With five iconic national parks and some of the most spectacular scenery in the country, Utah ranks high on many travelers’ bucket lists, and rightly so. The state — which derives its name from the Ute people, one of the Indigenous tribes that inhabited the region — is home to the largest saltwater lake in the Western hemisphere and mountain ranges that boast some of the nation’s best-regarded ski resorts.
While the Spanish were the first Europeans to visit the region, it was the Mormon pioneers who made a significant mark on the territory. Brigham Young and 148 followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) crossed into the Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. (That date is still celebrated as Pioneer Day with parades, rodeos, fireworks and other festivities.) By 1896, when Utah became the 45th state, there were more than a quarter million practitioners of the faith, and Mormonism remains a strong cultural force to this day.
Salt Lake Central
Missionary work is a tenet of the LDS, and Salt Lake City reflects the denomination’s global reach. The cosmopolitan capital is a diverse and dynamic city with an excellent international airport and residents who hail from every corner of the globe. Visitors will find restaurants offering cuisines from around the world, world-class cultural institutions and professional sports teams, including major league basketball, hockey, rugby and soccer.
Temple Square remains the spiritual heart of the city, featuring stunning architecture and immaculately maintained gardens. The most visited attraction in the state, it draws up to 5 million visitors a year. The grand temple, constructed over 40 years and dedicated in 1893, is currently undergoing a massive renovation. Clad in granite, the 170-room structure features walls nine feet thick at the base and six feet thick at the top, crowned by six towering spires. Adjacent to the Temple, visitors can marvel at the breathtaking Tabernacle. Home to the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the dome-shaped auditorium has a pipe organ with 11,623 pipes and nearly perfect acoustics. Free public concerts are held twice weekly. Genealogists won’t want to miss a visit to the church’s FamilySearch Library. One of the largest genealogical libraries in the world, it is both free and open to the public.
In addition to its many spiritual attractions, Salt Lake has cultivated a thriving (and secular) arts scene, with galleries, theaters and musical venues highlighting talent both local and international. The city’s craft beverage culture has also flourished, offering a variety of breweries and distilleries in a place more often known for strict laws on the purchase and consumption of alcohol.
The city’s grid system, designed by early settlers, makes navigation exceptionally easy, and a robust public transportation system encourages exploring a diverse array of neighborhoods. The growing tech sector has earned it the nickname “Silicon Slopes,” attracting young professionals and entrepreneurs and cultivating an increasingly progressive and creative atmosphere while maintaining a reputation for friendly, clean and safe streets.
Nearby Adventure
Beyond urban adventures, Salt Lake and the surrounding area offer a bounty of outdoor activities from mild to wild. To start, there’s the inland sea that gives the city its name. An Ice Age remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville, which covered much of Utah, the lake’s concentration of minerals and salts — five to eight times saltier than the ocean, similar to the Dead Sea — creates unusual buoyancy and fosters brine shrimp that support millions of birds as a crucial stopover on their annual migration. Accessible by causeway, Antelope Island State Park gives visitors opportunities to observe wildlife like pronghorn, bison and millions of birds, including grebes, plovers and pelicans.
And then there are the mountains. The Wasatch Range is a four-season playground, with forested trails and captivating canyons perfect for hiking, mountain biking, golf, horseback riding, snowshoeing, fishing and river adventures. Eleven first-class mountain resorts are within easy reach of the city — four within 30 minutes — all boasting the champagne powder that the state has declared “The Greatest Snow on Earth.” Alta Ski Area and Deer Valley Resort are strictly skiers-only. Family-friendly, unpretentious Brighton Resort and uncrowded Solitude Mountain Resort are both locals’ favorites, while Snowbird’s unmatched snowfall totals lure those who love it steep and deep. Groups can play from dawn to dusk then choose from lodging options that range from rustic lodges and cabins to over-the-top five-star resorts, where they may find themselves next to heads of state and royalty (both Hollywood and otherwise).
Salt Lake City played host to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and that legacy is celebrated at Park City’s Utah Olympic Park. The 400-acre complex has bobsled runs, six Nordic jumps, a museum and a multitude of year-round outdoor activities. In Park City proper, visitors can soak up the atmosphere of a historic 19th-century mining town while enjoying shopping, dining, spas and a never-ending array of festivals and celebrations.
Mountain Destinations
Less than an hour from the capital, Heber Valley offers a taste of alpine charm. Swiss immigrants began arriving in the 1950s, and now the valley proudly proclaims its European heritage as “Utah’s Alps.” The Heber Valley Railroad, affectionately known as the “Heber Creeper,” transports guests on a 100-plus-year-old steam-powered train along a lake shore, into a scenic canyon and across verdant fields dotted with dairy farms. (Sampling the local artisan cheese is not to be missed.)
Groups can snorkel, dive or just relax at Homestead Crater Hot Springs, a geothermal wonder enclosed by a towering, beehive-shaped limestone dome. For more watersports, Jordanelle State Park has a reservoir that offers boating, swimming and standup paddleboarding. The expansive park is also one of the state’s many certified International Dark Sky Places, perfect for stargazing.
Provo, Utah’s third-largest city, sits approximately 45 miles south of Salt Lake City along the eastern shore of Utah Lake. The home of Brigham Young University, it seamlessly blends pride in its pioneer history with college-town liveliness and burgeoning tech and healthcare industries. Provo Canyon lures people with outdoor recreation, including kayaking, zip lining and Bridal Veil Falls. Thanksgiving Point is an indoor and outdoor farm, garden and museum complex with a variety of attractions, including a butterfly biosphere, a carousel and the North American Museum of Ancient Life, where visitors can see a millennia-old dinosaur egg. Founded by actor Robert Redford, Sundance Mountain Resort offers art workshops, delicious dining and luxurious accommodations along with a variety of outdoor pursuits.
Landmark Parks
For those wanting even more of the Great Outdoors, 20 national parks and monuments are within six hours of Salt Lake City, and 60 national and state parks are within only four hours. Most people are familiar with the state’s “Mighty Five,” consisting of Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks. Each park offers its own unique splendor, including Zion’s legendary waterfalls, Bryce’s mysterious hoodoos and Arches’ skyscraping sandstone curves. But there’s much more beyond this famous handful — and the lesser-known gems are less crowded, but no less captivating.
Groups can sandboard or ride a four-wheeler amidst pink sands and red rocks at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, the only major sand dune formation on the Colorado Plateau. Dinosaur National Monument contains the largest number of Jurassic Period dinosaur skeletons ever discovered and is also an ideal spot for white water rafting. The Golden Spike National Historic Park commemorates the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to complete the country’s first transcontinental railroad. Timpanogos Cave National Monument features three dazzling caverns filled with spectacular geologic formations.
