The following is written by Nathan Nelson, a husband, father, and open water swimmer from Provo.
Pinning down what I like most about Utah Lake is tricky. This lake was relatively undiscovered for me for the first five years that I lived in Utah. I mean, I knew it existed- it’s the third largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. You can’t miss it. But at the same time, rumors prevailed that the lake was dirty and polluted. Not to mention that when I started doing triathlons, it never occurred to me to practice outside of a pool.
The beauty of Utah Lake for me, however, is that it is only a couple of miles from my house. I can go for a jog, swim, then run back home. I take my entire family to the lake, at least once a week. My daughters enjoy kayaking and swimming with me at Secret Beach (I’d tell you where this is, but my entire household is under specific instructions to not disclose this location.) I use the lake-side south jetty at Utah Lake State Park for my triathlon, long distance swims. It provides a nice, open place to swim, as well as some of the chop that I might encounter on race day. An obvious benefit to swimming at Utah Lake is that I’m not paying money to swim at a recreational center. I have a yearly state park pass and that’s it. I put my swimsuit on, drive five minutes and jump in.
I started swimming Utah Lake last year, after a lot of apprehension. I knew that the lake had tons of carp and that it was shallow. I’d never really swam open water, and truthfully the concept was rather new to me at the time. I’ve only been swimming as an adult (I’m 37) for a couple of years, so making the jump to open water was intimidating for me. But now that I look forward to Utah Lake as a swimming destination, I sort of get down at this time of year, because I know it’ll be cold enough in a few weeks that I won’t want to swim. But I should note that there are other, better people than me who will swim in freezing conditions. I’m not that person — yet. I enjoy the varying conditions. I don’t ever know what the lake will provide for me, whether it will be calm as glass, or just insane waves that force me into a real workout. I should mention here that it’s not safe to swim alone and I try not to. But I always swim with caution, staying close to the shore and always with my Swim Safety Device, which is a floating buoy that drags behind me, just in case I run into trouble.
It’s too bad that people aren’t more inclined to swim in Utah Lake. But I also understand the apprehension. For me the lake wasn’t an option at first, because I had heard about Utah Lake’s checkered past. Sewage dumps after the Great Depression, masses of carp infesting the lake, etc. But the truth of the matter is that since the Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, the lake has been suited for swimming. “So why the dirty water?” people ask me. Because non-native carp were introduced and vegetation was destroyed that held the lake’s bottom floor together, so muddy water is an issue.
There is a flip-side to this, however. Once you get over the fact that you can’t see easily through the water, you gain an unlikely advantage — if you can learn to swim in a straight line in Utah Lake, you can swim a straight line in any lake. This may not hold for long, though. Efforts are being made to remove the carp and clean up the lake, by 2017 I think. When that happens, I may not have the privilege of having so much open water to myself.
More than anything, Utah Lake is a swimming lake. I have friends and family who boat, fish and water ski the lake. But for me, it’s a beautiful remnant of the ancient Lake Bonneville and a chance to connect to Utah’s past. For generations, people have swam Utah Lake. I hope we get back to the time when the lake was a revered and respected body of water.
To that end, I started swimwithoutwalls.com to support swimming in Utah Lake, dispel the rumors that it’s not safe to swim there, and promote open water swimming. I’ve been swimming at Utah Lake for over a year and have yet to see any reoccurring issues.
Except an insatiable desire to return to swim again.
Utahlake.gov would like to thank Nathan for his passion and willingness to contribute. Photo credit: Randyl Nielson
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Great post. I’ve felt that Utah Lake is incredibly undervalued by most of the residents here (maybe that’s a Good thing 🙂 My brother really got into Kite surfing on the lake when the sport was still really new and had a couple of secret beaches himself (when the water was lower and there were more beaches). All the local kite surfers even named a beach after him and his friend.
While I was in school and missing the ocean, I picked up a used stand-up paddleboard when that was just taking off, back in 2005 or so and loved taking it out into the lake a few miles at a time. I’d get the weirdest looks from other visitors. Now I understand there’s a race that gets held on the lake. Good to hear.
Now I’m back but living in Lehi and looking for an easy and quick way to get in from up here. Any ideas?
In response to Christian:
I may not have too much business by replying, since I’m pretty much native to the Utah Lake State Park area (I live only minutes away from it.) But I’m actually exploring the lake’s east side, this year…so if I find something I’ll be reporting what I find on my website, http://www.swimwithoutwalls.com.
There is a place close to home that I take my kids to, that we all call Secret Beach. There are so many wonderful and hidden treasures in this lake. I know what you mean about enjoying the undervalued lake. Many days I swim with no one in sight. It’s like having my own private ocean. 🙂
I grew up in Provo, and avoided the lake completely because of how gross it was. Its so changed now! When I go visit my parents there, it actually looks like, well, a lake. Not a swamp.
Hey i was wondering if anyone had any good tips or places to fish for walleye in Utah lake. I have never caught one and want to pretty bad.
Any tips would be useful i dont really even know what baits are best for walleye, i have heard that bouncing grubs off of the bottom work pretty well.
Also if you guys need any catfishing tips im your guy i have been cat fishing utah lake for around twelve years and can help you out if you are having a hard time hooking into some big channel cats.