29 Best Sights in Northern Utah, Utah

Eight miles wide and 20 miles long, Bear Lake is an unusually radiant shade of blue, thanks to limestone particles suspended in the water. The Utah half of the lake is a state park. Along the south shore of Bear Lake, Highway 30 traces an old route used by Native Americans, mountain men, and settlers following the Oregon Trail. Harsh winters persuaded most settlers to move on before the first snows, but hardy Mormon pioneers settled in the area and founded Garden City. From town you can stroll along a ¼-mile boardwalk through a small wetlands preserve to the lakeshore, and there's a large marina just to the north. The park operates a few other recreation areas along other parts of the shore, including Rendezvous Beach to the south, which has a marina and burger stand, and Cisco Beach on the lake's quieter eastern shore, where the lake bottom drops off quickly, making it a favorite spot among anglers and scuba divers. The lake is home to four species of fish found nowhere else, including the Bonneville cisco, which draws anglers during the January spawning season.

Established in 1928 to conserve the Bear River habitat for migratory waterfowl and wildlife, this 80,000-acre U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge is just west of Brigham City. You can observe wildlife along a 12-mile driving route and 1½ miles of walking trails, with ducks, geese, pelicans, herons, swans, shore birds, and more than 200 other kinds of birds arriving in various seasons. The Wildlife Education Center contains interactive displays and observation decks.

This 5-acre park near the mouth of Ogden Canyon is the stomping ground for about 100 life-size dinosaur models and the delighted children who come to see them. A playground with dinosaurs to crawl on appeals to younger kids, and adults can brush up on their geology and paleontology inside two natural history museums. You can watch technicians working with excavated dinosaur bones in the paleontology lab. A particularly good gift shop brims with dinosaur toys and souvenirs.

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met here at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, to celebrate the completion of the first transcontinental rail route. Today, the National Park Service runs the site, which includes a visitor center and two beautifully maintained locomotives that are replicas of the originals that met here for the "wedding of the rails." Every May 10 (and on Saturday and holidays in summer), a reenactment of the driving of the golden spike is held, and throughout summer you can watch the trains in action on demonstration runs a few times a day. You can also walk a 1½-mile trail around the site and drive two scenic auto tour routes that reveal the terrain and engineering feats involved in creating this remote stretch of the rail line. In August, boiler stoking, rail walking, and buffalo-chip throwing test participants' skills at the Railroader's Festival. The Winter Steam Festival around Christmas gives steam buffs opportunities to photograph the locomotives in the cold, when the steam from the smokestacks forms billowing clouds. To get here, it's about a 40-minute drive west from Brigham City and a 90-minute drive north of Salt Lake City.

The centerpiece of downtown Ogden's highly successful renaissance, this broad, lively street with restaurants, bars, and shops set inside handsomely restored 19th-century buildings is a great spot for a stroll any time of day. Historical markers tell the story of the pubs, brothels, and gambling houses that thrived here a century ago, an anomaly in heavily Mormon Utah. The three-block stretch from Union Station to Washington Boulevard is especially vibrant, but the action continues a couple of blocks north to 23rd Street, where you'll find the Salomon Center (an indoor complex of gyms and fitness enterprises that includes a bowling alley, surfing and wakeboarding park, climbing wall, and indoor wind tunnel) and a big multiscreen movie theater at the corner of Kiesel Avenue. As you venture east, beyond Grant Avenue and between 24th and 26th Streets, you'll encounter the rapidly emerging Nine Rails Creative District, a hub of galleries, start-up businesses, and creative endeavors that's anchored around the multiuse Monarch Building ( 455 25th St.), with its art studios and murals.

Although close to Interstate 15 on the north side of the city, this quiet 152-acre center abounds with opportunities to view and interact with nature. It's home to thousands of trees, plus vibrant marshlands and ponds, with nature trails that are popular year-round (cross-country skiers take to them in winter). It's possible to view Canada geese, great blue herons, red foxes, mule deer, and porcupines roaming the grounds (you can get especially good views from a small observatory tower), as well as rescued bald eagles, owls, and other spectacular species. The eco-consciously designed visitor center has interesting exhibits as well as activities for kids, while the education building shows rotating art exhibits and the excellent Nest gift shop sells nature-oriented goods.

This 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide earthen creation that juts in a spiral out into Great Salt Lake was created by artist Robert Smithson in 1970 and is often photographed by passengers in planes flying overhead. The jetty, 16 miles from the Golden Spike site via a dirt road, was submerged for much of the subsequent 30 years, before the lake level fell precipitously in 2002 revealing the structure again. The snail shell–shape land art structure is considered one of the most remote sculptures in modern American art history, and it is Utah's state work of art.

From Logan, U.S. 89 continues for 30 miles up Logan Canyon before topping out at the crest of the Bear River Range (from which it continues another 10 miles to Bear Lake). For a particularly satisfying excursion that leads to awesome hiking and mountain biking, drive the well-signed 7-mile side road to Tony Grove Lake. At more than 8,000 feet, this subalpine jewel is surrounded by cliffs and meadows filled in summer with a stunning profusion of wildflowers. A short trail circles the lake. Mountain bikers and hikers alike can access a prime wilderness area via the 3.3-mile one-way route from the lake to the 9,984-foot summit of Naomi Peak, which offers 80-mile views on clear days. With a gain almost 2,000 feet in elevation, the hike passes through conifer forests and open meadows and along subalpine basins and rocky ledges. A shorter hike to White Pine Lake, which begins on the same trail and splits after a quarter of a mile, is also lovely.

Established in 1888 as a small agricultural school, USU now enrolls around 27,000 students and is an intellectual and technological leader in land, water, space, and life enhancement. The scenic, 400-acre campus is best toured by starting at the historic Old Main administration building east of downtown Logan—look for the bell tower. Inside the building you'll find the Museum of Anthropology, which contains an impressive collection of prehistoric and contemporary Native American artifacts and cultural works. The first Saturday of each month features family-friendly exploration of a specific country through its food, art, crafts, and music. Also worth a stop is the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, which is in a striking contemporary building a few blocks northeast of the campus Quad and contains a permanent collection as well as mounting rotating shows. You can also pick up a map here of sculptures and public art visible throughout the campus.

On U.S. 89/91 en route to Logan from points south, this 160-acre living history museum interprets the Cache Valley's development from 1820 to 1920. At the farm, antique implements are on display, draft horses still pull their weight, pony and train rides entertain the kids, and docents dressed in period clothing demonstrate sheepshearing and carding and offer bison tours. Baby Animal Days is popular in the spring, and the fall corn maze is actually quite challenging. Late July's Pioneer Festival features additional displays and reenactments, along with food booths, cowboy poetry readings, ice-cream making, and concerts.

More than 10,000 objects from Box Elder County's 170-year history tell the story of the area's early settlement and Mormon cooperative periods. This well-designed, modern museum also includes a permanent collection of more than 300 works of art, with several rotating exhibitions throughout the year.

Paying tribute to the golden age of automobiles, this extensive exhibit features almost 60 unique restored cars on display, including a single-cylinder 1901 Oldsmobile and a 16-cylinder Cadillac built in 1930. The 1911 Knox is a highlight. Antique gas pumps, fire engines, and a huge collection of license plates are also on display.

Originally used as a winter camp by the Shoshones, this popular recreation area has one of the world's largest natural hot and cold springs. Mixing water from the two springs allows for a variety of pools with temperatures ranging from 80°F to 105°F. The complex in Honeyville, about 11 miles north of Brigham City, has its own campground, hot tubs, a large soaker pool, a cold freshwater swimming pool, two water slides, and a lap pool.

The lake bottom drops off quickly here making it a favorite spot among anglers and scuba divers. Facilities include a primitive campground and a boat ramp.

Housed in an imposing 1893 Queen Anne mansion with soaring turrets, this vibrant community arts center with a focus on diversity and inclusion presents a permanent collection of works by regional and national artists. There are also rotating shows exhibited throughout the building's public spaces and a sculpture garden with flowers and a stunning fountain. The center also offers a wide range of performing and visual arts classes and special events.

In winter, it's worth taking the picturesque mountain drive about 25 miles east of Logan to Blacksmith Fork Canyon, where the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources feeds 500 to 600 elk during the snowy months. A 20-minute sleigh ride takes you up close to the majestic creatures. Dress warmly in layers. The visitor center is only open December through early February, when tours are offered, but from spring through fall, the area is also popular for hiking and wildlife viewing.

You can view the exteriors of nearly 100 military aircraft dating from the early years of flight to the present at this impressive 30-acre indoor-outdoor museum at the north end of Hill Air Force Base, about 7 miles south of downtown Ogden. There are also missiles, military vehicles, munitions, uniforms, and thousands of other artifacts.

Celebrating the many achievements of inventor John M. Browing, this museum showcases sporting and military firearms, many of which were built by Winchester, Colt, Remington, and others to become the weapons of choice in the Old West before Browning formed his own company. Original models and working prototypes of many of the guns are displayed.

It took Mormon settlers 27 years to build the tabernacle, which they completed in 1891. Today's tabernacle is a venue for concerts and lectures. You can also tour the building or search for information about your family history at the genealogical research facility.

In a handsome barnlike building on the outskirts of the small ski town of Eden, this acclaimed small-batch distillery offers tastings as well as (paid) tours, which include tastings. Known for bourbon, vodka, and barrel-conditioned gin, New World also makes a crisp tequila-like agave spirit and an agave liqueur flavored with Utah tart cherries. Tours are typically offered only on weekends, including some Sundays.

USU's Chase Fine Arts Center includes this impressive art museum. Revolving exhibits of works by locally, nationally, and internationally recognized artists are featured in the galleries with an emphasis on artists living and/or working in the western United States.

This tranquil 11-acre urban oasis set along the Ogden River Parkway is operated by the University of Utah and contains a series of theme gardens—rose, Oriental, water conservation, edible, cottage—connected by a network of meandering paths, some of which flank the river. One garden has been designed for people with mobility challenges, and an arboretum features trees that are ideal for planting beneath powerlines, as they never exceed 25 feet in height. On warm days, the conifer garden is a fragrant spot offering plenty of shade. There are also attractive picnic areas and lawns that invite relaxing.

In downtown Ogden the parkway runs for 3 miles to the mouth of Ogden Canyon. This urban greenway is perfect for fishing, biking, strolling, running, or playing tennis or baseball. The trail takes you past botanical gardens, pavilion facilities, a swimming pool, a skateboard park, the Eccles Dinosaur Park, and rodeo grounds.

In summer, this 2,800-acre lake dotted with several marinas and sandy beaches is festooned with colorful umbrellas and the graceful arcs of water-skiers and wakeboarders. In winter it's a popular spot for ice-fishing. Middle Inlet, Cemetery Point, and Anderson Cove are the three developed beaches, and Anderson Cove also allows overnight camping. The Cove has a boat launch. The beaches at Pineview Trailhead, North Arm, and Spring Creek are free and have restrooms but no other amenities.

Offering a hands-on learning experience where children literally can step into a story, this downtown museum is filled with imaginative interactive exhibits geared generally to those under 12. Visit Jack's Fairy Tale Diner, a Japanese House, the Jupiter Train Locomotive, or the German House Puppet Theater. Other fun activities include songs, theater, and art workshops. Admission is actually slightly higher ($8) for kids than adults.

Incorporating elements from Ogden's original 1870s train depot that was destroyed by a fire in 1923, the impressive Spanish Revival replacement has been developed into a landmark cultural center with two art galleries and four diverse museums. The Browning Firearms Museum celebrates the many achievements of the museum's namesake and showcases the sporting and military firearms that were popular in the Old West before Browning formed his own company. The Browning–Kimball Classic Car Museum pays tribute to the golden age of automobiles with a small but dazzling collection of restored cars from the first half of the 20th century. The Utah State Railroad Museum thrills train enthusiasts with its meandering exhibits detailing all phases of Utah's railroad history; a highlight is the outdoor Eccles Rail Center, which includes half a dozen restored train cars. The smallest museum of the bunch, the Utah Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, features the Utah Cowboy Hall of Fame and honors artists, rodeo champions, entertainers, musicians, ranchers, and writers who have promoted the Western lifestyle. The Myra Powell Gallery mounts monthly photography exhibits, while the Gallery at the Station showcases local art in an enclosed passenger platform.

Union Station's newest museum includes the Utah Cowboy Hall of Fame and features a variety of exhibits honoring artists, rodeo champions, entertainers, musicians, ranchers and writers who have promoted the western lifestyle. As the museum expands it will add books, a research center and memoribilia received from donors.

Train enthusiasts will have a ball at this museum featuring exhibits that detail all phases of Utah's railroad history through displays and interpretive signs. You can also watch model trains run through depictions of the transcontinental railroad route. The high point of the museum is the Eccles Rail Center, an outdoor exhibit containing several dozen restored train cars, locomotives, and cabooses that date from the late 1800s right up to the 2002 Olympic Games cauldron car.