Things to Do in South Jordan

On Friday the 13th of July, Go Tri sponsors its annual series of nighttime races with routes wending paths between local landmarks such as the Eagle Mountain City Center, Nolan Park, and the scenic Ranches neighborhood. Donning glow-in-the-dark outfits to increase visibility, without carrying a night light on a transatlantic extension cord, runners can dart through the half marathon, adopt a casual pace during the 5K, or go stride-in-little-stride with youngsters during a short fun run that ends at Nolan Park’s splash pad. At the finish line of each race, participants can cool down and refuel on complimentary snacks, while prizes honor the fastest and most festively dressed runners.

The 18-hole course at TalonsCove Golf Club hugs the northwest rim of Utah Lake, leading golfers on a shamrock-shaded jaunt backdropped by the craggy skyline formed by the Timpanogos Mountain. Architect Gene Bates designed the course in a links-style format, the ancient design scheme that features numerous deep bunkers, frustratingly high rough, and few trees bent on blocking flight paths and asking for group pictures right before an important shot.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Total length of 7,096 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 72.5 from the back tees
• Course slope of 127 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard

At Bad Lands Bow Hunters' indoor range, archers take their place in one of 12 lanes and send arrows flying at moving targets up to 40 yards away. Bowmen and women nock their arrows on the bowstring and point them downrange at targets shaped like deer and turkeys hiding among the trees. At one station, archers walk up several steps onto a wooden platform that mimics outdoor shots attempted from an elevated tree stand or a public pool’s diving board.

A waterfall cascades over a towering cliff. A few acres away, hundreds of thousands of tulips sway in the desert breeze where hay and barley once grew. Originally a dairy farm, the 55-acre Thanksgiving Point has bloomed into a museum complex and attraction with one-of-a-kind experiences, shopping, dining, and seasonal festivals. In Thanksgiving Point Gardens, trees and shrubs form divisions between 15 themed gardens modeled after a country estate, 13 acres of turf grass, and a 4,000-seat amphitheater beside a manmade waterfall—all of which flourish under the hands of 26 gardeners. Gardeners feed their plots using an intricate water-reclamation system, which harvests millions of gallons of runoff water and lizards' tears annually to transform the desert landscape into an assembly of global ecosystems.

The outdoor park is also home to Farm Country, a working farm where goats, pigs, and draft horses mingle with peacocks and wildlife photographers disguised as ostriches. Visitors delve into farm culture as they pet and feed the animals, ride ponies, and look in on the process of bottling milk. The Museum of Ancient Life explores life long before agriculture, exhibiting 60 complete dinosaur skeletons to a soundtrack of gurgling steams, insect chirps, and one jazz saxophonist. The museum also contains more than 50 interactive exhibits, including a simulated fossil dig.

Claiming to be the nation’s largest paragliding and speed-flying facility, Cloud 9 Toys touts its complete repair loft and lessons held seven days of the week year-round. The facility also stocks a variety of flying gadgets and equipment and imports a variety of international brands of paragliding equipment, which it then distributes to more than 40 flying schools across the country. But above all, the facility sees itself as a big toy store, providing big kids with playthings such as kite tricycles, pogo sticks, and mountain unicycles.