Things To Do in Utah

As standup paddleboarding has grown in popularity around the Salt Lake City area, Bear Lake Water Adventures has grown with it, expanding its collection of water equipment to accommodate those interested in exploring the emerging sport. From their outpost in Garden City, instructors outfit guests with standup paddleboards and kayaks, teaching them how to propel and maneuver their boards from standing, kneeling, or panicked fetal positions. Riders work their cores as they maintain balance, although boards are stable enough for seasoned riders to bring a dog along. Beyond lessons, Bear Lake's team members also rent and sell and standup paddleboards.

Two-Can Fly Paragliding's owner and founder, Ken Hudonjorgensen, has been helping students into the air since 1990. He has flown more than 13,000 times—for more than 4,000 hours in the air—since he began paragliding in 1989. The sport has blossomed since then, and Ken is dedicated to keeping up with trends and helping others safely find their wings so they can finally realize that clouds don't taste like cream cheese. In addition to introductory lessons, Ken helps fliers gain any level of certification; he boasts a Safe Pilot award and the highest single-seater rating of P5. For basic P2 certification, Two-Can Fly Paragliding mandates at least 100 flights to make sure students have the skills down. In addition to one-on-one lessons, Ken leads clinics on more advanced topics, such as mountain flying and tandem paragliding.

Frolicking in a 500,000-gallon wave pool, plummeting from 100-foot free-fall slides, and drifting along a 1,200-foot lazy river with 5 mph currents are just a few of the diversions found within Seven Peaks' net of water parks. The aquatic havens spread across Utah, and Indiana, luring families and adventurous kayakers with forests of twisting water slides such as the Provo location's Boomerang, which sends passengers ricocheting down three stories. Calmer fun awaits at child-friendly areas such as the Salt Lake location's Dinosaur Bay, where toddlers splash and ride small slides, and lazy rivers welcome both whippersnappers and adults hoping to relax.

In addition to its water parks, Seven Peaks manages a fleet of fun centers. Visitors to the Sandy location try for strikes in bowling and guests at the Lehi location enjoy rides on a pirate ship or in bumper boats. The Orem location lets you putt through a glowing, neon mini-golf jungle lit by black lights or whack at the imagined faces of arch-nemeses in the batting cages.

For either seating option, choose from the following games:

Visitors to the Utah Arts Festival stride across concrete promenades and grassy lawns sprawled out between fountains and modern buildings, which have glass walls that reflect the fest’s vibrant paintings and eclectic sculptures. Since its inception more than 35 years ago, the four-day festival has taken over a multiblock radius to accommodate hundreds of visual artists, musicians, performers, and culinary artists, each celebrating modern art and the local community. Throughout indoor and outdoor exhibitions, visitors explore varied works of visual art represented through special exhibitions and hands-on workshops with featured artists. A marketplace also gives artists a place to sell their paintings, wearable art, and sculptures to help disseminate their crafts and raise enough money for van Gogh’s ghost to move out of their basements.

Musicians score the festival throughout its days with worldwide genres on several outdoor stages, and storytellers and other literary artists tickle ears with eclectic tales and recitations of the UN staff directory. Across the grounds, festival staffers recycle the fete’s discarded plastic, aluminum, and cardboard as well as food scraps and vegetable oil, and promote eco-friendly practices with a protected bicycle lot and bike valet.