Ride Report - October 24, 2025: Stansbury Island

Well, I went on a small motorcycle ride last week through trappers’ loop (which was a beautiful, though short road through the mountains) thinking it was going to be the last ride of the season. And then this weekend came, and the weather was still quite nice. So, I decided to go out to Stansbury Island on the Great Salt Lake.

To be honest, I noticed it on the map and because I had never been there, I wanted to see it. So, I dawned my coat at 8 am and started the drive out there. It was admittedly a little cold for comfort that early in the morning, but it warmed up later in the day.

On the way there I actually got lost. Just before Grantsville I saw signs for Stansbury Park and I figured that was where I wanted to go. It was not, but it led to a little adventure of its own.

Stansbury Park

Stansbury Park turned out to just be a nice city park. The coolest thing there was probably their observatory. I couldn’t go inside, but it seems like they have a pretty good stargazing club.

Other than that it was just a pretty nice city park.

Benson Mill Park

While I was trying to leave Stansbury, I passed by this pioneer village looking thing. I almost just drove by it, but I figured I would probably never be going to Stansbury again, so this was my chance to see what it was. And boy was I happy I stopped. This was the coolest part of the whole trip.

Benson Mill Park is a collection of old-time cabins that is maintained through donations and is free for the public. And there was a ton of cool stuff here.

The first building I walked into was a cobbler’s shop, and I knew this roadside attraction was a gem as soon as I walked in.

Look at all the cool stuff here!

Here are a bunch of pictures of all the cool stuff I saw here.

Part of what made this place so cool is that you could get up close to everything. Probably shouldn’t touch it, but you can if you want.

Look at these cool cow skulls. I guess they dumped them next to the Great Salt Lake so they would get covered in salt crystals.

This building had a bunch of cool animals in it. I bet you’ve never felt bear fur before.

The building above was also pretty cool because it gave some stories about Porter Rockwell. First off, I didn’t know that Porter Rockwell was one of the first six members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints baptized on the day of its founding.

Secondly, it is a well-known fact that Joseph Smith more or less promised Porter that if he never cut his hair he would be protected from evil. The less-known part of that story is that Porter did cut his hair eventually. It was to make a wig for a girl he liked in California. She had come down with Typhoid and lost all her hair. As the story goes, from that day on Porter continually fell into bad habits of swearing and drinking.

There were several other cool buildings at this park but those were the highlights. I will say that there were several buildings that were unfortunately locked up as well. I hope they try to open more in the future.

After that fun adventure I finally made my way onto Stansbury Island.

Stansbury Island

It was a nice drive out there. The road splits several evaporation ponds, and then the last couple miles to the trailhead is dirt, but nothing too bad.

I climbed to the top of one of the mountains, and there was kind of a trail. But to be honest, you just kind of forge your own path for many sections.

Not an easy path.

I was hoping to have a nicer trail, but I still got to see some cool stuff. There were lots of lizards, and I saw a cute little bird. I also saw a fox and hare in the distance (at different points). Sorry I couldn’t get pictures.

I was also hoping to get some better views of the Great Salt Lake, but it looks like I climbed the wrong mountain for that. You mostly just see evaporation ponds here.

Overall, it was a fun trip, but Benson Mill Park was definitely the best part. It was so nice to get one more good ride in before the end of the season.