Spiral Jetty & Golden Spike Itinerary for Kids

We joined forces with The Salt Project ladies & littles for a kick-off-the-summer play date at one of Utah's most iconic art pieces: Spiral Jetty.

What’s better than teaching your kids about art and culture at a museum? Teaching your kids about art and culture outside. Because you don’t have to:

• Ssh! your kids constantly or remind them to use their inside voices• Watch their every move to make sure they don’t get peanut butter on that original masterpiece that’s taller than your rambler house• Try to convince them that art is fun while it’s hanging on a wall just being all colorful and stuff• Make sure all the littles are on their best behavior at all times, which means you end up starting a lot of sentences with “don’t” and “no” and “stop” and “what the heck are you doing ___ for?”

STUFF TO TELL & ASK YOUR KIDS ABOUT SPIRAL JETTY

• Materials used to make Spiral Jetty: black basalt rocks, salt crystals, earth, water• Spiral Jetty was built in 1970, making it 46 years old• Spiral Jetty lives at Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake• Robert Smithson dreamed it and made it. Dreams do come true.• Jetty defined: a kind of barrier built to protect or defend a harbor, stretch of coast or a riverbank. What (if anything) does Spiral Jetty protect?• How many rocks are in Spiral Jetty? (If one of your littles actually counts all of them, please let us know, because we have no idea.)• Where would you build your own piece of landscape art, and what would it be?

Not only do your kids get to romp about in the great(est) outdoors while getting inside of the art, but it’s one stop on a day of education that doesn’t feel like education. Stop at Golden Spike National Historic Site to see an old steam engine choo-choo its way towards your train-loving toddlers, and you’ve made their dreams come true. Congratulations. You’re the best parent in the whole wide world.

HOW TO GET TO SPIRAL JETTY

OUR SPIRAL JETTY + GOLDEN SPIKE ITINERARY FOR KIDS

8:00 a.m. Get in the car with snacks, lunches, sunblock, hats and have a couple movies ready for the drive.

9:30 a.m. Arrive at Golden Spike National Site: ask ranger about the Junior Ranger program for the appropriate ages of your children.

10:15 a.m. Start prepping for the arrival of the old locomotive steam engine a la Thomas the Train.

10:30 a.m. Watch your littles scream with pure delight as the train approaches with its black smoke stack trailing behind. Spend an hour or so getting an up-close tour of the train, get all the social media-perfect photos and pat yourself on the back for bringing your children happiness.

11:30 a.m. Picnic lunch at the Golden Spike pavilion. There’s picnic tables and plenty of shade.

12:30 p.m. Pack the kiddos in the car, turn on a movie and let them nap as you drive the dirt road to Spiral Jetty--a 45-minute drive.

1:15 - 2:15 p.m. Soak in the glory of the Spiral Jetty, and then head on home. Naps for everyone when you walk in the door.

Thank you, Salt Project!