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Travel Tips for Utah
How to Reach Utah
One of the cheapest and recommended ways of reaching Utah is to take a flight from India to Utah. If you’re flying from New Delhi, then it takes about 19 hours to fly to Salt Lake City with transfers of up to 2-2 ½ hours. There are no direct flights to Utah (Salt Lake City Airport) and the fastest flight takes about 19 hours and 11 minutes with one stopover. Flights operating between India and Utah include United Airlines, KLM, Delta, Air France, & Air India. Alternatively, you can fly to Las Vegas, St George, Cedar City, or Provo and then make the onward journey by bus to Utah. The average flight fare cost ranged between Rs. 75,000-1,50,000. There are bus services with Salt Lake Express with hourly frequency at an estimated fare of Rs. 1,700-3.200 for easy travels. For more details, you can visit their website Saltlakeexpress.com
Best Things to Do in Utah
Whether you plan to visit Utah in its entirety or just pass through, there’s enough and more to explore! From revelling in Utah’s gorgeous yet a mishmash of landscapes, jutting spires, round white domes or non-coastal tropical reef, to cruising along the water-pocket fold, there’s the Capitol Reef National Park that’s worth every penny you spend reaching here. The Bonneville Speed Week is a week of racing events that have been ongoing since 1912 among some of the most beautiful landscapes in Utah and worth exploring and enjoying. Stargazing a popular tourist activity that’s on from April through September and a lovely way to spend a romantic evening with your loved one. From Mid-March to late December, enjoy the Island in the Sky which gives you an illusion of floating on a gigantic island over the rivers and Grand Canyon. Don’t miss out on visiting the Potash Evaporation Ponds, Hiking the Narrows between May through September and Ballooning over the Monument Valley. Some other captivating activities to indulge in Utah include – scenic drives, visiting the orchards, witnessing the sunrise, skiing and snowboarding, attending summer concerts, exploring the wilderness, hiking, trekking, rafting, bird watching, sailing, etc.
Best Time to Visit Utah
The ideal time to visit Utah is from early May through July, the first week of August through October. With the average temperature here varying incredibly, the humidity makes the temperature comparatively cooler for about ½ part of the year with fewer chances of rain or snowfall. Utah’s hottest in June, July and August, with the highest temperature in June at 35°C and minimum at 16°C. From a tourism perspective, Utah’s busiest from June-August and flights/accommodation is expensive during this time. Incoming tourist traffic’s quite dull in December. Utah experiences spring in March-May which makes it relatively cold, owing to the combined levels of temperatures & humidity and this is also the second time of the year when tourism’s at its peak. The summer months of June-August are comfortable with, warm temperatures and are also the busiest time from a tourism standpoint. Fall and winter seasons vary from chilly-really cold slowing down tourism a great deal. The average temperatures oscillate between 30°C-8°C in the fall and 9°C-1°C in winter.
Popular Tourist Attractions in Utah
Cedar Breaks
An American National Landmark, situated in Utah near Cedar City, Cedar Breaks is a natural Showground that spans nearly 5km with a depth of over 610m, about 10,000ft above the sea level. A natural colosseum, Cedar Breaks is a leading tourist destination in a series of Southwestern Parks, that’s settled in the trim and fir woodlands in Utah’s high country, less crowded and with a relatively cool climate. Here, you will find summits and hoodoos cascading down the collapsing limestones. It is said that the early inhabitants mistook the Juniper trees as Cedar Trees and termed the badlands as breaks, which resulted in Cedar Breaks. Depending on what time of the year you visit Cedar Breaks, there is an assortment of activities to choose from. For instance, in summer, the amphitheatre’s encompassed with flowery meadows, for which an annual festival highlights the gorgeous blooms, while at night a ranger-led ‘party under the stars’ honour the clear dark skies. During winter, the place is no less a white paradise where you can engage in cross country skiing, snowmobile and Snowshoeing.
Natural Bridges
Declared a national monument in 1908, the Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah is located 42 miles west of Blanding and has been cut into 3 glorious natural bridges which now have Hopi Indian Names - Sipapu, Kachina and Owachomo, inherited their names from the Puebloans, who once lived here. 300 years after their ancestors left, the farmers came back and built their homes again with mud-packed sticks and sandstone brickwork in the recesses of the cliffs and on the Mesa tops, where water could easily be accessible from the seep springs. These magnificent rock bridges span a 9-mile picturesque drive brimming with canyons, with moderate to challenging trails and a mix of metal stairs, while a long trail shadows the riverbed beneath the bridges. The site has world’s least polluted night skies and the visitor centre that’s open to tourists from October through March from 8 am to 5 pm and to 6 pm from April through September, exhibits informational displays of the area and details of the Bridge View Drive.
Hovenweep
A mix of 6 prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan villages, that was once home to over 2,500 people the Hovenweep National Monument is known to have been built from 1200-1300 AD and has a variety of multistory towers atop canyon rims that are steadily sitting on boulders. The construct and immaculate craftsmanship will leave you captivated. Situated on land in the Southwestern Colorado and Utah, Hovenweep National Monument has shallow rivers running through deep and wide canyons into the San Juan River. The six clusters of the monument include the Cajon Group, which is structured like the Hackberry, Holly & Horseshoe configuration with a group of room blocks & tower ruins that could have housed 80-100 people; the Cutthroat Castle Group, a branch of the Hovenweep Canyon & one of the largest ruins; the Holly Group atop the Keeley Canyon; the Goodman Point Group which is the easternmost hamlet; The Hackberry & Horsehoe Group and the Square Tower Group.
Dinosaur
The Dinosaur National Monument’s Utah’s northeastern legacy of Dinosaur’s come alive with a mix of climatic and geological wonders that disclose a fossil treasure at the Utah-Colorado border. For a guided tour of the quarry to driving around the park to hiking the nature trails to whitewater river rafting expeditions to backpacking, bird watching, biking, photography or fishing, there’s so much to do here. It is also good for some quiet reflection and an ideal place to breathe in fresh air! The park is also rich with incredible dark skies at the International Dark Sky Park, which is the best place to gaze at the stars and connect with the landmark’s primeval foundation. Explore an outdoor adventure for its magnificent ancient past, become familiar with its Paleontology gems and enjoy the adventure at the Dinosaur National Monument abundant with its rugged & arid backcountry, gorgeous trails and rivers.
Grand Staircase-Escalante
A remarkable biological resource that spans over 5 life zones that include low-lying deserts to coniferous forestry, the Grand Staircase-Escalante is spread over a million acres of USA’s public land with 3 distinct features – Escalante Canyon, Grand Staircase and Kaiparowits. Deep within this huge landscape, the monument is speckled with slot canyons, arches, natural bridges, monoliths and rugged panorama, and is also one of the last sights to have been mapped in the continental U.S. The size, remote features and resources of the monument provide an extraordinary platform for people from all walks of life and knowledge base to research, learn and explore this pristine marvel, as also enjoy some calm and tranquillity. Some of the best ways to enjoy visiting this gorgeous monument include a leisurely tour of the Old Southwest, Grand Circle, Hiking in Kanab, a Helicopter tour of Arizona Desert that includes the Tower Butte landing, and more.
Zion National Park
About 3 hours from Las Vegas, the Zion National Park has to offer some incredible picturesque sights full of beautiful vistas, red rock cliffs and water cascades, with some of the most impressive sights in Zion Canyon through the valley floor. Mostly known as a vertical park given its sheer walls that stand upright, Zion’s a hiker’s haven with some of the most renowned hikes being off the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway with a blend of simple trails, Cliffside treks and more. Zion National Park’s open for visitors throughout the year with ample information to help you find your way around it. During the spring and fall seasons the park’s operational between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm, while in summer and winter, it is open from 8 am to 8 pm and 5 pm respectively. There are some popular hikes conducted here, which include Angels Landing, Emerald Pools and Observation Point.
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Areas
A popular tourist attraction in Utah, the Flaming Gorge Reservoir is a huge lake that provides an incredible opportunity to ski, boat, fish, jet ski, houseboat or indulge in other water sport activities. With 3 complete serviced marinas that offer both maintenance and storage amenities, the basin surface water’s cooler even in the harsh summer heat and is renowned for its trophy trout, which is on account of excellent habitat conditions. Fishing here is also very good for brown trout, smallmouth bass, rainbows and Kokanee salmon. With a capacity of over 3,788,900 acre-feet, the reservoir extends to about 42,020 acres. It has varied leisure activities like parasailing, rafting, swimming, camping, etc and enough space for camping and hiking as well. Trails are winding through meadows, mountain peaks atop the timberline and tree encompassed slopes. The forestry is abundant with evergreen trees, junipers and pinyon pines that are placed right down through to the clear reservoir waters.
Glen Canyon
Spanning over 1.25 million acres, the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is all about providing unique opportunities to explore the backcountry and water-centric recreation activities, right from Lees Ferry, Arizona to Southern Utah’s Orange Cliffs and includes picturesque views of geologic marvels, a beautiful view of ancient history as well as scenic landscapes. With over 10,000 years of human history at its backdrop, the tourist site is known for several successive communities with opportunities to explore cultural values and companionship that are both historic and modern. The 15-mile deep, narrow ravine below the dam provides a peek into the high canyon walls, an indication of beach terrace ambience and riparian environment, ancient wall art and more. The rainbow bridge here is amongst the largest natural channels in the world and a glowing example of unusual stream erosion in the remote corners of the Colorado Plateau. Some other tourist attractions included in the premise of the Glen Canyon include the Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and the Rainbow Bridge National Monument.
Monument Valley
Known as one of the most iconic landmarks in the United States of America, the Monument Valley is home to gigantic sandstones as high as 1,000ft. Renowned as the valley of rocks, the Monument Valley is situated at the Arizona-Utah Border and encompasses a large part of the area neighbouring the Navajo Tribal Park, Monument Valley. With a mix of massive mesas, sandstone foothills and panoramic landscapes, you can simply drive through the 17-mile dirt road, but then you’d miss out on all the other interesting things to do here! This dessert spot’s popular for outdoor activities like horse riding, jeep safaris and hiking with guided tours and makes for a memorable experience, soaked in a rich Native American culture and Old Western Past. Other noteworthy landmarks include the 3 Sisters, Mitten Buttes, the renowned Totem Pole – a 500 high dart that looms over the neighbouring dunes, North Window and Yei-bi-chi. Don’t miss witnessing the sunrise over the Monument Valley, where the shadows of the early morning highlight the silhouettes of the canyon landscape.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City is known to be laid back just like Seattle, just exceptionally sunny, at least for 5 days in a week. With a contemporary setting of restaurants like NYC, theatres and more, Salt Lake is situated about 4,300 ft up on a mountain bowl with access to different adventure amenities like world-class ski-resorts, hiking trails, biking facilities, camping & trekking opportunities on a stretch of slanty canyons, a lake on the west end for floating, fishing and boating. Adventure enthusiasts can expect to see four ski resorts, 3 freeways and 12 apostles and 4 pro-sports teams and golf as well. Also, there’s an assortment of indoor activities that include a concert venue for capacity of 20-20,000 people, eateries featuring cuisines from across the globe, art houses, theatres, museum, malls, sports stadiums and more! Salt Lake is also known for its trending nightlife.
Bonus Tips: Where to Eat & Shop in Utah
In addition to its gorgeous and captivating tourist attractions, Utah has amazing and delectable food as well.
- Mouth-Watering Delights – The scones in Utah are like fry breads with a bit of honey butter on them, while the succulent and sweet bear lake raspberries are known for the best! The Fernwood Mint sandwiches are quite popular, especially during Christmas while the Pastrami Burgers are a treat everywhere. Utah Milkshakes are creamier than most and its best to go at them with a spoon! The Dutch Oven Dinners are the official cooking pot in Utah, while their tomatoes, corn and green river melons are equally popular.
- Best Restaurants – Utah is home to delicious fares and iconic foods that range from best hot dogs to brunches to the best bars and craft beers. The Celebrity Chef Cat Cora Kitchen at the Salt Lake City Airport is known for its organic offerings and cocktails. The rooftop restaurant is known for its fine dining, dinner buffet. The Soup Kitchen in Utah is known for serving the best soup since 1976 every day using tried and tested recipes with some of its best sellers being, cream of tomato, chicken noodle, broccoli & cheddar cheese. The best sandwiches come from Tony Caputo’s Market & Deli, while Penny Ann’s Café is good for breakfast. You will get drool-worthy pizzas at Settebello, pancakes at Stacked-Logan, Mexican at Red Iguana and Italian at Valter’s Osteria.
- Retail Central – Salt Lake City’s shopping escapades include specialities that vary from high-end commodities to wool items, Utah art pieces, chocolates, rocks, British edibles and other delectable goodies. Salt Lake City’s heart of retail lies in the City Creek Center that offers a blend of premium retail stores, unique2market brands, a variety of shopping and dining options. Its retractable glass roof is a tourist’s delight to see and unique to any other shopping place in the US. There’s a walker’s sky bridge that joins the shopping centre on 2 city blocks and includes water features like the fish pond, water cascades and America’s First Credit Union fountains with special and hourly shows, choreographed to songs and blended fire elements for shows post dusk.
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Get the Tastier Side of Utah, Travel!
Utah, nicknamed “Beehive State”, it offers some of the most attractive and spectacular views. Utah has long been known for its natural wonders and adventurous activities, but it's time to get to know the more pleasant side of Utah travel. The nightlife of Utah is getting better with entertainment with each passing day. People can enjoy a party in the high-end cocktail bars, nightclubs, theatre, and concerts to enjoy the vibrant nightlife of Utah. Groove to the smooth sounds of jazz and blues, or rock n’ roll the night away. You can even relax with a friendly game of pool, a beer and a movie, or watching sports on the big screen.