Salt Lake City Area Attractions

Big-city cosmopolitan meets alpine resort in Salt Lake. Tour museums, enjoy fine dining, visit Olympic venues, listen to the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, golf, hike, mountain bike, birdwatch, and more. Stroll through the heart of downtown, and just twenty minutes later, explore a mountain meadow.

The Hogle Zoo
2600 East Sunnyside Avenue • Salt Lake City, UT • 801.582.1631
This small but modern zoo near the entrance to Emigration Canyon offers a good selection of creatures for kids of all ages to ogle. There's a small replica of an 1869 steam train that gives rides in the summer for the bargain-basement price $1 per person. You'll also find a solarium with exotic plants and birds and many newly added critters, including two new red pandas and the recently born giraffe and golden lion tamarin. Emigration Creek meanders through the tree-shaded grounds. As with any zoo, it's best to visit in one of the cooler seasons, or at least the coolest part of the day, when more animals are out and about.

This Is the Place HeritagePark
2601 Sunnyside Avenue • Salt Lake City, UT • 801.582.1847
Brigham Young and the first group of pioneers got their first glimpse of the Salt Lake Valley at the site of this historic park. A tall granite and bronze sculpture was erected in 1947 to commemorate the centennial of their arrival. Old Deseret is a pioneer village made up of many original pioneer buildings from across the state. In the summer, it becomes a living-history museum of the period from 1847 to 1869; pioneer events and demonstrations are offered throughout the year.

The visitor center contains exhibits depicting the Mormon pioneers' trek from Illinois to the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The park, which covers more than 1,600 acres, offers hiking along part of the trail used by the pioneers, with opportunities for cross-country skiing in winter. It's also a good place for wildlife viewing and birding in winter and spring, with additional songbirds and raptors present in summer and fall. There's a picnic area, but no camping.

Clark Planetarium
110 S 400 W • Salt Lake City, UT • 801.456.STAR (7827)
Clark Planetarium opened in 2003 with a state-of-the-art Digistar III digital dome projection system, Utah's only true IMAX 3D theatre, and 10,000 square feet of new, interactive exhibits. The Clark features the latest in large-format 3D films, locally produced planetarium programs, and awesome exhibits including a large scale model of the Solar System, interactive Mars- and Moon- scapes, a gorgeous meteorite collection and more.

Capitol Building
Capitol Hill • Salt Lake City, UT • 801.538.3000
Built between 1912 and 1915 of unpolished Utah granite and Georgia marble, the capitol rests on a hill in a beautifully landscaped 40-acre park. The state symbol, the beehive (representing industry and cooperation), is a recurring motif both inside and out. You can take a guided tour of the building (call Council Hall at 801/538-1030 for schedules), or walk through on your own. The Rotunda, which stretches upward 165 feet, is decorated with murals painted during the WPA years (the four largest depict important scenes in the state's early history) and houses several busts of prominent historical figures, including Brigham Young and Philo T. Farnsworth, the man whom we can all thank for bringing us television.

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