The hard salmon pink colored rock covering Buffalo Point used to be sandstone. After years of being buried under the earth, acted on by pressure and heat, the rock metamorphosed into Tintic Quartzite.

There are 15 natural salts in the Great Salt Lake. On an average day, there are about 4.5 billion tons of salts in solution. There are six different mining companies in the region that extract approximately two million tons of salt per year from the lake. The salt is extracted using diked ponds where the water evaporates and leaves behind salts. The lake contains over 32 minerals which are mined and sold for profit.

Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4), Table salt (NaCl), Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2), Magnesium Metal (Mg), Chlorine Gas (Cl), Sodium Sulfate (NaSO4), Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4), sand, and gravel are all mined for everyday uses.

The lake is famous for its smell. The odor does not come from the lake itself but from the decomposition of organic materials along the shoreline. As the water level lowers during summer evaporation, the decomposing matter provides nutrients for the lake ecosystem.

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