Discover Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City offers a wide range of starting points for planning a trip: museums and art venues focus on Utah’s history, culture, and art, while gardens and trails offer different experiences. If you’re looking for a hotel in Salt Lake City, it helps to first consider which of these aspects you want to shape your trip. The options range from guided and virtual tours to outdoor art, gardens, and waterways. This makes it possible to tailor your stay to your own interests without treating all these topics as a single sightseeing itinerary.

Culture, Art, and History

The Natural History Museum of Utah is the state of Utah’s official natural history museum. Its public programs include DinoFest, a lecture series, and weekly gallery programs. If a particular program is important to your visit, check the current calendar in advance.

At the Utah State Capitol, you can choose from self-guided, guided, and virtual tours. They cover the building’s history and architecture, Utah’s history, and state government processes. The Capitol also displays artworks depicting explorers, pioneers, and notable figures from Utah. The tours therefore offer different ways to explore the subject matter; availability may change, so it’s a good idea to check the current options when planning. The Museum of Utah is located in the North Capitol Building and presents Utah’s history, culture, and art through exhibitions and programs.

Tours on a variety of topics are offered at Temple Square at different times. If you want to plan your visit around a particular tour, check the current schedule. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts offers both virtual and in-person tours, led by educators and docents. Times and availability may vary, so check them if you’re planning around a specific format.

Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park opened to the public on July 2, 1938. Its campus showcases birds from around the world in landscaped botanical gardens. Outdoor art can be found at Gilgal Sculpture Garden: The garden, designed to be enjoyed year-round, includes 12 original sculptures and more than 70 stones engraved with Bible verses, poetry, and literary texts. It is Utah’s only designated setting for visionary art.

The Pioneer Memorial Museum in Salt Lake City preserves artifacts relating to Utah’s pioneer history and early life in the state. Its memorabilia spans the arrival of the first settlers in the Great Salt Lake Valley to the linking of the railroads at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869. This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City offers another way to explore pioneer history: The 500-acre park includes a visitor center and a reconstructed pioneer village.

Gardens, Nature, and Trails

Red Butte Garden features 3,000 plant and tree species across 100 acres of themed gardens and natural areas. Five miles of hiking trails also wind through an extensive natural area. The garden is located at the entrance to Red Butte Canyon; this protected watershed is designated as a Research Natural Area and managed by the U.S. Forest Service. UTA public transit and the University of Utah’s free Campus Shuttle provide transportation to the garden. Since public transit service may change, check the current route before traveling.

There are different reference points for trails of varying lengths: The shared-use trail through Memory Grove Park is 1.2 miles long. It starts at the intersection of State Street and Second Avenue and runs to Bonneville Boulevard. The Jordan River Parkway Trail is suitable for walkers, joggers, skaters, and cyclists; its Salt Lake City section runs between 2100 S and 2500 N. The stated lengths and endpoints help distinguish a specific route from the longer trails through a natural area.

The Jordan River Water Trail also offers a distinct approach to planning. Salt Lake City’s Trails and Natural Lands Division manages the trail, boat ramps, and parks between 2100 South and 2300 North. The Salt Lake City section of the Water Trail has five official boat ramps. Since their condition may change, check current conditions if you’re planning a trip. The Jordan River Natural Area is home to native wildlife such as muskrats, foxes, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds.

In the broader region, the Jordan River Parkway spans 46 miles and offers opportunities for walking, running, cycling, and paddling non-motorized watercraft. These include kayaks, canoes, and SUPs. This regional perspective complements the specific trails and facilities in Salt Lake City with a wider range of activities.

Discover more destinations: Alta, Taylorsville, Sandy, West Jordan, South Jordan, Midvale, Cottonwood Heights, Draper

For the broader travel overview: Salt Lake.