Yes — people swim in the Great Salt Lake year-round, mostly at Bridger Bay Beach on Antelope Island, and the water is so salty (about 5–27% salinity versus the ocean’s 3.5%) that you literally cannot sink. It’s less “swimming” than floating like a cork on your back. In 2026 the lake sits at roughly 4,191–4,192…
Upper is better if you want the famous light beams, can’t handle stairs, or are with young kids or older parents — expect $90–$120 per tour and heavier crowds. Lower is better for photographers, hikers, budget travelers, and anyone who wants a longer, more varied walk with fewer people — $60–$85 per tour but you’re…
Antelope Canyon, near Page, Arizona, is about 160 miles from Sedona — roughly 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours of driving each way, the shortest run to the canyon from any major Arizona jumping-off point. That’s less than half the haul from Las Vegas or Phoenix. The catch isn’t distance — it’s which of…
Fifth Water Hot Springs is a series of natural geothermal pools and a warm waterfall in Diamond Fork Canyon, about an hour southeast of Provo, Utah. Getting there is a hike, not a drive: roughly a 4.5-mile round-trip along Fifth Water Creek with about 600–700 feet of gain — moderate and family-doable in the warmer…
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 30,000-acre sheet of hard, blinding-white salt crust in Utah’s West Desert, about 110 miles west of Salt Lake City near Wendover, right off I-80. It’s free to visit, open year-round, and about a 90-minute drive from the city. Go in summer or fall when the surface is dry and…
The Wave is a surreal swirl of striped Navajo sandstone in Coyote Buttes North, on the Arizona side of the Vermilion Cliffs near Kanab, Utah. You can’t just show up — access is by BLM permit only, awarded through a lottery, and demand hugely outstrips the small number of daily permits. There are two ways…
St. George is the warm-weather hub of southwestern Utah — a red-rock desert city about 120 miles (2 hours) northeast of Las Vegas and roughly 4.5 hours south of Salt Lake City. It sits low and warm in “Utah’s Dixie,” so it stays mild when the rest of the state is frozen, which makes it…
Utah · Adventure Basecamp Moab, Utah: The Local’s Travel Guide The adventure base camp of southeastern Utah — a small town on the Colorado River sandwiched between Arches and Canyonlands, with slickrock, whitewater, and the best red-rock overlook in the West all inside a 45-minute drive. Where to stayTrip FAQ Delicate Arch at sunset, Arches…
Antelope Canyon, in Page, Arizona, is about 276 miles from Phoenix — roughly a 4.5-hour drive each way. The route runs straight north out of Phoenix on I-17 to Flagstaff, then follows US-89 north across the high desert and the edge of the Painted Desert into Page, where the canyon sits about 6 miles east…
Canyonlands is high desert at nearly 6,000 feet, so plan for extremes: summer highs regularly hit 100°F with afternoon monsoon storms from July into September, winter lows drop into the 20s, and the park sees just ~9 inches of rain a year — which is exactly why spring (April–May) and fall (September–October) are the two…
