{"id":5383748,"date":"2025-04-23T14:26:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/?p=5383748"},"modified":"2025-04-23T20:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T20:04:12","slug":"the-vanishing-great-salt-lake-in-more-bouyant-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/destinations\/the-vanishing-great-salt-lake-in-more-bouyant-times\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vanishing Great Salt Lake in More Buoyant Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Salt_Lake\">Great Salt Lake<\/a> in Utah is not what it used to be\u2014not thousands of years ago, when it was a vast inland sea,  and not 70 years ago either, when LIFE magazine devoted a large feature to this unique element of the American landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is still<a href=\"https:\/\/www.utah.com\/destinations\/state-parks\/great-salt-lake-state-park\/\"> the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere<\/a> and it attracts <a href=\"https:\/\/greatsaltlakenews.org\/latest-news\/ksl-com\/who-visits-the-great-salt-lake-people-from-all-over-the-world#:~:text=Park%20visitation%20jumped%20from%2083%2C600,of%20State%20Parks%20visitation%20data.\">more than 200,000 visitors annually<\/a>. But a couple years ago water loss had researchers warning that the Great Salt Lake could soon dry up entirely.  <a href=\"https:\/\/pws.byu.edu\/great-salt-lake\">A report from BYU scientists published in January 2023<\/a> painted a grim picture of the future and raised the possibility of the lake disappearing entirely by 2028. Recent wet winters in Utah <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/2024\/12\/16\/great-salt-lake-study-warned-lake\/\">have given the lake a reprieve<\/a>, but increased water use in the region as well as climate change remain threats to its survival.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1948, when <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=1UEEAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PA52&amp;dq=Salt+Lake&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwium-vciuKMAxWKLFkFHX6aKp4Q6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=Salt%20Lake&amp;f=false\">LIFE took its readers on a journey to the Great Salt Lake<\/a>, water loss was a part of the story even back then. The headline announced &#8220;Great Salt Lake: It Is Only a Shriveled Vestige of a Prehistoric Inland Sea,&#8221; and some of the images by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/fritz-goro\/\">staff photographer Fritz Goro<\/a> demonstrated that the shriveling was ongoing. Witness the train tracks which had been built into the water by a lakefront resort. The train tracks were needed because the lake&#8217;s water level had dropped so much since the resort&#8217;s construction that visitors needed to be transported to a place where the water was deep enough for them to swim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although some of Goro&#8217;s photos portrayed the Great Salt Lake as a playground, the text made clear that even in its heyday, no one would be mistake it for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/destinations\/the-glamour-of-vintage-miami\/\">Miami Beach<\/a>. Oddities abounded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Near the lake one may park a car on seemingly hard ground, only to return later and find it hub-deep because the sun has softened the mud. The very water of the lake is bizarre; it is so buoyant swimming in it is an experience. It is also so heavy and hard a newcomer may stun himself by jumping into it from a moderate height and will come up with salt-scalded eyes and mouth if he does not keep them shut. This is one reason the lake has not attracted a larger summer colony than it has.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The last words of the LIFE magazine article, like that recent BYU study, discussed the lake&#8217;s eventual disappearance, though it made clear that the timeline was ambigious. &#8220;Geologists began predicting the ultimate death of the lake by evaporation decades ago,&#8221; LIFE wrote. &#8220;But although the level varies cyclically and it has lost 400 square miles in the last 79 years, it has refused to die, and today few geologists care to venture a guess as to when it will.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028cb503f03\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383769 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Visitors to Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172843\/115995908-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Visitors to Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028cfb03f08\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383765 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Visitors standing near a warning sign at Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172826\/115995758-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Visitors standing near a warning sign at Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028d3003f0c\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383755 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"High school student Shauna Wood floated in the Great Salt Lake, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172741\/00688344-1024x1010.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">High school student Shauna Wood floated in the Great Salt Lake, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028d2303f0b\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383761 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Women floated at the Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172810\/115995582-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Women floated at the Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_6807cf5d332f2\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383753 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life PIcture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"At Great Salt Lake in 1948, the tracks carried visitors to the resort in the background out to deeper waters. The visibility of the resort&#039;s pilings give a sense of how much the lake had evaporated since the building&#039;s construction in 1893.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172730\/00688342-1024x820.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">At Great Salt Lake in 1948, the tracks carried visitors to the resort in the background out to deeper waters. The visibility of the resort&#8217;s pilings give a sense of how much the lake had evaporated since the building&#8217;s construction in 1893.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life PIcture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028cef03f07\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383766 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"At Great Salt Lake in 1948, the tracks carried visitors to the resort in the background out to deeper waters. The visibility of the resort&#039;s pilings give a sense of how much the lake had evaporated since the building&#039;s construction in 1893.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172831\/115995780-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">At Great Salt Lake in 1948, the tracks carried visitors to the resort in the background out to deeper waters. The visibility of the resort&#8217;s pilings give a sense of how much the lake had evaporated since the building&#8217;s construction in 1893.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_6807babd332ee\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383768 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"The Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172839\/115995896-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">The Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_6807bad0332ef\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383751 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"People played in the shallow water of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172720\/00688339-1024x848.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">People played in the shallow water of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_6807baac332ed\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383770 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"The Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172847\/115995968-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">The Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028b6103f02\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383771 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"The Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172852\/115995975-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">The Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028cc303f04\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383764 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Near the Great Salt Lake in 1948, a man examined wagon wheel tracks left by the doomed Donner party 102 years prior.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172822\/115995730-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Near the Great Salt Lake in 1948, a man examined wagon wheel tracks left by the doomed Donner party 102 years prior.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_6807bae1332f0\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383762 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Signage attempted to discourage racing across the salt flats near the Great Salt Lake, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172814\/115995642-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Signage attempted to discourage racing across the salt flats near the Great Salt Lake, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028ce303f06\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383767 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"A woman shopped for souvenirs at Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172835\/115995884-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">A woman shopped for souvenirs at Great Salt Lake in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028d1503f0a\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383760 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"A rock formation at Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172806\/115995263-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">A rock formation at Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028d5703f0d\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383763 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Signage at a gas station at Pocono, Utah, near Great Salt Lake, warned of scarce water, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172818\/115995708-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Signage at a gas station at Pocono, Utah, near Great Salt Lake, warned of scarce water, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028cd003f05\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383756 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Image of a grassy plain in Utah, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172747\/00688345-1024x808.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Image of a grassy plain in Utah, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028d8203f10\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5383757 desc=\"\" caption=\"Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Salt encrustations surrounded the Great Salt Lake, 1948.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/18172753\/00688346-1024x812.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Salt encrustations surrounded the Great Salt Lake, 1948.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fritz Goro\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_68028d8e03f11\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n        MISSING IMAGE, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO SET ALL REQUIRED ITEMS IN BLOCK SETTINGS!                <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id= desc=\"\" caption=\"\" title=\"\" src=\"\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Great Salt Lake in Utah is not what it used to be\u2014not thousands of years ago, when it was a vast inland sea, and not 70 years ago either, when LIFE magazine devoted a large feature to this unique element of the American landscape. It is still the largest saltwater lake in the Western &#8230; <a title=\"The Vanishing Great Salt Lake in More Buoyant Times\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/destinations\/the-vanishing-great-salt-lake-in-more-bouyant-times\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5383755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[2516,2517,701,2515,2514,1675],"class_list":["post-5383748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","tag-byu","tag-donner-party","tag-fritz-goro","tag-geology","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-utah"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Vanishing Great Salt Lake in More Buoyant Times - LIFE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/destinations\/the-vanishing-great-salt-lake-in-more-bouyant-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Vanishing Great Salt Lake in More Buoyant Times - LIFE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Great Salt Lake in Utah is not what it used to be\u2014not thousands of years ago, when it was a vast inland sea, and not 70 years ago either, when LIFE magazine devoted a large feature to this unique element of the American landscape. It is still the largest saltwater lake in the Western ... 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