If you are from the US, there is not much difference here as far as getting around than most other places other than the altitude is quite high and you might experience headaches and shortness of breath due to the higher altitude. This can greatly affect your level of activity, so be forewarned before taking off on a long hike. I got very winded after just a short hike. Consider this when planning your activities.
If you are going to drive away from the cities, be sure to fill up your car’s gas tank. The stations can be few and far between.
If you are traveling with kids, some fun places to visit are Antelope Island, Timpanogos Caves, Lagoon (amazing roller coasters) located between Salt Lake City and Antelope Island, Thanksgiving Point (Dinosaur Museum, Butterfly Museum, Farm), Park City Olympic Park. We visited Blue Moon Ranch alpaca farm. I believe they are only open to the public one weekend a year. It happened to be the day we arrived. If you have kids, it would be a fun. Some of the alpacas came near the fence, but most of them stayed in the fields. They don’t allow anyone to feed the alpacas or to be in the fields with them.
If you are not from the US –
It’s fairly easy to navigate. Google maps works well here.
Every place we’ve encountered accepts debit cards. We did find a few places that didn’t accept credit cards.
Plan your trip – We didn’t have a lot of time to plan our trip. We ended up driving way too many miles because we didn’t have our excursions planned out ahead of time. I’m putting in a map that gives an approximate outline of our day trips. Google only allows 10 places on the map and so this is just an overall view of the places we visited.
I’m listing the places in order of the Google Map with the lowest drive time. We did not do the activities in this order because I neglected to map this out prior to our day trips. I could have saved us a lot of gas money and time had I done this.
1. Bear Lake
2. Ogden
3. Causey Reservoir
4. Monte Cristo Peak
5. Antelope Island
6. Lagoon Amusement Park
7. Salt Lake City
8. Mill Creek Canyon
9. Little Cottonwood
10. Thanksgiving Point
11. Sundance Mountain Resort
12. Alpine Scenic Byway
13. Buffalo Peak
14. Guardian Pass/Big Cottonwood Canyon
15. Deer Valley Resort
16. Olympic Park
17. Mirror Lake
The first week, we stayed at Park Regency Resort in Park City. We loved the facility. It’s older, but well maintained. The rooms were very comfortable. The kitchen was small, but had a full-size sink, stove, refrigerator, and a small, but adequate dishwasher. The storage space in the kitchen was lacking, but there were plenty of other areas to store our food. We cook most of our meals while traveling, so we had quite a bit of food with us. The pool and hot tub were very clean. The staff was very kind and helpful. The internet was pretty good. We had no problem making cell phone calls and getting on the internet. An added bonus is the washer and dryers are free to use. It is in town near plenty of shops.
The second week we stayed at Powder Mountain Village Resort outside of Eden. The resort is located at the top of Powder Mountain, 9,000 feet elevation. The road leading up to the resort is the steepest road in Utah. I’m assuming all the units have a full-size kitchen, a nice sized dining area, a living room, a fireplace (compressed logs only- 2 are provided, and more can be purchased at the store in the lobby) like our unit. We have a balcony with an amazing view. They do have internet, but it’s pretty weak and spotty. They have cable TV with plenty of good channels.
Before heading up the mountain, we stopped at the local grocery store in Eden. We weren’t sure how often we were going to want to make the trip down the mountain for supplies. For the most part, that hasn’t been an issue although we do pull off a few times to let the brakes cool down. Keep in mind, we arrived the first week in October. I would not be brave enough to travel the road in the winter.
At the top of Powder Mountain are several chairlifts, ski slopes, and a few restaurants. They were all shut down during our visit. We were hoping to take some Milky Way photos, but the lights and the moon worked against us. I’m thinking that during the crescent moon that some Milky Way shots might work. We drove up to the top of the mountain and found a flat parking lot to take some nighttime photos.
The sunsets up here are incredible. They also have amazing afterglows. We were able to get sunset photos from our balcony.
Places to see –
On our way to Bear Lake we stopped in Woodruff, a small little town, to get drinks and use the restroom. There is a gas station there as well. Be sure to keep plenty of fuel in your gas tank. The stations can often be quite a distance apart.
1. Bear Lake/Tony Grove Lake - Bear lake is a very large lake (109 square miles). Half of the lake is in Utah and the other half is in Idaho. There are some sandy beaches. The drive to Bear Lake was pretty. There is a State Park that requires a parking fee. We drove past it and found a very nice rest area with clean bathrooms with flushing toilets. Since we were visiting when it was freezing outside, we had no trouble finding parking spots. Bear Lake itself was pretty, but it’s more of a recreational place than a scenic place. As a photographer, I’d strike this stop if we were to be in the area. If you are there in the summer, this would be high on my list of places for recreational activities. There were places to rent boats. There is a summit outside of Bear Lake that has restrooms and a good view of part of the lake.
We left Bear Lake and traveled Logan Pass on the way back to Powder Ridge. The highlight of this trip was seeing the cowboys on horses driving the cattle home for the winter. There are plenty of places to pull over to take photos. There are also plenty of hiking trails.
Tony Grove Lake is a much smaller lake. We found it by following a sign off hwy 89 while on our way home from Bear Lake. It’s a 7-mile winding road that has a pretty steep grade to get to the lake. There are picnic tables and pit toilets at the park. I’m told that it’s a very fun lake to swim in in the summer.
2. Ogden – The first full day we were here we went to Ogden. We found Ogden Canyon waterfall and saw some beautiful fall colors along the way. I asked some of the locals if there were some places that we needed to visit. We were told that 25th street was not to be missed. We went on a Sunday. I’d suggest going any other day than Sunday. Almost everything was closed. There were some interesting shops, but not any that made us want to take the time to return when they were open.
3. Snow Basin and Causey Reservoir - Our next trip was up to Snow Basin and then over to Causey Reservoir. The ride up to Snow Basin was gorgeous with fall colors. There were plenty of places to pull over to take photos and several trailheads for hikes. The resort at Snow Basin was closed, except for the one building that had restrooms. Thank goodness for flushing toilets and running water. I’m not sure if summer activities are available at the resort, but I’d guess there are because the grounds were so lovely. There is a restaurant there that looked beautiful.
We had to head back down the pass to get to the reservoir. There is a road over the top of the reservoir that heads to Skull Crack Canyon. The other direction leads to Camp Kiesel (a boys scout camp closed to the public). At the end of the road leading to the camp, there is a cute pedestrian bridge that goes above a pretty waterfall. I highly recommend going to both ends of the reservoir. The views are breathtaking. The roads are very rough though.
4. Monte Cristo Peak/Road – We went through this pass to reach Snow Basin and Bear Lake. On the way to Snow Basin, we saw gorgeous fall colors with beautiful valley views. The pass was full of gorgeous fall colors. There were plenty of places to pull over to take photos.
5. Antelope Island – great views and wildlife
There is only 1 way to get on to the island so don’t just look at a map and think it’s close by.
It costs $10 per carload (additional charges for vehicles with a greater number of people)
The visitor center has a nice gift shop, bathrooms with flushing toilets, an area with exhibits telling about the animals and history, some nice photo opportunities.
Be sure to hike up Buffalo Point to enjoy the excellent views of Salt Lake and the surrounding mountains. There are also great rock formations on the top.
Feilding Garr Ranch is the oldest Angelo homestead in Utah. We got there after is closed (6 pm), but we were still able to walk around the farm. There is a barn, a corral (several), horses, antique farm equipment and buildings, nice views. The deer seem to know that the farm closes at 6 pm. They came up into the yard around 6:15 pm. I stayed right beside some larger fixtures on the farm and kept very still. It wasn’t long before they weren’t threatened by my presence, and I was able to get some nice photos of them.
There are many other places to pull out and/or hike, but we didn’t do those as we ran out of time. We did see a gorgeous sunset, deer, and bison (up close – the bison are easy to see in the fields). Do be careful around the bison. You CAN’T outrun them. I hear it’s best to walk away from them. We encountered them on the side of the road and so I stayed at the back of the car so I could easily get back in the car should I need to escape. The week before we were there 2 people were gored in separate instances. I asked around and was told that the antelope are out more in the morning and the evenings and near the campgrounds. They had to remove the big horn sheep due to a disease that was killing them. Others recommended speaking to the park rangers to see where the Great Horned Owl and porcupines might be. Also, there are Pronghorns, which are very interesting animals.
6. Lagoon Amusement Park – Great Roller Coasters
Be sure to check the hours of operation. They were only open on the weekends in October. Costco has discount tickets.
7. Salt Lake City – State Capital, Mormon Temple, Shopping
The State Capital grounds have beautiful trees and a nice monument. Inside the capital, the rotunda is gorgeous. It looks to be made of marble, but I’m no building material expert. Across from the capital is a very nice visitor center that has restrooms and a great gift shop. There is a “hop on hop off” bus that leaves from the visitor’s center.
The grounds around the Mormon Temple are open to the public. Only Mormon’s in good standing with the church are allowed in the temple. The grounds have beautiful flower gardens and statues. The temple is beautiful.
The downtown area is full of shops and restaurants. It is clean and it felt very safe to me.
The parking is mostly underground. The entrances and exits are located in the middle of some of the main roads. Search for City Creek Parking. The one we parked in is located underground between the Temple and Macy’s. The address is 50 E S Temple Suite 50. You enter the parking lot heading east (temple on your right) on S Temple. Once you are underground, be sure to enter the City Creek Parking area. The signs are a bit hard to notice. The first 2 hours in the City Creek Parking garages are free. The 3rd hour is free with certain restaurant validations.
8. Millcreek Canyon – This was one of our favorite places we visited. There are so many scenic pull-outs with plenty of picnic tables, parking, pit toilets, trails, and gorgeous views.
9. Little Cottonwood Canyon and Alta Resort and Snowbird Resort– views and wildlife
Little Cottonwood Canyon is accessed from Salt Lake City. It is a ski resort but does offer nice views. Our highlight was having a moose walk right beside our car. The signs say not to pull off or stop on the roads, but since there wasn’t anyone around us, we did stop a few times. There are a few places to park along the road.
There are hikes to Lisa Upper Falls and to Little Cottonwood Creek.
On the map it looks like Little Cottonwood Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon connect, but they don’t. The only way to get to Little Cottonwood Canyon is from Salt Lake City side of the mountains.
10. Thanksgiving Point – It was suggested that we stop at Thanksgiving Point to get some pretty flower pictures. The flower gardens were closed when we arrived. If you are traveling with kids, Thanksgiving Point would be a fun place to visit. There are several different museums and areas including one with dinosaurs, a farm, and another that has butterflies. The flower gardens are at a different location not too far away, but not close enough to walk.
https://www.thanksgivingpoint.org/
11. Sundance Mountain Resort and the Alpine Scenic Loop– views and activities
The chair lift is operational all year. At the very top, there is a restaurant and amazing views. There is also a zip line. The zip line has 4 sections at covers almost 2 miles reaching heights of 500 feet. It costs $119 (price at our visit). They have different zip line packages. Tickets for the zip line are purchased at the base.
The resort rents bikes for the mountain biking trails (ride the chairlift up and ride down the mountain).
There are several restaurants and gift shops at the base of the resort as well as the one restaurant at the top of the mountain. The grounds are landscaped beautifully with meandering paths, benches, stream with pedestrian walking bridges, and a firepit surrounded by benches.
They had adequate parking during our visit, but I bet during the ski season or big event the parking could be hard to find. We were there during the week of the off season and the lots got full.
We took the Alpine Scenic Loop on the way to Thanksgiving Point from Sundance. It’s a winding road that is lined with gorgeous Aspin trees. There are very few places to pull off to photograph the beauty. I saw one parking lot, but it was not near the Aspen groves. There were some trailheads for hikes.
12. Timpanogos Caves National Monument has a nice gift shop, which was the only place we visited. The trail was too steep and long for us to tackle on this trip. They say it’s pretty amazing though.
13. Uintah Mountain Buffalo Peak – The fall colors were incredibly beautiful as well as the views from the height of the mountain. There is a point where the road splits with one road heading to the campgrounds and Buffalo Peak and another heading to an overlook of the city. Go toward the campgrounds– you won’t regret it. Be warned though that the paved road changes to a very bumpy dirt road. There are many places to pull off and take pictures of the spectacular views and colors if you are so fortunate to be there during the fall colors. At the top of the mountain, there is a trail heading up to Buffalo Point. I didn’t see any markings, but you should see plenty of cars parked on the side of the dirt road. There is a wood fence with one of the lower rails removed. We ducked under that the get on the trail. Head up the trail to reach Buffalo Point. We didn’t make it to the very top, but we did reach an opening with amazing views. There was a nice firepit there too if you want to come prepared to enjoy a campfire.
This mountain is pretty close to Sundance Mountain Resort.
14. Guardian Pass and Big Cottonwood Canyon – located outside Park City
Guardian Pass leads to the top of the mountain and offers amazing views. There are not a lot of pull outs, so if you see one with views, take it. Also, take seriously the signs that say no parking. We saw a great many cars with citations on their windshield. There are two larger parking areas at the top of the mountain. The first one offers views of the mountains and the city the other offers views of the trees and has a trail leading to Blood Lake. The 1.5 mile trail is tree lined and beautiful. We weren’t able to take the full hike because of a knee injury. I did ask the other hikers about the views and the trail. I was told it got steep going up to the lake, but the views were incredible. If you are able to hike, there’s some nice waterfalls.
The Big Cottonwood Canyon is at the end of Guardian Pass. There are two resorts here – Solitude and Brighten. Solitude is a very large fancy resort and Brighten is a small rustic resort. Both offer restrooms and restaurants (Brighten is more of a café).
Not too far down the road is Provo River Falls. They are easily accessible from the parking lot. Be sure to follow the trails down to see the second waterfall. I think there were pit toilets here, but I’m not positive about this. There were picnic tables and benches along the paths.
Mirror Lake was not much of a mirror when we were there. We spoke to several locals and they said that it’s not ever much of a mirror due to the wind moving the water. There were pit toilets at Mirror Lake.
I’m pretty sure the name of our favorite pull out was Hayden Peak Overlook. I didn’t take good enough notes on this trip. Anyway, the pull out is very close to the summit. The views are incredible. We hiked out to the cliffs edge (not a scary as it sounds) and set up chairs to wait for the sunset. We weren’t disappointed. We stayed for the night sky and got some nice Milky Way shots. It wasn’t a completely dark sky, but the Milky Way was nicely visible. I’d definitely go there again.
15. Deer Valley Ski Resort – located just outside of Park City
Much of Deer Valley was shut down during our visit, but that didn’t keep us from having a wonderful time. We were there at the beginning of October, and the fall foliage was full of color. The Regis Resort has what they call the Funticular. It’s basically an elevator car that goes to the rest of the resort at the top of the mountain, and it’s free to ride and open to the public. It’s accessed through the lobby of the resort.
At the top of the resort is a restaurant and some hiking trails (they are also mountain bike trails, so be aware of bike traffic). The trail leads all the way back to the parking lot if you want to go that far. The leaves were spectacular the day we were there.
If you are there during ski season, there are a great many amenities available including childcare. The lodge is beautiful.
16. Park City Olympic Park – home of the 2002 Olympics
The Olympic training grounds are open to the public. There are many activities to do. There are 2 zip lines, drop tower, scenic lift, discovery course, mountain biking, and a museum with many photos and artifacts from the Olympics. If you are here in the right part of the year the bob sleds, tubing and skiing are open to the public as well. We were there during a competition for free style ski jumping. They train by doing their jump with all the height, twists, and turns, but landing in a pool of water. The US Olympic team trains here, so if you are lucky enough you might seem them training. We were pretty impressed with the high schoolers that we saw. I’m sure we saw at least one future Olympian.
Be sure to drive around town and see all the monuments celebrating the Olympics.
Lucky Coffee is another special place in Park City. This coffee shop is located inside the lobby of the library. They are totally biased in their hiring. They only hire people with cerebral palsy, autism, downs syndrome, or other special needs. We enjoyed visiting with the workers and the coffee was great too.
If you happen to be there during the farmer’s market, be sure to visit to find a variety of local treats. We were able to buy apples, peaches, and corn on the cob. They also had honey, jams, meat including jerky and pepperoni, caramel corn, and a variety of soaps and handcrafts.
17. Blue Moon Ranch Alpaca Farm – Before heading out to this farm, check the website to see if it’s open to the public. We just happened to get there (late September) a weekend they were open.
18. Uintah Mountain/Wasatch National Forest and Mirror Lake (State Route 150/Mirror Lake Highway/Bald Mountain Pass)– Summit at road level is 10,759 feet, dark skies, incredible views, plenty of trails, and waterfalls. There are pit toilets at many of the pull outs. There were no open stores or restaurants during our October visit.
The highway is only open to cars in the summer (or until the snows arrive). It’s open to snowmobiles in the winter.
Uintah Mountain are located out of Kamas and Samak (notice the opposite spellings of the two cities). Both cities are small but do offer a few shopping options. I’m sure there are places to eat as well, but we brought our food with us to eat while we waited for the dark skies.
The summit of the mountain is over 10,800 feet so you get some amazing views if you visit on a clear day. There are many places to pull off the road and take pictures or hike. They do warn of bears and ticks, so stay on the trails and be alert.
We pulled off at Slate Gorge and saw a double waterfall. There was a trail that might have led down to the river, but our goal kept us from doing a lot of exploring. We didn’t get any good photos from the pull out. There were pit toilets here.
Provo River Falls is a larger set of waterfalls that are easily accessible from a nice parking area. There are nice walking trails and picnic areas.
We were beginning to lose light and so we made our way to Mirror Lake without any further stops. The light wasn’t very good and the wind had kicked up and so we didn’t get a good mirror image. I’ve heard from the locals that it rarely reflects, but when it does it’s great.
There are many nice campgrounds in the area, but they all seemed to be closed during our visit.