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Things to do in Layton
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Great Salt Lake
World renown, the Great Salt Lake
in Utah is the biggest salt lake in the western hemisphere and
the 37th biggest in the world. Usually the lake covers about
1700 square miles, but it has been as small as 950 square miles,
as in 1963, or as much as 3300 square miles when it was in 1987;
fluctuating like this because it is so shallow. Originally part
of the huge Lake Bonneville, it is the biggest remaining body of
water from that pluvial lake that covered almost the entire
state. This body of water has no outlets, so that the water
evaporates causing the various changes that do occur. Its salt
content is greater than the oceans, with the Bear, Jordan and
Weber rivers bringing in over 1 million tons of minerals each
year. As the water evaporates, the mineral deposits only
increase the salinity of the remaining water, and it is said
that people can just lie in the water and will float without any
movement. The temperature of the water is warm enough to cause
snow storms from the lake effects in late fall, early winter or
spring. Some have referred to it as the American Dead Sea, but
it is home to millions of birds, waterfowl, shorebirds and brine
shrimp; and includes the biggest amount of Wilson's phalarope
birds in the world. This beautiful three colored bird is a
wader, the biggest of the phalarope species and breeds in the
area around western Canada and U.S. The lake was known to the
various Native Americans that traversed the region, but it
wasn't recorded until 1824, although the Spanish explorers like
Silverstre Velez de Escalante and his cartographer, Bernardo
Miera y Pacheo saw the huge lake, it was Jim Bridger and Etienne
Provost that saw this magnificent creation. Trappers wandering
the area in search of good fur trapping rivers and streams were
mostly illiterate and were not able to write about it. They did
talk about it and finally reports were written, although not
precisely. The group under Escalante saw the Utah Lake, that he
named Laguna Timpanogos, and it appeared in Miera's map that
way. John C. Fremont came to the lake in 1843, with a scientific
expedition, and since winter was approaching, he wasn't able to
map the whole lake. In 1850, Howard Stansbury came through the
area and was able to survey the entire lake. After Fremont left
the region, he wrote wonderful reports about the region and
lake, which became quite popular and was noticed by Brigham
Young, who thought it was the perfect place for his group of
Mormons when they were forced to leave Nauvoo, Illinois. The
Great Salt Lake was the reason that the new city that was formed
by Young and his Mormons was called Great Salt Lake City, when
they arrived in 1847. The city and it burbs are east and
southeast of the lake, somewhat between the lake and the
gorgeous Wasatch Mountains. The lands to the north and the west
are almost without residences, with the Bonneville Salt Flats in
the west and the Stansbury and Oquirrh Mountains in the south.
The Southern Pacific Railroad company built a trestle across the
southern parts of the lake in 1902 through 1904, so that 43
miles of curves and grades could be avoided, that had been built
by the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s across the
Promontory Summit. This trestle was replaced in latter 1950 and
a parallel causeway built. There are numerous islands in the
lake, but the number changes due to the lakes changing levels,
but the state's geological survey states there are 11
recognized, with four in the northwestern area and seven in the
southern. The islands going from the biggest to smallest are;
Antelope, Stansbury, Fremont, Carrington, Dolphin, Cub, Badger,
Strongs Knob, Gunnison, Goose, Browns, Hat(Bird), Egg Island,
Black Rock and White Rock. Antelope, White and Black Rock, Egg,
Fremont and the Promontory mountain range are part of the
Oquirrh Mountains that go beneath the southeast shore into the
lake and the Stansbury, Hat and Carrington Islands are part of
the Stansbury Mountains. Antelope Island connects with the shore
when the water is low and becomes a peninsula, with other
islands doing the same when the water levels change around them.
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Layton Corn Maze
Have you ever been in a
maze? Do you know what they are and how they started? The first
recorded maze was in American Fork, Utah in 1996 and was
considered to be the biggest maze or labyrinth in the entire
western United States. Brett Herbst, a Brigham Young University
agribusiness graduate, was raised on a farm in Idaho, and this
is from where he drew his experience and motivation. He had read
about this unique idea in a farming magazine, so it has been
around for longer than what we know. The word soon traveled
about the corn maze and 18,000 people came within a three week
period to wander around in this fun labyrinth. Now the Maize has
become the biggest cornfield maze company in the world. Over
1200 mazes have been built since it started, it has attained
Guinness book status and it is enjoyed in over 5 countries.
Millions of people have come to be thrilled by this corny idea
and it still draws crowds all over the United States, the United
Kingdom, Poland, Italy, and Canada. According to dictionary.com,
the meaning of maze is; "a confusing network of interconnecting
paths or passages; labyrinth"; or "any complex system or
arrangement that causes bewilderment, confusion, or perplexity."
The word labyrinth means; "an intricate combination of paths or
passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach
the exit". The wonderful excitement that can be enjoyed at this
corn maze, which is really in Syracuse, Utah, nearby Layton,
also has other great activities for the family and children.
There are farm animals to be touched and enjoyed, campfires, a
corn box, corn tunnel, mini mazes, country store, corn cannon,
cow train, hay jump, hayride, pumpkin launcher, pumpkin patch,
tube slide, haunted maize and exciting pig race. The farm is
really about the education and informational aspects of farm
life and it is a wonderful idea that these fun folks have come
upon. The local schools also enjoy bringing their students here
to learn about farming and the various opportunities that exist
here.
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Heritage Museum of Layton
The museum was opened in
1980, with the construction beginning in 1976, as a place to
preserve, exhibit and educate the public about the many
photographs, artifacts and documents that tell about the
beginning of the city and the North Davis County. The first
items that were showcased were Native American and pioneer
artifacts, and now is home to over 2000 items of antiquities,
almost 1900 historical docs and newspapers and over 3300
photographs. The biggest amount of items are from the turn of
the century when the city was more rural and agricultural. The
permanent exhibit is named Layton Old Town and these include
items from the founding of the town in 1850 to the present. It
informs visitors about the first white settlers and commercial
businesses that include cottage industries and the agriculture
business that really kept the town growing; although today it is
disappearing. There are changing displays that come to the
museum and currently it is the "Iron Rails" that tells of the
coming of the railroad and its effects on the growth and
economic impact. The first railroad was brought here in 1869 by
the Utah Central, and then the Oregon Short Line, the Denver &
Rio Grande and finally the Union Pacific. The best display
features the Salt Lake & Ogden Railway or as it is known
locally, the Bamberger Electric; which was a commuter line.
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