Sights & Attractions in North of Salt Lake City

Via two mountain ranges, Mother Nature has neatly divided northern Utah into three major sightseeing areas, each with its own attractions. Heading north up I-15 from Ogden (or, if you're in no hurry, up U.S. 89, where you'll find plenty of farm stands), you'll come upon the Golden Spike Empire. Pleasant farmlands in the shadow of the Wellsvilles give way to rolling sagebrush-covered hills and eventually the desolate salt flats of the Great Salt Lake. After a visit to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the Golden Spike National Historic Site, cut east through the Wellsvilles to Logan and the Cache Valley, soaking up the rural scenery along the way. You'll want to devote a day or two to the thriving college town of Logan, including a visit to the campus of Utah State University with its student-run anthropology museum that will give you a feel for the area's earliest inhabitants, and a stop at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum downtown. About an hour up winding U.S. 89 through spectacular Logan Canyon—a destination in itself—you'll get your first view of startlingly turquoise-color Bear Lake, where the mountain men used to rendezvous. Carefully descend the hairpin curves into the Bear Lake Valley, and plop yourself down for a raspberry shake at one of the local drive-ins as you ponder your next activity—most likely swimming, boating, or fishing the lake's cool waters, or perhaps biking its shoreline. From here, it's just a few hours—about 300 mi—to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park—but that's another guidebook. If you head back toward Salt Lake City, take at least a couple of hours to recharge yourself at Crystal Hot Springs at Honeyville.