Pony Express trail · Station XI of 12 covered
Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge
Ten thousand acres of spring-fed marsh in the middle of a salt desert, and the strangest thing on the route.
Position 39.8581, -113.3669 · Juab County, Utah
Fish Springs sits at the southern end of the Great Salt Lake Desert, in the Great Basin, and it is an oasis in the literal sense. Warm springs feed a wetland complex that supports migratory birds in numbers that make no sense against the surrounding ground. It is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
For a rider coming off forty miles of salt flat, arriving here would have been extraordinary. It still is. You come over a low rise and there is open water and reeds and thousands of birds, with nothing but white desert behind you.
The refuge has an auto tour route and a small visitor contact point. There is no fuel and no shop. The station site is nearby and marked.
This is remote, unpaved country with no fuel, no water and thin phone coverage for a hundred miles. Carry more water than you think you need, tell somebody your route, and do not attempt the crossing in a low car after rain. The BLM manages most of the road; call the Salt Lake Field Office for current conditions rather than trusting any page, including this one.