What to do and see in Wasatch Range, Wasatch Range: The Best Water & Amusement Parks

August 14, 2021 Kaleigh Reichenbach

Stretching 160 miles through Utah, the Wasatch Range makes a rugged, glacial backdrop for the 85% of the state’s population living within 15 miles. Mount Nebo is highest at 11,928 feet, but the peaks around Alta and Park City are most popular. "The greatest snow on earth" falls on these spectacular slopes. Lone Peak’s granite outcrops provide top climbing. Canyons and valleys are loved by fly-fishermen and hikers. After all that adventure, retire to a hip restaurant or enticing hot tub in chic Park City.
Restaurants in Wasatch Range

1. George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

1544 Park Blvd, Ogden, UT 84401-0803 +1 801-393-3466 [email protected] http://www.dinosaurpark.org/
Excellent
59%
Good
32%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
3%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 268 reviews

George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

Journey back in time to the days when the Dryosaurus roamed and the Tyrannosaurus rex ruled at this outdoor six-acre park that displays giant dinosaurs complete with sound effects like crashing trees and earth moving footsteps. The complex also includes a museum that features hands-on exhibits of the latest fossil finds from Utah and around the world.

Reviewed By bjanavice - Brevard, United States

Most amazing museum filled with Dinosaur bones, and an excellent gem room upstairs. Then you go outside and there are probably 100 Dinosaur statues. This would be a great place for kids of all ages.

2. Alpine Coaster

1345 Lowell Ave, Park City, UT 84060-5115 +1 435-649-8111 [email protected] https://www.parkcitymountain.com/explore-the-resort/activities/summer-activities/alpine-coaster.aspx
Excellent
62%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
1%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 585 reviews

Alpine Coaster

Thrill seekers, meet your match on Utah's largest Alpine Coaster. The elevated track winds you through more than a mile of loops, curves and hair-pin curves at speeds up to 30 mph. Just like your favorite roller coaster - but with the refreshing mountain scenery of Park City.

Reviewed By TeamTangerines

Definitely do not brake while you're on the mountain coaster. You have the opportunity to hang out and enjoy yourself on the way up, but be prepared for a thrill ride down the mountain! There's also an alpine slide next to the mountain coaster that you use a lift to get to the top. Definitely choose the fast route and prepare for fun on the way down (and feel free to use your brake here if you feel like you're going too fast)!

3. Evermore Park

382 South Evermore Lane, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062 +1 385-323-5135 [email protected] http://www.evermore.com/
Excellent
83%
Good
3%
Satisfactory
3%
Poor
7%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 30 reviews

Evermore Park

Evermore is an Experience Park: a place to explore, wonder, and discover. We are a blend of theme park, events, thrills, and theatrics. Come visit us and immerse yourself in a world of adventure where you can live in an incredible story, and even build your own! Each season is tied to a festival with two main components, one theatrical and one where guests roam the park freely similar to more traditional theme parks. In the theatrical portion, guests experience an immersive story full of high-end tech and visual effects that plays out across our fifteen acre park full of Victorian-inspired buildings and gardens. Come witness what lies beyond our gates and create unforgettable memories for the entire family.

Reviewed By jhanes45 - Brigham City, United States

Our family attended Evermore “Aurora” which takes place during the winter. My wife and I went with 3 children ages 6, 4 and 3, as part of a larger group of extended family. It was between 30 and 25 degrees while we were there. Come ready for cold weather. We had our kids bundled like they were going sledding, and the weather didn’t bother us one bit. There was a holiday theme with lights and a Charles Dickens Christmas Carol sub-theme. A large portion of the park was closed off because of the “Christmas Carol” performance. The park was very immersive in its atmosphere and setting, really giving the feeling of transporting yourself to another time. During “Aurora” the park hours were from 5 to 10 PM, and though this made for a better view of the Christmas lights, in general it made everything else very difficult to see. We found ourselves being pretty let down that we couldn’t see the actual craftsmanship of the setting itself as soon as the sun went down. There were many lights on one end of the park, and very few on the other making it difficult to navigate around for someone new to the park, and even worse for someone with 3 small children and large crowds. If you're planning on coming with smaller children that aren’t trapped in a stroller, be prepared to brave a theme park atmosphere in the dark with wandering kids. It was stressful at times, but we managed it decently. Once you arrive you’re given a brochure with a map of the park and a blue dotted line to follow if you’re a first time visitor. I would strongly encourage following this line because it will allow you to hit all the main attractions in the park, while giving opportunities to sidetrack if you find something that peaks your interest. One potential issue with the park is that it is very open ended as to how you want to participate. You can choose to have an experience similar to a zoo or museum where you simply walk from exhibit to exhibit and possibly participate in an activity or two, then move to the next until you’ve finished the blue dotted line. If you did this you would do the activities in following order: archery, axe throwing, puppet show, photo opportunity near a fountain, foam sword combat, fire performers, train ride, and a bird and reptile show. Along the way you’d be in a unique and beautiful fantasy setting surrounded by interesting characters. For most family outings this would be a fantastic evening, and if you stuck to this plan you’d likely have a wonderful time. Stopping to get some food and eating around one of the outdoor open fires would be a great finish to outing. The Fire performers, and the puppet show would’ve been the highlight of our visit. Ice skating would be one other activity that would be high on the priorities of a normal family, but I didn’t include it because it was not available at the time of our attendance. Regardless, the frozen pond served as a beautiful backdrop for the center of the park, and were it to have had ice skaters on it the look would’ve been all the more magical. As it stood, our kids were too young to have participated, so it wasn’t that big a let down. Coming back to the possible difficulty of the open ended nature of the park, if you were to follow the blue line and participate in the zoo or museum style, your family likely would have a very positive experience, but at its core Evermore strives to be more than a beautiful walking path with some fun activities along the way. The other way to participate in Evermore can best be summarized to me as a real-life fantasy roleplaying game. You enter the “world” as a “world-walker” looking to join guilds, accomplish quests, learn the stories of the characters and the world itself, and to find ways to make Evermore a better place. This kind of experience is entirely unique to the typical “theme” park or museum experience, but comes with it several things to consider. First, there are varying degrees of commitment to this style. You will notice participants dressed in normal clothes, speaking normal, simply trying to complete quests and not thinking much of it. At the same time you’ll see others that have completely embraced the “world” as it were. They are dressed in high fantasy costumes, may speak with accents, and commonly attend Evermore on a semi-regular basis. These participants fully embrace the role-playing component of Evermore. They are essentially part of the “world,” and may interact with you as such. We did have a few moments of confusion as we assumed that some of these more committed park goers were actual members of the staff. They dress like staff, and spoke like staff, so it’s an easy mistake. To add to this confusion, some actually function in a pseudo-volunteer role by facilitating different activities, giving information for quests, or interacting with you in ways that normal staff members would (as if they themselves are a character in the story of Evermore). Some of the members of our group saw this as drifting a bit too far outside of their comfort zone. For them, cast members approaching you while speaking in accents, giving quests, and selling the story, as it were, was fine, but the same actions by random park-goers was uncomfortable at times. How deeply you choose to participate in this element of Evermore is completely up to you, but in my opinion a bit of open mindedness and leaving of your comfort zone can really go a long way in adding to the experience. The quests are structured through eight different guilds. You have the opportunity to join any of the guilds as an “initiate” and to do so you must speak with the guild leaders and find out the requisite quests to join. Some of the quests are physical tasks that must be done throughout the park; others involve interacting with other characters. One struggle that we had in completing the quests that involved interacting with other characters was that not all of the characters seemed to be on the same page as to what we were supposed to be asking them. They were friendly, but not overly helpful in completing the quest. So we just kept talking to anyone we saw that was a staff member until someone knew what we were talking about. For one quest we likely spoke to six different cast members until we found someone who knew what we were talking about and how to help us. This experience was fun for me, boring for my kids, and frustrating for the other adults in our group. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and to hear pieces of their story, but most of that story was beyond what my young kids could understand, and too unrelated to our goal of finishing the quest for some in our group. In the end we were able to become initiates in one of the guilds. A word of advice, the initiation ceremony at the stage was a much more fun experience then the individual initiations we saw taking place at the different guilds we passed by. If you start the quests to join a guild ask when the stage initiation is, so that you can know the time frame to be able to go on stage. Our kids thought this was a blast. Moving forward, we could return again to try and reach higher ranks in the guild or to join another guild. We had some concerns that it might’ve been too scary for our kids based on a YouTube video that we saw, but we called and the park staff assured us that nothing in the park during the Aurora setting was there to intentionally scare anyone. Apparently the Halloween season, Lore, is the scary one. I will say that although nothing from Evermore: Aurora itself was scary for young kids the staff should’ve mentioned that the other guests themselves may be wearing scary costumes. There was one individual that was wearing a very haunted house style costume that we intentionally avoided throughout our visit. Food was pretty expensive, but we had some soup in bread bowls that was awesome. We wouldn’t do the bread bowl again, felt like we hardly got any soup because the holes in the bread bowls were so small. The soup itself was great though. Train ended up breaking down while we were riding it which was a real downer because, as I mentioned before, during the Aurora setting a large part of the park was closed off for a walking “Christmas Carol.” The only way to have seen those parts of the park was from the train and it would’ve been a lot of fun for the kids. It also would’ve been a fun way to see the lights. We did get a refund, but I think it would’ve been a major highlight. Conclusion: If you’re taking a young family show up early to beat crowds, bundle the kiddos, and follow the blue dots, hit the main attractions, maybe try to join a guild if it feels like you’re able to accomplish it quickly while still hitting the main attractions. If you get bogged down with the quest stuff drop it, and just move to the next main attraction. Eat something around one of the fire pits. Kids will have a blast. If you’re feeling adventurous and don’t have young kids to cater too, jump right into the quests. See if you can join several guilds. Get out of your comfort zone a little, talk to the characters, learn about the world, and probably plan on going ice skating if it’s available. Not feeling adventurous, don’t feel like getting out of your comfort zone, and no kiddos? Follow the blue line, ignore the quests and guilds, hit the main attractions, get something to eat, go ice skating. Still an awesome evening.

4. Logan Aquatic Center

451 S 500 W, Logan, UT 84321-5164 http://www.loganutah.org/government/departments/parks_and_recreation/aquatic_center/index.php
Excellent
57%
Good
18%
Satisfactory
21%
Poor
4%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 28 reviews

Logan Aquatic Center

5. AQUA x ZONE

Jordanelle State Park 515 State Road 319, Heber City, UT 84032 +1 435-962-9663 [email protected] http://www.aquaxzone.com
Excellent
66%
Good
18%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
3%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 160 reviews

AQUA x ZONE

AQUA x ZONE is a thrilling water park for young and old alike. Come climb, jump, slide and swim along the inflatable obstacles that float atop the reservoir. Kids must be 6 years old and 48" tall. We are located at the Jordanelle State Park, near Heber City, Utah. The park is composed of multiple inflatable obstacles tethered together above the lake. We invite you to run, jump, swim and play at the AQUA x ZONE... the fun starts here! We will be opening the 2017 season on Saturday, June 17th, 2017!

6. Cowabunga Bay

12047 S State St, Draper, UT 84020-9490 +1 801-553-1000 http://www.cowabungabay.com/
Excellent
36%
Good
43%
Satisfactory
19%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 91 reviews

Cowabunga Bay

Reviewed By kiwiamericana - Salt Lake City, United States

Park closed down and reopened specifically for our private group that day, and it was better than expected! Its split into two sides. The far right is the kids pool or a place to relax and wade in the water. Lifeguards were everywhere, made sure it was safe for everyone. We had a DJ for the park that really set the mood for the night! There are lockers for $6 near the restrooms. On the left side are the slides and shops. The park is convenient near the freeway and shopping centers and the theatre. Plenty of parking thats free. A great way to end the summer!

7. Provo Beach

4801 N University Ave Ste 210, Provo, UT 84604-5576 +1 801-224-5001 [email protected] http://www.provobeach.com
Excellent
37%
Good
35%
Satisfactory
11%
Poor
9%
Terrible
8%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 54 reviews

Provo Beach

Provo Beach offers 50,000 square feet of indoor entertainment. We feature 12 different attractions including indoor surfing, bowling, laser tag, an indoor ropes course and much more. Try our fantastic food from the Pier Cafe and our 1950's era ice cream parlor to satisfy your hunger. Experience memorable moments with your family and friends at Provo Beach.

8. Cherry Hill Water Park

1325 S Main St, Kaysville, UT 84037-2639 +1 801-451-5379 http://www.cherry-hill.com/
Excellent
44%
Good
36%
Satisfactory
15%
Poor
3%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 66 reviews

Cherry Hill Water Park

Reviewed By F7077XUjoshuap

Highly recommend as a fun stop in the summer for any family! The staff is great and the grounds are clean and well maintained.

9. Classic Fun Center

9151 S 255 W, Sandy, UT 84070-2652 +1 801-561-1791 http://classicfuncenter.com/
Excellent
25%
Good
40%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
10%
Terrible
15%
Overall Ratings

3.5 based on 20 reviews

Classic Fun Center

10. Lagoon Amusement Park

375 Lagoon Dr, Farmington, UT 84025-2554 +1 801-451-8000 [email protected] http://www.lagoonpark.com/
Excellent
33%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
15%
Poor
7%
Terrible
12%
Overall Ratings

3.5 based on 717 reviews

Lagoon Amusement Park

Lagoon is one of the only family owned amusement parks left in the country. With over 60 thrilling rides, 40 challenging games, live entertainment, a beautiful water park, the largest "kiddie land" of any amusement park in the nation, Pioneer Village, and the Campground, Lagoon offers something for everyone to enjoy.

Reviewed By dakotah948

I go many times, my family has the season pass. So we can go many times as we want. My favorite ride is Cannibal, it used to be Wicked. But yea. We also saw Smoke & Mirrors, it was cool, a real magician. He used a stick to give someone a letter the stick came right by me, it was so cool!!

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