Whether you’re looking for a nice afternoon drive or a more lengthy road trip, one of the following eight best road trips in Utah will surely lead you to the perfect destination. Of course, as with any road trip, most of the fun is enjoying the journey itself.

1) Fruit Way: Brigham City to Willard
Maddox Ranch House/Facebook
Hungry? On this road trip, you can eat your way along U.S. 89 from Brigham City to Willard. Start with lunch at Maddox Ranch House.
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Then check out the fresh produce stands, sampling peaches, cherries, tomatoes and more as you go.
Pettingill’s Fruit Farm/Facebook
Culminate your trip with a raspberry shake at Pettingill’s in Willard.
2) Salt Lake City to Wendover on West I-80
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Every Utahn has taken this road trip at some point. Start in Salt Lake City and travel on I-80 Westbound. 15 miles later, you’ll pass historic Salt Air, which was once the scene of Big Band shows and beachgoers — now it’s a concert venue.
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Stop for a quick visit at Metaphor: The Tree of Utah. The 87-foot-tall sculpture by artist Karl Momen was completed in the 1980s.
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You’ll arrive in Wendover, Utah 121 miles from where you started. Most people drive right on through to Wendover, Nevada, to the casinos where you can check out a concert and lose some money at the blackjack tables.
3) Spanish Fork to Salina: Utah’s Small Towns
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Take U.S. 6 from Spanish Fork, then turn off on U.S. 89 at Thistle. This ghost town was flooded in 1983 and completely covered in sediment -- you can still see some rooftops.
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In Mt. Pleasant you can visit the Pioneer Historical Preservation Association Museum and Relic Home.
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Continue driving 15 miles to Ephraim, the largest city in San Pete county, with over 6,000 residents.
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If you’re visiting in June, you can check out the Mormon Miracle pageant in Manti.
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In Sterling, check out Palisade State Park or golf at the Palisade Golf Course.
Casino Star Theater/Facebook
The charming little town of Gunnison has a quaint Main Street. Check out a movie at the renovated Casino Star Theater.
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Grab a meal and a piece of pie at Mom’s Cafe in Salina -- a quintessential small-town cafe. From Salina, you can turn north onto U.S. 50, which will take you back to I-15, or go south to hook into I-70.
4) Mirror Lake Scenic Byway
Mirror Lake Diner/Facebook
The Mirror Lake Scenic Byway starts at Kamas. Enjoy a tasty breakfast at the Mirror Lake Diner before you begin your road trip.
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Proceed with caution and make way for moose.
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At 10,687 feet, you’ll reach Bald Mountain Pass.
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Then, descend down to Mirror Lake.
5) Nebo Loop
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The Nebo Loop is closed in the winter, but during the summer, it provides lots of amazing views. Start in Nephi.
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You’ll find many scenic overlooks along the way.

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Devil’s Kitchen is a popular stop. It looks a lot like a miniature Bryce Canyon.
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You’ll find three lakes up Payson Canyon. The byway ends just outside of Payson, where you can rejoin I-15.
6) Ogden Canyon Loop
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Take State Road 36 up Ogden Canyon. It’s narrow, winding and a little nerve-wracking in spots, but well worth it.
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Emerge into Ogden Valley, a scenic valley and home to the towns of Eden and Huntsville. Enjoy some summer splashing in Pineview Reservoir.
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Stop to visit the Trappist monks.
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Grab a burger at the Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville.
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From Huntsville, take State Road 167 to I-84 down Weber Canyon to Uintah. Stop at the Beehive Cheese Factory for some fresh, award-winning cheese.
7) Highway 12 - Capitol Reef National Park to Red Canyon
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It’s called The All American Road, with a National Park at each end and plenty to see in between. Start at Capitol Reef, then go south along State Route 12.
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Visit the Anasazi State Park Museum in Boulder -- you’ll find lots of Anasazi Puebloan pottery and artifacts, along with some reconstructions of ancient housing.
Wikipedia
If the weather’s good, take the Hell’s Backbone Road from Boulder for a 32 mile loop that connects you back to SR 12. You’ll travel along a gravel road along the spine of the mountain, with thousand-foot drops into the valley floor below.
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Take a 5-mile roundtrip hike to see lower Calf Creek Falls -- a 126-foot waterfall and a shady pool.
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See petrified logs, fossils and dinosaur bones at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park.
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You’ll want to allow at least a day to explore Bryce Canyon National Park.
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Enjoy a short hike at Red Canyon, in the Dixie National Forest.
8) Alpine Loop
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Starting at the base of American Fork Canyon, travel along Utah Highway 92, up to the Uinta National Forest and down Provo Canyon on U.S. 189.
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Stop at Timpanogos Cave National Monument and take a hike to the cave.
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You’ll drive through the Uinta National Forest.
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Enjoy the view from Empire Pass
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Stop at Sundance Resort to ride the Zip line, go for a hike or attend a concert.

Have you been on one of the best road trips in Utah? If you’re looking for more adventures to tackle in our beautiful state, here are some bucket-list-worthy day trips.

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More to Explore

Best Road Trips In Utah

Leah | May 07, 2021

What are everyone's most favorite places to visit in Utah?

Utah has some incredible destinations that are wildly popular, and for good reason. Bryce Canyon National Park is one of them, receiving over 2 million visitors a year in the last half-decade. The incredible canyons are worth visiting at least once in your life to see what all the fuss is about. The photographs of Bryce Canyon just don't compare to seeing it in person. Zion National Park is even more popular with over 4 million visitors a year, and there's plenty of reasons for that, too. Not only is it the most popular park in Utah, but it's also one of the most visited national parks in the entire country.

What are the best things to do in Utah?

If you've visited the national parks and explored the state's scenic drives, here are a few other options of cool things to do in Utah that you don't want to miss. You can view Utah's mountains while whizzing by on a mountain coaster any time of the year in Park City. If you've ever wanted to experience what it's like unearthing fossils, you can dig up your own at U Dig Fossils just west of Delta, Utah. You can keep any of the trilobite fossils you find. These fossils can be up to 550 million years old! It's the largest trilobite concentration in the world, so you'll find many.

What other drives should I take when traveling through Utah?

There are many scenic routes you can take through the Beehive State beyond these ones. We put together an entire list of stunning scenic drives in Utah, highlighting special highways, loops, byways, and more. Each will take you through some of the state's natural wonders and some even include special attributes like natural arches, impressive canyons, or the chance of seeing wildlife such as bison.

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