Fireflies in Utah

Last month, Jonathan and I went to the Goshen area to see fireflies. I know that most people think that fireflies really only live in the Eastern United States, I did too. Last year, I saw a video produced by BYU talking about fireflies living here in Utah.

I have wanted to see fireflies for years and years and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them. I did some research to figure out where they were in Goshen.

Luckily, there is a marshland that the state has preserved right next to an abandoned railroad line. We got there over an hour before sunset to scope out the area and see where the fireflies were likely to be.

We were unfortunately unprepared for the hundreds of ravenous mosquitoes. Thankfully, we were prepared for it to be cold and so we wore our jackets and hoods to protect ourselves from some of the mosquitoes. Jonathan ended up with at least a dozen bites on one of his hands from taking pictures.

Right around ten o'clock though, the fireflies started lighting up! We only saw about 8 or 9 fireflies, but it was still magical! Jonathan admitted that the mosquito bites were worth seeing them. We weren't able to get any pictures of them because the camera couldn't focus on them. After about 10 or so minutes of not seeing any more fireflies, we headed back to the car. As we were walking along the railroad tracks, a firefly flew between us and lit up! It was equally amazing and terrifying because we were not expecting it at all!

It was so awesome to see fireflies! This will hold me over until we can travel back east and see hundreds of them lighting up all at once.