Visiting Utah on a Budget
Utah's five national parks crown the country's most concentrated stretch of public-land scenery — and the cities in this directory are gateways. Salt Lake City anchors the Wasatch Front with the always-free Historic Temple Square grounds, the free Utah State Capitol, free Liberty Park, the quirky free Gilgal Sculpture Garden, and a short hike up Ensign Peak to where the Mormon pioneers first surveyed the valley in 1847. St. George opens the door to Zion Canyon's red walls, with the always-free Red Hills Desert Garden, Pioneer Park's Dixie Rock, and a downtown packed with free LDS pioneer-history sites. Provo sits at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains with the free BYU Museum of Art, free Bridal Veil Falls minutes up the canyon, and the 9-mile Provo River Parkway Trail anchoring an outdoor-leaning downtown. Ogden, 40 minutes north of Salt Lake, adds Historic 25th Street's once-notorious saloon row, Union Station's four-in-one railroad and firearms museums, and the free Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base. And Lehi, between the two valleys, stacks Thanksgiving Point's dinosaur museum and gardens alongside the free Cabela's wildlife mountain and the Footloose flour mill. Logan rounds out the lineup from its perch in Cache Valley, where the 41-mile Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway, free Tabernacle tours, and Utah State's famous Aggie Ice Cream make the state's best college-town day trip.
Cities in Utah
Pick a city to see free attractions, cheap activities, and budget travel tips.
Provo, Utah
Provo sits at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains with the Provo River running through town — a paradise for outdoor lovers and budget travelers. The 9-mile Provo River Parkway Trail and Bridal Veil Falls anchor outdoor exploration, while the free BYU Museum of Art, Bean Life Science Museum, and Museum of Paleontology's world-class dinosaur collection cover indoor culture without a ticket. Ranger-led Timpanogos Cave tours run $12 up American Fork Canyon, the Y Trail climbs to BYU's white block Y, and the castle-like 1892 Brigham Young Academy — reborn as Provo's library — caps a free downtown afternoon.
12 listings →
St. George, Utah
St. George is the gateway to Utah's canyon country — Zion National Park is 40 minutes away — and the city itself is a free-experience goldmine. Red Hills Desert Garden and Pioneer Park's Dixie Rock are free, the Brigham Young Winter Home, 1876 Tabernacle, and Jacob Hamblin Home offer free pioneer-era tours, and two free art museums anchor downtown. Kids get the $8.50 Children's Museum, the free dinosaur-themed Thunder Junction All Abilities Park with its $1 train, and real 200-million-year-old footprints at the Dinosaur Discovery Site. Snow Canyon State Park's red-and-white sandstone sits ten minutes from downtown and rivals the national parks.
12 listings →
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the Mormon capital of the world and the gateway to the Wasatch Front — and most of the city's marquee draws are free. Historic Temple Square is open daily, the free Utah State Capitol runs weekday tours, and the quirky Gilgal Sculpture Garden hides a sphinx with Joseph Smith's face. Liberty Park adds the $14.95 Tracy Aviary, the foothills hold the world-class Natural History Museum of Utah, and the Main Library stacks a free rooftop terrace over downtown. Add the free Cathedral of the Madeleine, Pioneer Memorial Museum, Clark Planetarium exhibits, Wheeler Historic Farm, and the Ensign Peak hike.
13 listings →
Ogden, Utah
Ogden built its swagger on the transcontinental railroad, and the budget-travel goods are still clustered where the tracks meet the mountains. Historic 25th Street's once-notorious saloon row now houses indie shops and restaurants, anchored by Union Station's four-museums-for-one-ticket deal at the west end. The free Hill Aerospace Museum parks 70-plus military aircraft just south of town, Waterfall Canyon's 200-foot falls reward a steep free hike, and the Ogden River Parkway links the Botanical Gardens to the $12 Eccles Dinosaur Park. Add a 152-acre nature preserve, an 1846 mountain-man fort, and a 1924 Egyptian movie palace.
12 listings →
Lehi, Utah
Lehi has quietly become Utah County's family-attraction capital. Thanksgiving Point packs a campus with the Museum of Ancient Life's 60 mounted dinosaur skeletons and the 50-acre Ashton Gardens — pricey at the gate, but February $5 Tuesdays and $6 Homeschool Days crack them wide open for budget travelers. The century-old Hutchings Museum charges $8 for hands-on natural history, Cabela's lets you tour its aquarium and wildlife mountain for nothing, and the flour mill from Footloose still sells pancake mix on Main Street. Add Utah County's largest free all-abilities playground and 17 paved miles of Murdock Canal Trail.
8 listings →
Logan, Utah
Tucked in Cache Valley eighty miles north of Salt Lake, Logan pairs a classic college-town Main Street with one of the West's great scenic canyons. The 41-mile Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway climbs from town to Bear Lake's turquoise overlook, passing the Wind Caves and Crimson Trail hikes and the free Stokes Nature Center. In town: free tours of the 1891 Logan Tabernacle, the free Nora Eccles Harrison art museum, hand-dipped chocolates at 1914-vintage Bluebird Candy, and USU's famous Aggie Ice Cream. The $9 Zootah zoo and the living-history American West Heritage Center round out the family slate.
10 listings →
More on Utah from TravelCheapUS
In-depth budget travel guides from our companion blog that mention Utah.