Salt Lake is an underrated gem where people disappear into the mountains before work, where ski resorts loom behind Trader Joe’s parking lots, and where you can spend the afternoon paddleboarding on a glassy lake before ending the night at a well-curated wine bar or experimental art show.
What makes Salt Lake compelling isn’t just the scenery — though the scenery is absurd — it’s the constant collision of aesthetics, cultures, and lifestyles. Dinosaur museums coexist with underground listening bars. Hardcore trail runners share sidewalks with goth teenagers. Within fifteen minutes, the city can shift from urban chaos to alpine lakes, from quiet suburban streets to landscapes so dramatic they feel snatched right out of the Sound of Music. It’s this blend of accessibility, weirdness, and beauty that I’ve noticed tends to catch most visitors off guard.
Sold? Great. These are the places I’d recommend to almost any out-of-town guest without hesitation — whether you’re traveling with kids, visiting solo, planning a romantic weekend, or trying to entertain a multigenerational family without losing your mind. Some are iconic Salt Lake attractions. Others are simply places locals actually love to visit. Many are also included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass, which bundles together one admission to 14 attractions — museums, gardens, family activities, and outdoor experiences — particularly useful if you’re trying to pack a lot into a long weekend.
Snowbird Aerial Tram
No matter the season, I honestly still get a little emotional about this one. The tram rises 2,900 vertical feet in about 13 minutes, lifting you past cliffs, waterfalls, and ski terrain into mountain views that make most city skylines feel deeply underwhelming. In winter, it’s iconic for skiing. In summer, it’s one of the easiest ways to experience Utah’s natural drama without committing to a punishing hike at altitude. And you could snag a spot on the tram’s open-air balcony.
Visitor essentials:
Around 35 – 40 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City
Excellent for families, couples, and visitors adjusting to elevation
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Silver Lake
Silver Lake is one of the highest reward-to-effort trips anywhere near the city. A roughly one mile, flat wooden boardwalk loops around an alpine lake tucked into Big Cottonwood Canyon, surrounded by cinematic pine trees, aspens and mountain peaks. I hear kiddos love spotting ducks, and chipmunks, and even the occasional beaver or moose. And I will confess that adults love to snap selfies like models in a Patagonia catalog.
Visitor essentials:
About 40 minutes from downtown
Easy, family-friendly, accessible boardwalk trail
Best in summer and fall
Arrive early on weekends because parking fills quickly
Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake has got to be one of the strangest landscapes in America — and I’ve gone on some pretty wacky side quests. Depending on the season, it can feel eerie, peaceful, biblical, beautiful, or vaguely extraterrestrial. For the best experience, drive out to Antelope Island State Park around sunset, when the water turns shades of gold and bison wander across the hills. The island is also an International Dark Sky Park that hosts stargazing events throughout the summer. Alternatively, head to the Saltair, a historic lakeside pavilion that now serves as one of Utah's most iconic concert venues.
Visitor essentials:
Around 45 minutes from downtown
Best visited near sunset
Bring water, sunscreen, and bug spray, or a bug net in warmer months
Perched above the city in the foothills, this is probably the museum I recommend most often to visitors. The copper-and-glass building itself is stunning, but the interactive (read: kid-friendly) exhibits are what make it special. Dinosaurs, gemstones, Indigenous history, geology, ancient lake ecosystems: it all comes together to explain why Utah’s landscapes feel so dramatic and culturally layered.
Visitor essentials:
Around 10 minutes from downtown
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays
Paid parking available onsite
Easy to combine with Red Butte Garden or nearby hikes
Great for adults and kids alike
Red Butte Garden
Tucked into the foothills above the city, this sprawling botanical garden combines hiking trails, native plants, shady pathways, and sweeping mountain views in a way that I’ve genuinely witnessed turn non-nature people into sudden wildflower enthusiasts. During summer, the garden also hosts ticketed outdoor concerts, where locals spread blankets across the grass and watch touring musicians perform beneath the mountains as the sun goes down.
Maybe you didn’t come for the art, but you should definitely check it out while you’re here. UMOCA often hosts exhibitions that feel sharp and current, leaning into timely social issues, experimental work, and regional artists — without the intimidating energy some larger museums can have. It also helps that it’s right downtown, making it easy to duck into between coffee, shopping, or dinner reservations.
Visitor essentials:
Located downtown near restaurants and shopping
Open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Best for adults, teens, and rainy afternoons
Smaller and easier to navigate than many major city museums
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass; donations encouraged
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is the place I go for some calm contemplation. The collections span ancient artifacts, European painting, modern works, photography, and global contemporary art. It’s the kind of museum that rewards wandering slowly — chasing a vibe — rather than trying to “do it all.”
Visitor essentials:
Located on the University of Utah campus
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Wednesdays. Closed Mondays
Easy to pair with the Natural History Museum or Red Butte Garden
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Gilgal Sculpture Garden
Every trip needs at least one activity that makes visitors ask, “Wait… what exactly am I looking at?” Gilgal is Salt Lake’s contribution to that genre. Hidden behind residential streets, this tiny sculpture garden is full of strange religious symbolism, carved stone poetry, and famously, a sphinx with Joseph Smith’s face. It is bizarre. It is fascinating. It is a Utah must.
Visitor essentials:
About 10 minutes from downtown, near Trolley Square
Free to visit
Open daily; hours vary seasonally (generally 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. in winter and 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. in summer)
Best paired with coffee and a wander through nearby Liberty Park
Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
Locals flood this aquarium. It’s huge, thoughtfully designed, and immersive enough that adults won’t spend the entire visit secretly checking the time. The usual lineup of icons is in residence: sharks, penguins, and otters. Plus, expect rainforest exhibits and interactive science spaces that somehow manage to be educational without feeling aggressively academic.
Visitor essentials:
About 20 – 25 minutes south of downtown
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Mondays
Large free parking lot
Excellent during winter or hot summer afternoons
Great for mixed-age groups
Dreamscapes
If you’ve ever wanted to go to Meow Wolf, this is your spot. Dreamscapes is an immersive fever dream (A.K.A. a walk-through art experience) full of glowing tunnels, surreal dream worlds, hidden passageways, and interactive installations built by local artists and students. Adults might mistake it for a sci-fi movie set; much wiser kids tend to treat it like a giant playground.
Visitor essentials:
Located downtown at The Gateway
Open Tuesday through Sunday, typically noon until late (but check ahead). Closed Mondays
Great rainy-day activity
The Gateway’s first hour of parking is free, 2.00/hour for 1-6 hours
Fun for families, groups, and teens
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Clark Planetarium
This is one of those attractions that overdelivers, especially because the exhibits are free. Kids can poke around meteorites, space science displays, and Newton’s Daydream — a massive kinetic sculpture of balls rolling, clanging, and looping through the air like a physics-themed Rube Goldberg machine. Meanwhile, the planetarium’s ticketed dome theatre and IMAX shows make an excellent escape during cold winters, blazing summer afternoons, or any family trip that needs a low-effort reset.
Visitor essentials:
Located downtown at The Gateway
Open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday – Thursday, and until 11 p.m. Friday – Saturday
Park in The Gateway’s South Parking Garage; it has direct entrances to Clark Planetarium on levels 0 and -1
If you’re traveling with younger kids, this children's museum is one of the easiest guaranteed wins in the city. The exhibits are interactive, energetic, and designed around play rather than passive observation. There are dinosaur-dig areas, water play, art spaces, science exhibits, and imaginative kid-scale worlds that make it ideal for burning off energy after travel days — or giving the parents a little break.
Visitor essentials:
Located downtown at The Gateway
Park in The Gateway’s North Garage, toward the south end
First hour of parking is free, 2.00/hour for 1-6 hours
Ideal for toddlers and elementary-aged children
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Tracy Aviary
Inside Liberty Park — locals’ favorite place to gab and walk, run, or rollerskate laps with friends — Tracy Aviary is one of Salt Lake’s cutest low-key outings and one of only two accredited standalone aviaries in the U.S. You can expect shaded walking paths, rare bird exhibits, and enough greenery to briefly forget you’re in a city. It’s smaller and calmer than a full zoo, which I imagine can be a blessing with younger kids. .
Visitor essentials:
About 10 minutes from downtown
Located inside Liberty Park; enter from 900 South/Harvey Milk Boulevard and follow the park loop to the aviary parking lot, just past Liberty Park Pool
Easy half-day outing for families
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Hogle Zoo
The major advantage over a lot of urban zoos: the setting is outrageously beautiful. Tucked against the foothills east of downtown, Hogle pairs snow leopards, giraffes, lions, and primates with mountain views that make the whole experience feel special for adults, too. For families, it’s an easy half-day outing that reliably wears kids out without feeling overly hectic. In warmer months, the Rocky Shores Splash Pad becomes especially essential.
Visitor essentials:
Around 15 minutes from downtown
Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Large free parking lot onsite
Best visited in spring or fall for cooler temperatures
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Butterfly Biosphere
The Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point is part conservatory, part insect museum, and part tropical greenhouse. Inside, thousands of butterflies from around the world drift through lush indoor gardens, landing occasionally on plants — or unsuspecting visitors — while interactive exhibits teach kids about pollinators, bugs, and ecosystems without making it feel too classroom-y.
Visitor essentials:
About 35 – 40 minutes south of Salt Lake in Lehi
Open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Sundays
Great year-round activity
Interesting for younger children and adults alike
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
This Is The Place Heritage Park
This living history park could easily sound cheesy on paper, but it’s very charming in practice. (My own parents loved it.) The park spans about 450 acres and includes more than 60 original or replica structures, so it feels more like wandering through a whole historical village than popping into a single attraction. Inside, you’ll discover historic homes, replica trains, old-fashioned shops, farm animals, gold panning, pony rides, and costumed interpreters demonstrating trades like blacksmithing and tinsmithing.
Visitor essentials:
Around 15 minutes from downtown
Heritage Village is generally open Monday – Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; while the monument grounds stay open dawn to dusk daily
Good for the whole family
Large free parking lot available
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Utah Olympic Park
Built for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Utah Olympic Park is one of the easiest ways to understand just how deep winter sports run in this state. Visitors can explore Olympic history, watch athletes train, and, depending on the season, try adventure activities like zip lines, ropes courses, tubing, or bobsled-style rides. It’s technically up in Park City, but it belongs in any Salt Lake attractions guide because it captures a very particular wholesome-slash-slightly-nuts Utah feeling.
Visitor essentials:
Around 30 – 40 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City
Good for older kids, teens, adults, and winter-sports obsessives
Check seasonal activity availability before going
Included in the Salt Lake Explorer Pass
Millcreek Canyon
If you ask locals where they actually go to decompress, Millcreek Canyon comes up constantly. While partially closed at the time of writing, the leafy escape is packed with hiking trails, picnic areas, pine forests, wildflowers, creeks, and alpine routes like Pipeline Trail, Grandeur Peak, and Desolation Overlook that make the city feel very far away despite being only minutes from downtown.
Visitor essentials:
About 20 minutes from downtown
Popular for hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and picnics
Bring layers; canyon temperatures shift quickly
Dogs allowed daily, with off-leash access on odd-numbered days and leash-only rules on even-numbered days; check current regulations through the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Bikes are allowed on Big Water, Little Water, and Great Western trails on even-numbered days only; Pipeline Trail allows bikes every day
Ultimately, what I love most about Salt Lake is how easy it is to build a great day here. You can ride a tram into the mountains, wander through an art museum, spot bison at sunset, and still make it back downtown for dinner. Few cities offer that kind of variety with so little hassle. So pick a few attractions that spark your curiosity, embrace a little spontaneity, and see where this place takes you.
Author
Ali Francis
Ali Francis is an Australian writer and journalist living in Salt Lake City, where she splits her time between chasing stories and fresh snow. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, BBC, New York Magazine, and The Guardian. Her debut book, The Curious Lives of Vegetables, will be published by Hardie Grant in 2026.
