Utah

B

Libraries

The most noted libraries in Utah are in Salt Lake City. The Latter-day Saints’ Church History Library is the foremost private library in the state and the site of the largest collection of materials on Mormons and their religion in the world. The Mormons also maintain the Family History Library. The oldest public library is the Salt Lake City Public Library, founded in 1898, and the largest is the Salt Lake County Public Library. Also at Salt Lake City are the Utah State Historical Society library and the state library. The leading university libraries are those at Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, and Utah State University, all of which house special collections on Mormon and Utah history.

C

Museums

A number of museums in the state also have exhibits pertaining to state and Mormon history, including the Mormon church-affiliated Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City and the Pioneer Village Museum in Farmington. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts and the Utah Museum of Natural History are located on the campus of the University of Utah. Other museums in Utah include the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park in Vernal, which features exhibitions illustrating the geological and fossil history of the area around Dinosaur National Monument; the Children’s Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City; and the Fairview Museum of History and Art in Fairview.

D

Music and Theater

Interest in the musical and dramatic arts was fostered by the early Mormon leaders in Utah, and talented Mormons were often called upon to serve the community as musicians and actors. The Salt Lake Theater, opened in 1862, was the center of professional entertainment in Utah for more than 50 years. It was eventually torn down and smaller theaters and theater groups grew across the state, including the Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre and the Salt Lake Acting Company. The Sundance Film Festival is an internationally recognized celebration of independent motion pictures, held annually in Park City and nearby locations.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was organized in the 1850s. The choir is frequently accompanied by the huge organ installed in the Tabernacle in 1867. The choir, with about 350 voices, is now known to audiences in the United States and abroad through its radio broadcasts, personal appearances, and recordings. Another outstanding musical group is the Utah Symphony. Dramatic activities are concentrated in the theaters of the state’s colleges and universities.

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VI

Recreation and Places of Interest

Utah’s great variety of beautiful scenery is one of the state’s outstanding tourist attractions. Rugged areas of colorful mesas, cliffs, and mountain peaks provide tourists and residents with excellent opportunities for hiking, camping, and riding. In the Wasatch Range and Uinta Mountains are many winter sports areas. A favorite activity for the more adventurous is boating on the Colorado and Green rivers. Outstanding among the state’s natural features is the Great Salt Lake. Floating and boating on the lake are popular activities. The water’s high salt content makes swimmers very buoyant.

A

National Parks

The National Park Service administers a large number of units in Utah. The national parks in Utah preserve several areas of great natural beauty. In Bryce Canyon National Park, in southern Utah, are some of the world’s most colorful and unusual rock spires, pinnacles, and domes. Canyonlands National Park, in southeastern Utah, covers a rugged area of high mesas and towering rock pinnacles. Zion National Park, in the southwestern part of the state, is noted for its canyons and mesas. Arches National Park lies in a region of red sandstone that has been weathered into natural bridges, arches, and other spectacular rock shapes. Capitol Reef National Park covers other areas of brilliantly colored sandstone formations.

Cedar Breaks National Monument has a spectacular amphitheater formed in bright pink cliffs. Three huge natural sandstone bridges formed by erosion are included in Natural Bridges National Monument. The largest-known natural bridge in the world is in Rainbow Bridge National Monument. A number of limestone caves on the side of Mount Timpanogos are preserved in Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Within Hovenweep National Monument are pre-Columbian Native American towers, pueblos, and cliff dwellings. Dinosaur National Monument is the site of a quarry containing numerous fossils. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, one of the nation’s newest protected areas, is an area of scenic canyons, cliffs and rock formations.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, in southern Utah and northern Arizona, and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, in northeastern Utah and southeastern Wyoming, are popular recreation areas that have facilities for swimming, boating, and camping. In northern Utah is the Golden Spike National Historic Site, commemorating the completion in 1869 of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

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