The Westerner Club has been Salt Lake City's favorite party destination ever since it was established in 1962. With a running western/cowboy theme, this club offers wild mechanical bull rides for free, stetson-wearing waitstaff, a room dedicated entirely to karaoke, free pool tables and complimentary dance lessons to whoever wants to learn. If you're still not convinced about how cool the club really is, you should know that the patio has fire pits and club has the largest dance floor in all of Utah, so everybody can groove. To fuel all the fun, there is an American bar menu replete with wings, burgers, sammies and chips.
A teeming nature preserve in Salt Lake County, this serene park rests along the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake. Sheltering a sprawling marina, the Great Salt Lake State Park began operations in 1978, and has been popular with bathers since the Mormon Pioneers first arrived in the middle of the 19th century. A small visitors' center offers a museum, local information and a video about the lake, while the private SaltAir development provides a few shops, food outlets, and space for events. A breeding ground for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, the park is sheathed in extensive wetlands, and has been a popular site with birders.
The largest and most central property of the city's public park system, this 80 acre Liberty Park offers recreational activities for all. Children applaud the Children's Garden and boating pond, playground, amusement park and snack bar. Older visitors enjoy the swimming pool and the tennis park's 16 lighted courts. Recent developments have added a well-conceived interactive map that uses pools and fountains to depict the topography of Utah. Liberty Park is also home to the ever-popular Tracy Aviary, the Chase Mill and the Chase Home Museum of Folk Art.
This Roman Catholic cathedral stands majestically near the avenues in Salt Lake City. The building was renovated in 1990. The Romanesque facade, with gargoyles and stained glass, invites visitors to enter its Gothic Revival chambers within. The Eccles organ welcomes all with its reeds and diapasons booming their robust tones. The clergy holds Mass regularly.
Selected as the spot for the epic Mormon Temple by Brigham Young himself, the iconic Temple Square is the religious locus of Salt Lake City. A stirring mosaic of history, religion, architecture and sophisticated gastronomy, the historic Temple Square invokes an ethereal picture further riddled with the nuances of the art, theater and culture. Ever since it was first built, Temple Square has been the headquarters of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, containing not only the Salt Lake Temple but the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Family History Library and the Assembly Hall as well. This revered downtown expanse is laced by a tapestry of shops, restaurants, parks, gardens and an array of other historical sites. The elaborate South Visitors' Center illustrates the history of the temple whereas the North Visitors' Center is home to a scaling statue of Christ, called 'The Christus'.
The Natural History Museum of Utah lets you embark on a journey into the natural world offering extensive collections of biological, archaeological and anthropological documentation, archives and articles. It also offers exhibits specific to the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau and is a center for information on a variety of subjects. Located at the University of Utah, the Museum is educational as well as entertaining for adults and children alike with impressive, interactive displays. Their biology collection includes more than 300,000 species of mammals, vertebrates, birds, insects as well as seeds while the geological collection boasts of more than 50,000 minerals, rocks and fossils. These collections are carefully exhibited in the Cooper Hall of Anthropology, Earth science galleries, Norton Hall of Minerals, Life science halls and the Dumke Gallery. In addition, the museum is an address to the fascinating Quinney Dinosaur Discovery Hall. Special statewide outreach programs include curriculum kits for teachers, field trips, guided tours and natural history classes.
The Ski Utah Ski and Snowboard Association offers this action packed tour for advanced skiers. The eight hour Ski Utah Interconnect Adventure Tour starts in Park City and travels the Wasatch backcountry, requiring some walking, ski traversing, downhill skiing and advanced skiing in a variety of terrain and snow conditions. Downhill skiing includes runs at up to five of the area's resorts. Tour costs include a backcountry lunch, ski passes for each of the resorts, the services of expert guides, and transportation back to Park City. Reservations are required.
This unique gallery in downtown Salt Lake City is a part of Very Special Arts Utah, and features seven to nine exhibits each year. These exhibits focus mainly on works by artists with disabilities. Most of the artwork relates to social issues, children's pieces, or work by artists who grew up in under-served or underdeveloped communities. Art Access Gallery is one of very few of its kind and lies near several other art galleries in Salt Lake, making it a convenient stop along your gallery stroll.
Founded in 1991, this award-winning theater company produces unique shows with a theme centered on social awareness. The company, in collaboration with Meat & Potato Theatre, features a lab for aspiring playwrights with its Script-in-Hand series.