World's Largest Man-made Hole - Bingham Copper Mine in Utah
The largest man-made hole on Earth is located about 30 miles outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. For nearly 120 years the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine has been open-cut or open-pit mining for copper, gold, silver, and many more minerals and metals. Mining in Bingham Canyon dates back another 45 years beyond that, as it was originally underground mining that took place in this mountain within the Rocky Mountains.
Today the copper mine is operated by Rio Tinto, one of the largest mining companies in the world. The mine runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It employs over 2,000 people directly and over 10,000 indirectly through local suppliers and contractors.
The Utah Copper Mine is open for visitors to observe active mining operations during the months when snow isn’t a concern, which is usually April through October. Starting in late May or early June in 2023, sightseeing bus tours will be departing Monday through Saturday from downtown Salt Lake City. These fully-narrated bus tours will be led by an expert local and last 3.5 to 4 hours, including travel time which is about 60 miles roundtrip. Tours will depart at 1:00 PM from the Radisson Downtown Hotel on 215 W South Temple, parking will be available in a public lot across the street for a small fee. RESERVATIONS are required and must be booked online. Click the button below for details, including photos and videos of what you’ll see on this tour which has been one of the most popular in Salt Lake City for decades.
Where should I eat when I visit Salt Lake City?
Does Salt Lake City have any great restaurants? Well, Salt Lake City has a population of just 200,000 people, which doesn’t seem like a lot but that is because the city limits are so small. When you look at the urban sprawl of the Salt Lake Valley the population is a million, and within an hour to the north and to the south is a population of 2.7 million. With a population like that, you can bet we have some good food to check out on your next visit to Utah! There are too many great restaurants to mention but since our readers are most likely limited to seeking food in the downtown area, let’s focus on a few longtime standouts in downtown.
Downtown - Restaurants in Salt Lake City
Let’s get BURGERS out of the way and mention 3 standout restaurants to get a great hamburger…
Squatters Pub Brewery is very popular with locals and visitors for both food and drinks. But perhaps it is most known for its edgy humor, like how it pokes fun at the early history of the predominant culture in Utah; for example, one of their alcoholic brews is called Polygamy Porter and the tagline is “Why have just one?!” As for food there is the Black & Blue Burger made of Cajun-spiced Niman Ranch beef and topped with blue cheese and locally sourced bacon. This is such a popular restaurant that they’ve expanded with a location at the brand new Salt Lake City International Airport. The downtown location is just 3 blocks south of the city center, Temple Square. Open 7 days a week.
Crown Burgers was featured on a popular Travel Channel show called Man V. Food, perhaps you’ve seen it? It’s a hamburger restaurant started by a Greek family and decorated like a Medieval castle. How’s that for curious? They were started nearly 50 years ago and now have several locations around the valley. Their signature item is called the Crown Burger, which is a quarter pounder piled up high with hot juicy pastrami and a special sauce I’ll get to in just a moment. The french fries thick and are delicious, served with a side of a condiment called Fry Sauce. Supposedly a Utah original, it’s a mixture of ketchup, mayo and some secret spices. It is the perfect combo. Note that it is closed on Sundays
Hires Big H is a well-known 1950’s hamburger drive-in where the car hops are still a thing, if you want to eat in your car. If not, you can dine inside. They have an interesting selection of hamburgers, fry sauce so good they sell it by the bottle, and their famous Root Beer. The location is about a mile east of the city center but it is on the train line for the light rail called TRAX, if you don’t have a car.
The Mexican food in Utah ought to be pretty good with 20% of the city’s population identifying as Hispanic.
Red Iguana, Red Iguana 2, but not Taste of Red Iguana. This is possibly the most famous restaurant in Salt Lake City among visitors and locals. Located a mile west of Temple Square, the Red Iguana was so popular that they earned a spot on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Their speciality is mole sauce and they do several different types, so if you’re not a fan of the chocolate based mole then no worries, there are some other ones to fit your taste. Red Iguana the original is on North Temple street and was so popular that 2 hour waits on a Friday night were happening. Red Iguana 2 was built just two blocks from the original, and it lives up to the original quality with a much more spacious dining room. However the Taste of Red Iguana, a quick counter service version that went into the City Creek Mall in downtown has not garnered the same praise. So if you plan to try Red Iguana, skip the food court location and head to the original or the sequel.
Seafood in the desert?
Yes, Utah is the second driest state in America, landlocked several hundred miles away from the ocean, oh and our Lake is so salty that fish cannot survive in it. So how could we ever hope to have great seafood?
Market Street Grill is an outstanding seafood and steak restaurant that has been popular for decades. The downtown location has an oyster bar and there are three other locations in the valley, including at the new Salt Lake International Airport (unlike many airports, our new one was committed to featuring some really great local food). The clam chowder is so good you’d think you were on the coast. The breakfast and brunch options are legendary. Seafood in the desert.
Takashi is a legendary sushi restaurant located just next to Market Street Grill downtown, on Market Street. Takashi has had a reputation for ultra high quality sushi for decades in Salt Lake City. When celebrities are in town filming or for Sundance Film Festival they stop by Takashi, it’s that well known and impressive.
For more recommendations on great restaurants in Salt Lake City to experience the local food, visit our Local Food page.
Hear the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square
Did you know that you have two opportunities each week to see the world-famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square? If you’re visiting Salt Lake City on a Sunday morning or a Thursday evening then you’re in luck! Every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM Mountain Standard Time (we’re on MST in Utah) the Tabernacle Choir will perform a concert show that has become the world’s longest continually running network broadcast (more on that below). And every Thursday evening the Choir will rehearse for Sunday’s broadcast. There are other opportunities to hear them as they perform holiday concerts (their Christmas concert series is crazy popular) and go on tour around the world. Combine a visit to hear the Tabernacle Choir with a fascinating guided tour of the sightseeing attractions of Salt Lake City by clicking here…
A little background about them, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (which for many years was known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir until a slight name change a few years ago) is made up of 360 volunteer singers, 2 choir directors, and around 5 organists—making it one of the largest choirs in the world, especially if you count the Orchestra. You will usually see that the Choir performs with an orchestra, known as the Orchestra at Temple Square—110 members who are also unpaid. These dedicated musicians volunteer an average of 150 days out of the year to practice and perform (usually it’s not an entire day, rather a Sunday morning and a Thursday evening, so many are able to continue their day jobs. But all of their vacation time is taken up when the Choir goes on tour every other year).
The Choir began in 1847 when the President of the Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Brigham Young—also the founder of Utah, organized a small choir just 29 days after arriving in an uninhabited desert (that today we call Salt Lake City) to perform at conferences. Thus they are one of the oldest choirs in the world. In 1929 the Choir began their broadcasting of Music and the Spoken Word. It has performed over 4,500 episodes that is now carried by over 2,000 radio and television stations around the world. They also have a channel on YouTube!
When performing at Temple Square, the Choir is in one of two venues: the Tabernacle or the Conference Center.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle was built in 1867 and seats several thousand (seating capacity seems to shrink as people keep getting bigger and taller. No joke! The average height in Salt Lake City in 1867 was just 5’2” so the benches or pews were spaced much closer together, so in a recent restoration of the building those original benches were taken out and given away to be replaced by larger benches that are spaced out farther apart, which reduces the seating capacity by more than half compared to pioneer times!
The Conference Center was built in 2000 and is claimed to be the largest theater-style auditorium in the world (theater-style means all the seats face the same direction). 21,000 seats allows a lot of tourists to see the Choir, compared with the Tabernacle that seats somewhere around one-fifth as many people. The peak tourist season in Salt Lake City is June through September so during those months you’ll find the Tabernacle Choir sings in the big new Conference Center—which has much better air conditioning than an old auditorium built in the 1860’s! And the rest of the year the Choir is usually in the ol’ Tabernacle. Both venues offer a great experience and won’t disappoint—though if you’re able to hear them in the Tabernacle…that’s just extra special.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a dress code to hear the Choir?
NO DRESS CODE for attending either a concert on Sunday or a rehearsal on Thursday. Sure, you’ll see a number of people in their Sunday clothes but they’re planning on attending their own local worship services afterward. So just dress for the weather and be casual. Summers in Utah get hot, sometimes over 100 degrees. Visitors are welcome to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but maybe leave the tank tops and flip flop sandals at the hotel.
Is the concert considered a worship service?
NO, it is not considered a Sunday worship service. It is a non-denominational musical performance that combines a variety of songs from various genres along with an inspirational story or message that appeals to anyone of all faiths. There could be African folk music or a Broadway show-tune. As a side note, worship services do not take place in either the Tabernacle nor the Conference Center; rather they’re held in small church meetinghouses located all around the city, state, country and world. Fun fact: 17 million members of the Church, as of 2023, and now more living outside of North America than inside.
Are children allowed to attend?
Yes and No. It’s not a strange question when you consider the old Tabernacle was build with acoustics so sensitive than a pin dropped from the podium can be heard from the last row in the auditorium. They didn’t have microphones in 1867, so the architects and builders worked to help the speaker’s voice carry. And also remember this is a live broadcast, so even a cough or a sneeze can sometimes detract from the music—just imagine what a crying baby (or 50) would do! So children under the age of 8 will not be allowed in the main auditorium. In the Tabernacle there is a small soundproof room in the back from which parents and small children can enjoy the Choir. It only seats around a dozen people though. In the Conference Center, there is a separate theater room where it is shown on a large theater screen and that seats several hundred.
How long is the broadcast? Rehearsal?
The Sunday morning broadcast is 30 minutes, beginning at 9:30 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. However if you arrive extra early at 8:30 AM they often do a full rehearsal of the program and then take a half hour break and do actual broadcast at 9:30 AM on Sunday. As for the Thursday evening rehearsal, it is much more varied. The first part of their rehearsal is closed to the public, so they don’t have any distractions. The latter half is open for people to come and go as they please. You do not need to arrive by a certain time and you certainly don’t need to stay the full length of time. Generally they start allowing the public into the auditorium at 7:30 PM and conclude at 9:30 PM on Thursday. However it’s not uncommon for people to be let in a little earlier or a little later. It’s at the discretion of the choir directors and sometimes they just want a little extra time with the choir before the crowds descend into the room.
Less of a question and more of a disclaimer…
The Choir performances and rehearsals will not be open to the public every single week, 100% of the time. Some weeks the Choir has no public rehearsals. Some weeks they’re out of town on tour. Sometimes these dates are marked months ahead of time and occasionally they can come up at the relative last-minute just weeks beforehand. Most of you reading this are probably not in a position to alter your trip dates to Utah just to fit in a visit to hear the Tabernacle Choir, so there’s nothing you can do about this. Just be forewarned that it is possible. Should you be reserved for one of the aforementioned sightseeing tours that include the choir, and there happens to be a last-minute change to the Choir’s public availability, rest assured that the tour company will fully refund you with that tour cancellation. It’s not a common occurrence but perhaps once a year it happens.
America’s Dead Sea
It’s true! The Great Salt Lake is so salty that it is impossible for a person to sink while swimming in the lake. Swimming in the lake feels quite strange…it’s as if an imaginary inner tube is beneath you, pushing you to the top!
Visit the Great Salt Lake on a fully-narrated 2-hour guided tour that departs from downtown Salt Lake City. On the drive to Great Salt Lake you may see some of the 257 species of birds that visit Great Salt Lake every year as part of the Central and Pacific Flyways for migratory birds, numbering several million a year. You’ll take in the beautiful Rocky Mountain views that surround this inland sea as your guide shares stories and history that you’d never get on your own. Reservations are required and can be made online.
