Spiral Jetty Directions

Spiral Jetty is an earthwork created by artist Robert Smithson in 1970. It is located in the northern arm on the Great Salt Lake in Utah and is a 1,500-foot-long, 15 foot-wide coil of black basalt rock and earth that extends out counterclockwise into the translucent red water. You can walk on it, but you'd better go now. Smithson created Spiral Jetty during a drought. The following year it was submerged beneath the lake, not to be seen for another three decades. Spiral Jetty reappeared a few times between 2004 and 2005, then disappeared until spring of 2010.

• 1

  Drive to Golden Spike National Historic Site. Take I-15 north to Exit 365 and go west on Highway 13 through Corinne for 2.7 miles until you get to a fork in the road. Take the left fork, Highway 83, and follow it west for 17.9 miles to Lampo Junction. Turn left and follow the signs for 7.8 miles until you reach the Golden Spike Visitor Center.

• 2

  Drive 5.6 miles west on the main gravel road to a fork. Take the fork on the left and head south. Drive 1.3 miles to a second fork. Go straight ahead towards the east. Follow along the west side of the Promontory Mountains and at the next fork, head right. Drive 8.2 miles to the tip of Rozel Point and park.

• 3

  Walk on the left fork in the road and head south. The fork drops 200 yards to another jetty left by oil drilling. When you reach the next fork, go right and head west. Walk past a large white trailer, an amphibious landing craft and an old Dodge truck. Walk .6 miles west-northwest around Rozel Point and look toward the Great Salt Lake. If the lake elevation is below 4,197 feet, you should be able to see the Spiral Jetty.