Part 3: Driving Trail & Brigham City - May 27, 2017

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Just down the road back towards Interstate 15 from the Golden Spike National Historic Site is one of the two driving trails in the national park that offers some incredible views of the area. The West Auto Trail was closed when we visited, so we did the two-mile East Auto Loop which took us along the old cut of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Along the way, we made a few stops to enjoy the views of the surrounding area, seeing dried lake beds and the Wasatch​ Mountains. The lands of the area were stunning to see!

We also took a moment to visit the Chinese Arch, a large limestone rock formation named in honor of the Chinese who worked on the transcontinental railroad. It is one of the most unique rock formations you can see on the trail.

Further down the road, we took a short hike down part of the Big Fill Loop Trail which was park of the original rail grade of the transcontinental railroad as well, so there were opportunities to see where the rock was blasted an dug out for the railroad to cross through a hill.

As we walked along the trail, there were a lot of lizards and a few birds that we saw in the area. We also found a few holes that may be places of shelter for other animals who live in the area.​

​From the trails of the Golden Spike National Historic Park, we made our way to Brigham City for a lunch break.

Our lunch stop would be at the Idle Isle Cafe, which had a tropical name, yet had the feel of a blend between a home kitchen style restaurant and old style ice cream parlor.

I decided to try the hamburger open face sandwich. While I am usually a fan of sandwiches with gravy, I have to be honest that this item was a bit on the "meh" side as it wasn't anything to write home about. The ice cream, on the other hand, was excellent! I went with a chocolate with marshmallow that was great! The group also enjoyed desert as well.

​After lunch, we took a walk around town to see what it was like, and it has a small town feel with some old style buildings like their classic style movie theater as well as the original city hall.

The current city hall is much larger, and has the feel of a miniature state capital building. In the artwork was a tribute to the beehive, in part because of Utah's nickname as the beehive state. The is also a memorial in the front that pays tribute to all of the fallen soldiers from the local area with their names listed on the plaques around the base of the statue.

With that, we would move on to head back into Salt Lake City to visit Temple Square.

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