Welcome to Utah

Utah has five National Parks. Visitors and residents have many choices for outdoor exploration, thanks to five large and notable National Parks, including Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef. The surreal landscapes in these parks are otherworldly, with jagged red cliffs, water-worn massive boulders, and vast canyons.

It’s the Beehive State, but not because of bees. Utah’s nickname has nothing to do with honeybees, but rather is a reference to the hardworking nature of early residents. Beehive imagery is all over the state.

You can find the largest open-pit mine in Utah. The Bingham Copper Mine, also known as the Kennecott Mine, southwest of South Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, is 0.6 miles deep and 2.5 miles wide, covering an area of three square miles.

Utah has a lot of familiar Wild West settings. Other than Hollywood, more Western movies and television shows have been filmed in Utah. Next time you watch a cowboy flick, take a good look — you are most likely viewing the natural scenery of Utah. And, the film industry in Utah is not limited to Westerns. The state has its own film tour, which features filming locations for “Back to the Future III,” “Independence Day,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and two installments of the “Halloween” franchise.

Sundance is an international film showcase. When it comes to movies, Utah is probably most famous for its Sundance Film Festival, held at the end of January each year in Park City and Salt Lake City. Actor Robert Redford’s film production company began the festival in 1978. At first, it was an initiative to spotlight American filmmaking, and encourage filming in Utah, but has grown to be a showcase for international film.

Utah food is rich, diverse, and unique. For those unfamiliar with the state, Utah probably doesn’t jump to mind as a culinary destination. But, it’s thick shakes, funeral potatoes (sort of like mega-sized super flavorful tater tots) Navajo tacos (like the Tex-Mex classic, but with fry-bread instead of a tortilla.) make Utah a unique culinary environment worth exploring. Also, Jello is popular to the point of parody.

Crown Burger. Many regions in the United States have their favorite burger joints, and in the Salt Lake City area, the king of ground beef on a bun is Crown Burger. These aren’t just your regular hamburgers, with a famed pastrami burger and a menu full of Greek food alongside classic American fare.

Winter sports abound. Even with vast deserts, the mountain areas of Utah are famed for skiing, with annual snowfall reaching ridiculous levels. During the 2018-2019 skiing season, Alta Ski Area alone received 626 inches of snow, with fresh powder on 91 separate days. Winter sports are so popular in the state that it hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Utah sports. While outdoor sports such as hiking and skiing are popular state-wide, so too are the Utah Jazz basketball and Utes college football. Other popular sports include minor teams such as Grizzlies hockey and the Salt Lake Bees baseball teams.

The Great Salt Lake. Of course, Utah is also well-known for the Great Salt Lake, the largest lake west of the Mississippi, and the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere. While lake dimension change due to water flows and evaporation, the lake is typically larger than Rhode Island and Delaware. However, the lake is not especially deep, with an average depth of 14 feet.