What to do and see in Utah, United States: The Best Specialty Museums

October 14, 2021 Timmy Ribble

Welcome to “The Greatest Snow on Earth” – Utah’s paradise for all outdoor enthusiasts! As host of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Park City knows how to entertain winter fun seekers. Snowboarders and skiers head for miles of spectacular slopes with deep fluffy powder and breathtaking mountain views. The Olympic Park provides family-friendly ski programs, rides and shows. Alta, Sundance, Snowbird and Brighton are other popular destinations for cross country and Alpine skiers. Those alluring snowy slopes turn to rolling wildflower fields in the summer. Golfing, fishing, horseback riding and water sports replace chilly outdoor sports adventures. Corral the family, pack a picnic and catch one of the ski lifts for an afternoon of hiking or mountain biking along scenic trails. Head to Salt Lake City, where Temple Square hosts millions of visitors a year. Bryce Canyon and Arches National Park are famous for surreal landscapes from horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters to unusual rock formations and hundreds of natural sandstone arches. Closer to home, wander along the quaint main streets of mountain villages to browse, shop and enjoy lunch at an outdoor café. At the end of the day, head home for an outdoor barbecue and an evening of games. Home rentals blend privacy, space and comfort with the cost-saving advantage of eating some meals at home.
Restaurants in Utah

1. Land Cruiser Heritage Museum

470 West 600 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 +1 505-615-5470 [email protected] http://landcruiserhm.com
Excellent
98%
Good
2%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 52 reviews

Land Cruiser Heritage Museum

The mission of the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum is to preserve and celebrate the history of one of the world's greatest vehicles, the Toyota Land Cruiser. See over 90 models of Land Cruisers from countries around the world, including the first Land Cruiser imported to the U.S. and the one that drove on all seven continents.

Reviewed By H7800JNdavidw - Winnipeg, Canada

Just visited the land cruiser museum. It is an amazing collection and the staff are friendly and helpful. Great gift shop too! This is a must visit spot for anyone with an interest in cruisers, so many unique vehicles.

2. Church History Museum

45 N West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-9006 +1 801-240-3310 http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/museum
Excellent
68%
Good
24%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 352 reviews

Church History Museum

Museum detailing the history of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Reviewed By tallred6 - Midvale, United States

We saw the great exhibition space devoted to the first voting women in the country in February--such a great opportunity to see how far we've come!

3. Pioneer Memorial Museum

300 N Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1632 +1 801-532-6479 [email protected] http://www.dupinternational.org/
Excellent
56%
Good
32%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
1%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 151 reviews

Pioneer Memorial Museum

Museum containing memorabilia from the age of the American pioneers.

Reviewed By jcromero27

This was my wife and I’s first trip to Salt Lake City and we wanted to find a nice museum with significant local historic value. After reading reviews of several museums in the area, we decided to visit this Pioneer Museum. We are very glad we did. First, the location is very nice, it is located right across the street from the Capital Building, so once you finish your walk-through of the museum, you can enjoy a nice walk around the Capital. Astonishingly, this museum is free to visit. It is more and more rare to find decent free museums. The staff at the front door were very pleasant and gave a very good description of the museums layout prior to our adventuring through the three floors and an addition wing of artifacts. All the items in the museum were specific to the area and were in great condition. If you enjoy historic pieces, I would highly recommend stopping by this museum for a couple of hours while you are in Salt Lake City.

4. Frontier Homestead State Park Museum

635 N Main St, Cedar City, UT 84721-6179 +1 435-586-9290 [email protected] http://frontierhomestead.org/
Excellent
59%
Good
35%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 184 reviews

Frontier Homestead State Park Museum

Discover the pioneer and early industrial history of Cedar City, Iron County, and southwest Utah through an extensive horse-drawn wagon collection, historic buildings, Paiute native camp, sawmill and replica blast furnace. Enjoy many hands-on activities and interpretive programs throughout the year, including Sheep-to-Shawl, Archaeology Day, Iron Mission Days, cemetery tours, and Christmas at the Homestead.

Reviewed By GirlMarley - Colorado Springs, United States

Did not plan to go to this museum but since it is located directly across from the Visitors Center, we meandered over to check it out. It is much larger than it appears from the front having several pieces of equipment including old horse drawn carriages on the back grounds as well as antique farming equipment and a cabin and house. The interior houses vintage cars and carriages and lots of interesting information about the area as well as old pictures of the former days...lots of snow back then. We had to rush through having only one hour before it closed. Had we not been leaving the next day we would definitely have come back to take a better look.

5. Hill Aerospace Museum

7961 Wardleigh Rd, Building 1955 Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, UT 84056-5842 +1 801-825-5817 [email protected] http://www.aerospaceutah.org
Excellent
75%
Good
21%
Satisfactory
3%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 705 reviews

Hill Aerospace Museum

Hill Aerospace Museum is located on approximately 30 acres of the northwest corner of Hill Air Force Base, five miles south of Ogden, Utah. The Museum, which opened in 1986, was founded in 1981 as a part of the United States Air Force Heritage Program. The Utah Museum hosted its five millionth visitor in the fall of 2019. More than 360,000 visitors, coming from every state and from many foreign countries, visited the museum in 2019. Not only does the Museum have close to 100 aircraft displayed in its two inside galleries and outside air park, it exhibits thousands of artifacts depicting the history of aviation of the United States Air Force, Hill Air Force Base and the State of Utah. Hill Aerospace Museum also has a STEM Education program housed in the Lt. General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education. FREE ADMISSION! FREE ADMISSION!

Reviewed By mcanultyc - Butte, United States

Today was our first ever visit to this museum and we were absolutely thankful we found it!! The displays of military planes were wonderful and informative. The volunteers were great with some wonderful historical knowledge of facts about the military planes in the museum. The gift shop had a wonderful variety of items to purchase from toy planes to clothing. Highly recommend this place for families and aviation fans, especially when you’re able to enjoy everything at no cost!!!

6. Utah State Railroad Museum

2501 Wall Ave, Ogden, UT 84401-1359 +1 801-629-8446 http://theunionstation.org/museums/utah-state-railroad-museum
Excellent
63%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 111 reviews

Utah State Railroad Museum

Reviewed By backpacker31 - Boynton Beach, United States

I’ve traveled to numerous places in the West where railway heritage is a part of the culture. In these places, I’ve visited museums that tell the history of the railroad. The museum here, at the Union Station, is great! A comprehensive timeline illustrates the trials and tribulations of creating/undertaking such an enormous project. I quite enjoyed all of the local stories such as the fascinating Ogden-Lucin line over the Great Salt Lake with its unique station/community. The original safe that held the Golden Spike is most unique. The model rail exhibit is fantastic - sure to appeal to children of ALL ages! Be sure to check out the real (big) trains on display outside - especially the monstrous snow plow train.

7. Thanksgiving Point

3003 N Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, UT 84043-3740 +1 801-768-2300 [email protected] http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/
Excellent
62%
Good
26%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
3%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 461 reviews

Thanksgiving Point

Thanksgiving Point offers an array of different activities including the 55-acre gardens Ashton Gardens, Butterfly Biosphere insect zoo and butterfly conservatory, Museum of Natural Curiosity, Museum of Ancient Life, Mammoth Screen 3D theater, Water Tower Plaza, Harvest Restaurant, Farm Country and a 18-hole golf course.

Reviewed By charis44 - Rochester, United States

We got the passes that gave us entry to all the museums. We made it to Farm Country, the Butterfly Biosphere, Museum of Ancient Life, and Museum of Natural Curiosity. Our kids, ages, 14, 12, 9, 9, 9, all said it was the best day of our family vacation, which is high praise since we also did Lagoon and Hogle Zoo in the last few days! Each museum was just the right size to enjoy without being overwhelmed. The Museum of Ancient Life (Dinosaur Museum) had world class exhibits. My 14 year old was engaged the entire time. Definitely worth the $!

8. Moab Film Museum

Red Cliffs Lodge Mile Post 14 Highway 28, Moab, UT 84532 +1 435-259-2002 [email protected] http://www.redcliffslodge.com/museum/
Excellent
49%
Good
38%
Satisfactory
12%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 237 reviews

Moab Film Museum

Film museum containing exhibits about films (mostly Westerns) shot in Moab.

Reviewed By 359td - Philadelphia, United States

We stayed at the Red Cliff Lodge, so we stopped by the Moab Film museum to check it out. It’s right next to the reception. Didn’t know that many movies were filmed in Moab. There was a movie about the filming industry and some memorabilia - great museum if you have 30 min - 1 hour to spend.

9. Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum

145 N 100 E, St. George, UT 84770-2832 +1 435-628-7274 http://www.dupstgeorge.org
Excellent
59%
Good
20%
Satisfactory
17%
Poor
1%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 69 reviews

Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum

Pioneer Museum showcasing Washington County Pioneer Settlers with photos, artifacts and written histories.

Reviewed By colleenh280

This museum is a treasure trove of information, artifacts, photographs, and antiques from the Pioneer time frame. It isn't a busy place--which is really too bad--and is a terrific place to learn about the settlers and history of the southern Utah area.

10. Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum

155 E Main St, Price, UT 84501-3033 +1 800-817-9949 [email protected] http://usueastern.edu/museum/
Excellent
67%
Good
29%
Satisfactory
3%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 143 reviews

Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum

This museum has a Hall of Archaeology, and a Hall of Paleontology as well as a delightful Discovery Area where children can dig for dinosaur bones , play in a pithouse or choose from many games, puppets and printed materials. The museum's Observation Labs enable the visitor to view the "behind the scenes" processes and speak one-on-one with a preparator. LIVE feedings of the museum "critters", an alligator, soft-shelled turtle and a monitor lizard takes place every Friday promptly at 4:00 pm. (General admission fees apply).

Reviewed By msp60 - Zwolle, The Netherlands

This museum has a high level collection on paleontology and native american finds. The displays are excellent and a joy for the visitor. We've been to similar musea in Denver, Salt Lake City and Bozeman to name a few. This museum in Price is a gem that is only limited by it size. We heard they only can show a part of their collection. We would love to see more. This was our third visit to this museum and we were glad we made it going up from Moab to Salt Lake City.

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