Utah doesn’t shout. It doesn’t have to. The terrain does the talking – red rock corridors, steep canyons, and high passes that hold snow well into May.
For anyone hunting through options for things to do in Utah, the first surprise is usually how much space there is to think, to move, or to stay put.
People come for all kinds of reasons. A stretch of road. A ridge line. A break from whatever the last few months looked like.
And whether it’s a half-day drive or a weeklong plan, Utah tends to deliver more than the itinerary suggests.
The State Itself — What Utah Offers That Others Don’t
The range is wide. Geographically, topographically, and seasonally. About 70 percent of Utah is public land, and much of that remains open access.
Five national parks and eight national monuments are located within state boundaries, as are a network of state-managed trails and reservoirs.
This isn’t a place where all the best sights are behind gates or fences. Timing matters.
In January, it’s the Wasatch that gets the attention, with resorts like Alta and Snowbird pulling skiers into canyons just 40 minutes from Salt Lake City.
Come June, the gravity shifts. Moab turns into a base for mountain biking and backcountry hikes.
And in between? Spring and fall offer something quieter. Fewer people, less heat, clearer skies.
Those looking for things to do in Utah will find that the options are grouped by rhythm rather than category.
Fast, slow, structured, wide-open—you don’t have to decide what kind of trip you want before you get there. The state has room for all of it.
10 best places to visit in Utah for your next vacation
- Zion National Park
- Arches National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Lagoon Amusement Park
- Temple Square
- Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
- Thanksgiving Point
- Brighton Resort
- Canyonlands National Park
- Dixie National Forest
| Activity / Destination | Type | Location | Best Season | Access Needed | Geographic Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arches National Park | Hiking / Geology | Near Moab | Spring, Fall | Park entrance + trail access | Entrada Sandstone, desert plateau |
| Zion National Park | Hiking / Scenic | Southwestern Utah | Spring, Fall | Shuttle + permits (some) | Narrow canyon, Navajo Sandstone cliffs |
| Bryce Canyon | Hiking / Geology | South-central Utah | Late Spring–Fall | Park entrance + trails | Amphitheaters, high elevation, freeze-thaw |
| Great Salt Lake | Viewing / Nature | Near Salt Lake City | Spring–Fall | Causeway to Antelope Island | Hypersaline lake, variable shoreline |
| Snowbasin Ski Resort | Skiing | Near Ogden | Dec–April | Road + lift ticket | Alpine slopes, high snowfall |
| Alta Ski Area | Skiing | Little Cottonwood Canyon | Dec–Late April | Road + lift ticket | Steep terrain, high base elevation |
| Bonneville Salt Flats | Viewing / Driving | West Utah (near Wendover) | Summer, Fall | Pull-off on I-80 | Flat salt crust, lakebed remnant |
| Moab Bike Trails | Biking | Eastern Utah | Spring, Fall | Road + trail access | Slickrock terrain, desert plateau |
| Capitol Reef Access (Torrey) | Hiking / Scenic | Central Utah | Spring–Fall | Highway 24 + local roads | Folded rock, remote valleys |
| Bears Ears Access | Hiking / Remote | Southeastern Utah | Spring, Fall | 4WD roads + maps/GPS | Rugged mesas, limited infrastructure |
Arches National Park — Minimal Footprint, Maximum Structure
Arches National Park covers just over 76,000 acres, smaller than most national parks in the West.
It sits five miles north of Moab and has been under federal protection since 1929, first as a monument, later redesignated as a park in 1971.
Its main draw is the density of stone arches: the National Park Service catalogs over 2,000, and new formations are still appearing as erosion continues.
The stone here, mostly Entrada Sandstone, breaks down through freeze-thaw cycles and the subsurface movement of salt deposits.
These processes don’t move fast, but they shape everything—arches, spires, fins, and domes.
Delicate Arch, often shown in photographs, requires a hike of about 1.5 miles each way.
There’s no shade. That deters some casual visits but keeps traffic on the trail spaced out.
Spring and fall bring milder weather. July and August often reach over 100°F, with little wind.
The Fiery Furnace area is a maze of narrow canyons.
To enter, you need a ranger guide or an advanced permit.
That’s partly about safety, partly about protecting fragile features.
Unlike drive-through parks, Arches asks people to stop, walk, and look closely.
It’s less about size and more about structure, you wouldn’t notice unless you were standing next to it.
Zion National Park — Narrow Routes and Steep Walls
Zion became Utah’s first national park in 1919.
The park’s central feature—Zion Canyon—is cut by the North Fork of the Virgin River and stretches roughly 15 miles.
Its sandstone cliffs, made of Navajo Sandstone, rise as high as 2,000 feet above the canyon floor.
That vertical scale compresses activity into narrow corridors, both in terms of land and time.
By April, shuttle buses run daily.
To reduce congestion, private vehicles are restricted inside the main canyon, a system that has been in place since 2000.
Angel’s Landing, a trail known for its final narrow ridge section, now requires a permit.
The change started in April 2022 after crowding made parts of the hike unstable.
Other routes vary with the season. The Narrows, a slot canyon hike through the riverbed, often closes during high runoff or flash flood warnings.
Water temperature in spring hovers around 40°F. Summer brings different risks: sunstroke and sudden monsoon storms.
This park doesn’t open gradually. You arrive and the cliffs rise immediately, tight and steep.
Walking in them isn’t about distance—it’s about the fact that almost everything here rises straight up.
Bryce Canyon — Freeze, Thaw, Repeat
Bryce Canyon is over 8,000 feet high. That elevation changes the weather, the erosion process, and the length of the snow.
Despite the name, it’s not a true canyon. Instead, it’s a set of natural amphitheaters carved by snowmelt and freeze-thaw cycles.
The hoodoos—slender stone spires—form as water slips into cracks, freezes, expands, and breaks off chunks of stone.
It gets cold early. Average annual snowfall exceeds 90 inches.
That snow, along with summer storms, drives the erosion that shapes the rock into tall, uneven stacks.
The colors change with the sun. Sunrise and Sunset Points offer steep overlooks, with trails dropping into the formations below.
Bryce was declared a national monument in 1923 and became a national park in 1928.
Its elevation affects more than geology—spring starts later, summer is shorter, and nights stay cooler than in lower-elevation parks.
Thanks to the dry air and lack of nearby light sources, stargazing programs run regularly through October.
Visitors walk down into the formations and climb back out again. There aren’t many flat options.
That’s part of what holds attention here: a structure that forces vertical movement through a space that looks static from above.
Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island — Where Geography Shapes Access
The Great Salt Lake’s surface level has dropped steadily in recent years.
In October 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that the surface area had reached a record low, with more than a 60% reduction compared to the 1980s.
Salinity levels vary sharply with depth and runoff—at some points, salt content reaches nearly 30%.
Antelope Island, the largest island in the lake, is linked by a seven-mile causeway.
In wetter years, it appears isolated; in dry seasons, the receding shoreline exposes mudflats.
Wildlife shifts with the water. Brine shrimp, a major food source in aquaculture, support both the lake’s food web and a niche export economy.
The air smells different here. Sulfur compounds from decaying material mix with high salinity.
In warm weather, the smell intensifies, especially along the shoreline.
Seasonal shifts also influence lake-effect snowfall along the Wasatch Front.
This effect increases snow totals by pulling moisture from the lake into storm systems that hit the nearby mountains.
For anyone considering things to do in Utah near Salt Lake City, Antelope Island offers a case study in how the land controls the activity.
Hiking, cycling, and bird-watching all shift depending on water levels, wind, and runoff from the mountains to the east.
Snowbasin and Alta — Altitude Without Congestion
Alta opened in 1939, one of the oldest ski resorts in the U.S. Snowbasin, developed in the 1940s, was chosen for the 2002 Winter Olympics’ downhill events.
Both resorts are within an hour’s drive of Salt Lake City, but their setup differs from those of larger resort towns.
Parking is limited, development is sparse, and snow stays deep longer—Alta’s base elevation is over 8,500 feet.
Alta has not allowed snowboarding since opening. That policy concentrates alpine skiers and limits overall traffic.
The terrain is steep, with multiple double-black areas accessible by lift.
Snowbasin, by contrast, spreads its elevation over longer, open runs—part of the reason it met Olympic downhill specifications in 2002.
Average annual snowfall exceeds 500 inches in both locations.
In late April 2025, skiable conditions still exist above 9,000 feet.
While larger resorts like Park City get the volume, Snowbasin and Alta draw people who come for short lift lines and steeper lines, without staying overnight.
These aren’t walkable villages. You drive in, ski hard, and drive back out. And that’s exactly what a portion of the skiing population looks for.
Bonneville Salt Flats — Where Racing Meets Silence
The Bonneville Salt Flats are west of the Great Salt Lake Basin and stretch about 30,000 acres near the Nevada border.
They were left behind by the evaporation of Lake Bonneville, a prehistoric body of water that once covered much of Utah.
What remains is a flat crust of sodium chloride—dry, reflective, and largely empty.
The flats became a site for land-speed racing in the 1930s.
The long, level surface allows for straight-line runs with minimal resistance.
Events are still held each year, though they depend on surface conditions.
Rain can make the surface impassable. In dry years, it forms a hard crust that supports vehicles moving at over 300 mph.
Interstate 80 runs just south of the area. There’s a marked pull-off where visitors can walk out onto the salt.
The rest is unmanaged space—no facilities, no barriers.
Film crews often use the area for commercials or scenes needing a blank backdrop.
Wind can erase tracks overnight. The quiet isn’t poetic. It’s literal. There are no trees, buildings, or elevation.
That absence shapes how people use it, whether for photography, engineering tests, or walking far enough to feel the scale firsthand.
Small-Town Access Points — Off the Grid but on the Route
Kanab is on U.S. 89, near the Arizona border. It is within a two-hour drive of Zion, Bryce, and Grand Staircase–Escalante.
The town has fewer than 5,000 residents year-round but sees a sharp increase in traffic between March and October.
Lodging books quickly. Gas and food prices vary with the tourist cycle.
Moab supports two national parks—Arches and Canyonlands—and started growing as a tourism hub in the 1980s, partly due to the rise of mountain biking.
The Slickrock Bike Trail was established in 1969, and since then, April through May has remained one of its busiest windows.
Off-road races and Jeep tours push demand further.
Torrey is the town with access to Capitol Reef National Park.
It has one main road and fewer than ten restaurants open year-round.
Weather in April still brings sub-freezing nights, but trail traffic builds by the middle of the month.
Blanding and Bluff, further south, provide access to Bears Ears National Monument.
Infrastructure tapers off quickly once you move east into the monument.
Cell coverage, paved roads, and signage drop.
Many trailheads begin at rough parking areas marked only by GPS or local maps.
These towns aren’t the attraction. They’re what makes the attraction possible—supply points, starting places, reset buttons.
They’re where the paved road ends, and the slower choices begin.
FAQ: Things to Do in Utah
What town in Utah is best for non-Mormons?
Park City usually ranks near the top of that list. It has an international crowd, many seasonal visitors, and fewer ties to church-centered life. Plus, with film, food, and skiing all packed into one small mountain town, it stays lively.
Why is Utah famous for?
The five national parks get most of the headlines, but it’s more than that. Utah’s known for its big desert views and deep snow in the Wasatch, and it is the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What not to miss in Salt Lake City?
Start with Temple Square and the State Capitol. Then go west for the Great Salt Lake, or head into the foothills. If the timing’s right, the Utah Arts Festival or a Real Salt Lake match adds something local to the trip.
Can you swim in the Great Salt Lake?
You can, and many do, especially near Antelope Island. The salt makes you float higher than you’d expect. But wind, insects, and lake levels can change things fast, so check conditions first.
What is the most popular thing in Utah?
Zion National Park is hands down the best. According to the National Park Service, in 2022, it had more than 4.6 million visits, the highest of any site in the state.
What percentage of Utah is Mormon?
According to 2022 figures from the Church and census sources, about 42% of Utahns are members. That number used to be higher, but it’s been shifting over the past couple of decades.
Why do tourists come to Utah?
Some come for red rock hikes, others for the snow. Many want to see the parks – Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon – or ski the Wasatch. A few show up for festivals, music, or to see where it all started for the LDS Church. There’s space for all of it.
🌄 Utah Trip Planning Resources
Here’s a list of trusted websites to help you plan things to do in Utah. Each link below covers a different aspect of travel—from state parks and scenic roads to local events and transit info.
🏞️ Official Travel & Tourism
- Utah Office of Tourism
Trip ideas, itineraries, and seasonal planning tools. - Utah.com
Info on national parks, outdoor activities, and travel services. - Visit Salt Lake
Local events, attractions, and travel logistics in Salt Lake City.
🏕️ Parks & Outdoor Recreation
- National Parks in Utah (NPS)
Official pages for Zion, Bryce, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands. - Utah State Parks
Park guides, updates, and recreational options. - Reserve Utah State Parks
Online reservations for campsites and day-use areas.
🚗 Road & Travel Conditions
- UDOT Traffic
Live updates on traffic, road work, and closures. - Utah Road Conditions & Safety
Weather advisories, driving tips, and seasonal road guidance.
🏔️ National Parks & Monuments
- Zion National Park
Maps, trail conditions, and shuttle info. - Capitol Reef National Park
Visitor guides, scenic drives, and geology highlights. - The Mighty 5
Explore all five national parks in one guide.
🏙️ City & Regional Guides
- Salt Lake City Travel Guide
Local attractions, neighborhoods, and itineraries. - SLC Travel Info
Maps, brochures, and visitor services for Salt Lake City.
🚌 Transit & Getting Around
- Utah Transit Authority (UTA)
Light rail, bus routes, fares, and service alerts.
🍀
