140 Places to Go and Things to Do in Utah

Each year that I spend living in Utah I discover new places and fun adventures that I've never experienced before. I'm always looking for more fun things to do on a day off or even for a few days during the summer.

I've spent a lot of time researching popular destinations and activities in Utah, and I thought that it would be nice to share the fruits of my labor with the rest of the world so that there is a place where people can find a lot of ideas in one spot instead of having to hop all over the web trying to find something to do.

This is a list of some of my favorite Utah adventures as well as some that I've heard are popular that I haven't personally tried yet. I hope that it will be useful to you.

I've included links to informational websites for as many of these places and activities as possible to make this list more user friendly.

Also, as you get into the meat of my hub, you will notice that I've included the locations where these activities can be found to make planning a little bit easier for you.

In order to make this list a little bit easier to navigate, I'll give you an idea of what order the activities will be listed in.

Some of the categories overlap a bit. For example, a lot of caves and waterfalls require a bit of a hike to get to them, so you might want to keep that in mind.

• Hikes 1-20
• Canyoneering 21-34
• Caves 35-38
• Mountain Biking 39-50
• Waterfalls 51-63
• Swimming Beaches 64-70
• White Water Rafting 71-75
• Skiing/Snowboarding 76-86
• Zip Lining 87-92
• Outdoor Theaters 93-100
• FREE splash pads 101-113
• Museums 114-121
• Things to do in Salt Lake 122-130
• Animal Adventures 131-136
• Sports 137-140

I hope this list will be useful to you. Now go out there and enjoy all of the awesomeness that Utah has to offer!

If you have been to some of these places, I'd love for you to vote on some of my polls about which places and activities are the best. That way other people who read this hub can easily figure out which tourist attractions are the tried and true favorites.

Thanks for your help!

Some of these hikes are hikes that I have gone on, and some are hikes that I've only heard about. Make sure to vote below for which one is your favorite so that you can help people who view this hub in the future.

Just a quick reminder that just because a trail is short, doesn't necessarily mean that it is easy. If you are really serious about trying some of these hikes, you might want to click on the links to make sure that they fit your level of fitness and experience.

1. Navajo Loop and Queen's Garden Trail-3.5 miles (Bryce Canyon)

2. Hidden Pinyon-1.5 miles (Snow Canyon-St. George)

3. Ensign Peak-1 mile (Salt Lake)

4. Angel's Landing-4.4 miles (Zion National Park)

5. The Narrows-variable, up to 15.4 miles (Zion National Park)

6. Delicate Arch-3 miles (Moab)

7. Mount Timpanogos-16.6 miles (Orem)

8. The Maze-distance varies (Canyonlands National Park)

9. Goblin Valley-distance can vary (Hanksville)

10. Adam's Canyon-6.92 miles (Layton)

11. Cecret Lake-2.5 miles (Salt Lake-Little Cottonwood Canyon)

12. False Kiva Hike-1.6 miles (Canyonlands National Park)

13. Mount Olympus-7 miles (Salt Lake)

14. Spectra Point Trail-1.9 miles (Cedar Breaks National Monument)

15. Dog Lake-6 miles from Big Cottonwood or 2.5 miles from Millcreek Canyon's Big water trail head (Salt Lake)

16. Crystal Lake-up to 7.7 miles (Kamas)

17. Silver Lake-1 mile (Salt Lake-Big Cottonwood Canyon)-There is a moose that is often sighted on the trail or drinking out of the lake in the evenings. You can see a picture that my husband took of him last summer below the list of hikes.

18. Amethyst Basin-13 miles (Kamas)

19. Devil's Garden and the Primitive Trail-7.2 miles (Moab)

20. Canyon Overlook Trail-1 mile (Hurricane)

A lot of these adventures are not for the faint of heart, so do your research before heading out on a difficult journey to make sure that you are properly prepared, particularly if you don't have much experience with canyoneering.

This website is great for learning about canyoneering adventures. Rather than attaching a link to each location, I'm just going to recommend that you go to this site where you can find everything I listed and more.

21. Black Hole of White Canyon (Cedar Mesa/Southeast Utah)

22. Narrows of Cheesebox Canyon (Cedar Mesa/Southeast Utah)

23. Fry Canyon (Cedar Mesa/Southeast Utah)

24. Leprechaun Canyon Non-technical hike (North Wash)

25. Leprechaun 3 Technical Forks (North Wash)

26. Sandthrax (North Wash)

27. Shenanigans (North Wash)

28. Foolin' Around (North Wash)

29. Ding and Dang Canyons (San Rafael Swell)

30. Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons (San Rafael Swell)

31. Lower Squeeze from Muddy Creek (San Rafael Swell)

32. Penitentiary (San Rafael Swell)

33. Chamber's Canyon White Roost Area (Robber's Roost)

34. Ho Hum Fork, North Fork of Robber's Roost Canyon (Robber's Roost)

35. Timpanogos Cave (American Fork)

36. Snow Canyon Lava Tubes (St. George)

37. Mammoth Cave (Dixie National Forest)

38. Bloomington Cave (St. George)-This cave is known for being challenging, particularly for those with little spelunking experience. Make sure to do your research before you go.

Utah has tons of fun and exciting mountain biking locations. There's no way that I could list all of them here, but for more information about great places to go, check out this website. You'll find more mountain biking trails than you'll have time to explore in a lifetime.

39.The Whole Enchilada-26 miles (Moab)

40. Porcupine Rim-15 miles (Moab)

41. Gooseberry Mesa-30 miles (Hurricane)

42. Snowbasin Resort-26 miles (Ogden)

43. Mid-mountain-20 miles (Park City)

44. Wasatch Crest-20 miles (Salt Lake)

45. Bobsled-7 miles (Salt Lake)

46. Bearclaw Poppy-11 miles (St. George)

47. Blackhawk Loop-18 miles (Payson)

48. McCoy Flat Trails-40 miles (Vernal)

49. Blowhard-7 miles (Cedar City)

50. Blind Hollow-7 miles (Logan)

Even though Utah is a desert there are still plenty of beautiful waterfalls to see. Many of these are even easy enough to access that your kids can easily enjoy them. Don't miss out on these beautiful hidden treasures that are scattered throughout Utah!

51. Hidden Falls-Big Cottonwood Canyon (Salt Lake area)

52. Lisa Falls-Little Cottonwood Canyon (Salt Lke area)

53. Rocky Mouth Falls (Salt Lake area)

54. Battle Creek Falls (Pleasant Grove

55. Bridal Veil Falls (Provo Canyon)

56. The Grotto-Nebo Loop in Payson Canyon

57. Stewart Falls (Provo Canyon)

58. Lower Calf Creek Falls (Escalante)

59. Waterfall on Sandcreek (Torrey)

60. Ken's Lake Faux Falls (Moab)

61. Bullion Falls (Marysvale)

62. Fifth Water Second Waterfall(Spanish Fork)

63. Donut Falls-Big Cottonwood Canyon (Salt Lake area)

Most people don't think about going to the beach when they think about visiting Utah, but it turns out you don't have to have an ocean near by to swim at the beach.

In fact, you don't even have to feel bad about missing out on the ocean's salty water, because you'll find much more salt in the Salt Lake.

Did you know that you can effortlessly float while standing up in the Salt Lake? I wasn't sure that I believed it until I tried it. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity that most people never experience in a life time.

64. Rendezvous Beach-Bear Lake (Garden City)

65. Blackridge Reservoir Beach (Herriman)

66. Deer Creek (Heber)

67. Flaming Gorge (Manila/Dutch John)

68. Great Salt Lake-Bridger Bay Beach (Antelope Island)

69. Lake Powell (Southwest Utah, Arizona Boarder)

70. Starvation State Park (Duchesne)

If you are the really adventurous type, you won't want to miss out on some of the awesome white water rafting locations in Utah. Check out this website for specific details.

71. San Juan River

72. Westwater

73. Lodore

74. Grand Canyon

75. Cataract Canyon

This website is a great resource to learn about ski resorts in Utah. It has links to the resorts I mentioned as well as a few more if you want more information about locations, weather, or prices.

76. Alta Ski Area

77.Brighton Ski Resort

78. Canyons Resort

79. Cherry Peak

80. Deer Valley Resort

81. Eagle Point

82. Park City Mountain resort

83. Powder Mountain

84. Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort

85. Solitude Mountain Resort

86. Sundance Resort

Zip lining will give you an opportunity to see Utah's unique landscape from a perspective that you can't get any other way. If you are ready for a new and exciting kind of adventure, and aren't too afraid of heights, you're going to want to visit some of these attractions.

87. Utah Olympic Park (Park City)

88. Kanab Zip Line

89. Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort

90. Raven's Rim (Moab)

91. Provo Canyon

92. Paragon Adventures (St. George)

There's no better way to spend a summer evening than at an outdoor theater. Nobody wants to be cooped up indoors when the temperatures start to cool down in the evening. Relax and enjoy the weather at the same time at one of these venues.

93. Tuacahn

94. Sundance Theater

95. Murray Park Amphitheater

96. Sandy City Amphitheater

97. High Valley Arts (Midway)

98. Manti Temple Pageant

99. SCERA Shell Outdoor Theater (Orem)

100. Utah Shakespeare Festival (Cedar City)

Utah can get really hot in the summers. I have so many childhood memories of coming down to Utah to visit my grandparents and feeling like I was going to die from the sweltering heat.

Luckily, there are a lot more splash pads around now than there were when I was a kid. It's very likely that on a hot summer day, your kids would rather spend some time at a splash pad than hiking around in the desert.

For a more extensive list of splash pads in Utah, go to this website. It turns out there are a lot more splash pads in Utah than you might think.

101. The Gateway Fountains (Salt Lake)

102. City Creek (Salt Lake)

103. Willow Pond Park (Murray)

104. Ron Wood Park (West Jordan)

105. Pioneer Park (Provo)

106. Town Center Park (Highland)

107. Nolan Park (Eagle Mountain)

108. Ellison Park (Layton)

109. Nature Park (South Ogden)

110. Meadow View Park (North Logan)

111. Riverside Park (Morgan)

112. Archie H. Gubler Park (Santa Clara)

113. Hidden Valley Park (St. George)

This is a list of museums that aren't in the Salt Lake area. The Salt Lake area museums will be included in the "What to do in Salt Lake" category. For a more extensive list of museums in Utah, go to this website.

114. S & S Shortline Railroad and Museum (Farmington)

115. Kayenta Art Village (Ivins)

116. Museum of Ancient Life (Lehi)

117. Dinosaur Museum (Blanding)

118. Hill Aerospace Museum (Roy)

119. St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site

120. Anasazi State Park Museum (Boulder)

121. Paunsagaunt Wildlife Museum (Bryce Canyon Area)

If you don't have time to venture out away from the city, you might as well take advantage of some of the great things that Salt Lake City has to offer. You won't be disappointed!

122. Temple Square

123.Church History Museum

124. Family History Library

125. Discovery Gateway Children's Museum

126. Natural History Museum of Utah

127. This is the Place Heritage Park

128. The Lenoardo

129. Beehive House

130. Clark Planetarium

I have fond memories of visiting the Hogle Zoo and the Tracy Aviary when I would visit Utah as a child. It turns out that I never quite grew up, and I still like to hang out with the animals from time to time. You're missing out if you haven't checked out the unique creatures at these fun places.

131. Hogle Zoo (Salt Lake)

132. Tracy Aviary (Salt Lake)

133. Willow Park Zoo (Logan)

134. Living Planet Aquarium (Draper)

135. Thanksgiving Point Farm Country (Lehi)

136. Young Living Farm (Mona)

If you are a sports fan, Utah isn't going to let you down. There are several different professional sports teams that you can watch while you're in town.

137. Real Salt Lake (MLS)

138. Utah Jazz (NBA)

139. Utah Grizzlies (AA Hockey)

140. Salt Lake Bees (Minor League Baseball)