine flies, which provide essential nutrition for migrating birds.

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The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, particularly through lake-effect snow.



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The lake, which spans around 75 miles long and 35 miles wide, remains salty because it has no outlet. Yes, the Great Salt Lake is obviously salty, but did you know some parts of the lake are saltier than others?

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The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, particularly through lake-effect snow.



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The shallow bottom of Great Salt Lake supports a microbial carpet that harness the sun's energy through the process of photosynthesis. This carpet is made up of a community of microbes, including several types of cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae), algae and other organisms.

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Even when the water temperature is in the 20's (°F), the lake does not freeze, due to the high salt content of the water; but icebergs have been ob- served floating on the lake's surface, formed from freshwater that flows into the lake from tributaries and freezes on the surface before it mixes with the brine.

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However, the most deleterious effect of the Great Salt Lake drying up is that the air surrounding Salt Lake City could sporadically become poisonous. Since the bed of the Great Salt Lake holds high levels of dangerous particles like arsenic, antimony, copper, zirconium, and various heavy metals.

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Due to its shallowness (an average of 14 feet deep and a maximum of 35 feet deep), the water level can fall dramatically during dry years and rise during wet years. When snowpack melts in the spring, the lake usually rises about 2 feet. However, record snowpack in 2023 triggered a rise of 5.5 feet!

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Water experts say it's going to take more than one big year to fill the Great Salt Lake. SALT LAKE CITY — Ever since The Great Salt Lake hit its lowest water level on record in November 2022, concerns over things like arsenic in the exposed lake bed have only grown.

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A recent report found that the lake could essentially disappear within five years. As a key stopover for migrating birds, the lake's loss could undermine whole ecosystems.

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