4 Strange Things to See in Salt Lake City (and All of Them Are Free)

In many ways, Salt Lake City is the strangest city in the United States, and not just because there’s a giant salty lake nearby. It was established by the Mormons after they got kicked out of other places and headed west, to their Zion. It’s the most Caucasian place I’ve ever been in this country, where it has always taken me at least 24 hours after landing before I spot an African-American. Usually it takes days.

This is probably the U.S. city that makes the least attempt to even pretend that there’s a separation of church and state. The state capitol building looks down on Temple Square and the Republican Party headquarters is a block from the Church of Latter Day Saints headquarters. Here are a few odd places you can visit that will spice up your time in the city. All are within walking distance or a short tram ride from any hotel in the center.

Gilgal Sculpture Garden

Tucked in a small lot next to a Wonder Bread factory, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is a multi-decade project from one obsessive man that was a real labor of love. Stone mason and contractor Thomas Child started work in 1957, bringing in huge boulders to transform into religious-themed and “great work of man”-themed sculptures. The most arresting one is a big sphinx featuring the head of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Others include some disembodied body parts, a standing body without a head, and two carved hands in a cave reaching down to a red heart and a white heart. The sculptor himself is immortalized in nearly life-sized form in a stacked stone edifice backed by a boulder. Thomas Child is sporting some pants made of bricks.

The garden is open 8 am to 8 pm April through September, 9 to 5 the rest of the year. Entrance is free, though donations are accepted by mail or at their website. This place almost disappeared until a foundation stepped in to save it from demolition. Check it out at 749 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT. You can read more about it on this Weird USA listing.

Temple Square

Temple Square is Salt Lake City’s biggest tourist attraction, and has always been the literal and figurative heart of the city. Street names are based on where the street runs in relation to the temple and you see lots of people walking around using a map app to figure out where the heck the corner of Third South and Fifth East could be.

Brigham Young himself broke ground on it in 1853, but it took 40 years to finish. The temple rises toward the heavens, but in many ways comes off more like a fortress than a place of worship. The walls are nine feet thick at the base and six feet thick at the top. Unlike most places of worship you see, this one is locked up tight and has very strictly controlled access. I always hesitate to quote frequently unreliable Wikipedia, but this page is a pretty fun read. Here’s an excerpt:

To enter the temple, an individual must be baptized, and after one year, may seek a temple recommend. The individual is interviewed by his/her bishop, during which the candidate is asked a series of questions to determine worthiness to enter the temple. The individual is also interviewed by his or her stake president. The bishop and stake president sign the recommend, indicating their approval of that member’s worthiness. The individual also signs the recommend, acknowledging the responsibility to remain worthy to hold the recommend. A recommend is valid for two years.

There were lots of couples in wedding attire getting their photos taken outside the temple, but I didn’t see anyone coming in or out. That may be because you need a “temple recommend” to get “sealed” inside and if you’ve gotten married elsewhere, you need to wait a year regardless.

It’s worth a stroll around the gardens and grounds to see the odd (to outsiders) statues, inscriptions, and symbolism.

Deseret Book

Probably “just a store” for the faithful but it is a real oddity for those outside the Mormon faith, Deseret Book was established in 1866. It is both the largest publisher and largest chain of bookstores with titles from the Church of Latter Day Saints, owned by the church. It’s across from the temple and near the Salt Lake City convention center.

Strolling the aisles along with the real buyers are always a few tourists picking up books and showing them to each other, with a laugh or a puzzled expression. You can find lighthearted titles like The Romney Family Table by Mitt’s wife Ann, as well as more serious ones like The Trap: A Story to Help Teach Children Modesty and Protect Them from Pornography (on sale for 69% off, ahem). Those on the bestseller rack when I visited included Follow Me to Zion – Stories from the Willie Handcart Pioneers and My Name Used to Be Muhammad.

Masonic Wasatch Lodge #1

Located at 650 East South Temple, this bizarre building is a key headquarters for the mysterious Masons. It is, according to the official website, “the current seat for the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Utah, the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Orient of Utah, Grand York Rite Bodies for Utah, El Kalah Shrine, Grand Bodies for all the Masonic youth groups, and six Masonic Lodges.” Okay then!

I’m not sure where the sphinx/Egyptian obsession comes from in this city—there’s another pyramid in another part of town that’s the worship place for the secretive Summum religious sect. This Mason lodge has two sphinxes out front, then lots of Egyptian symbolism in other elements, including ankhs in the protective bars on the windows. You are allowed to peek inside though if you book a tour: here’s the contact info.

If you visit Salt Lake City, try to avoid weeks when a big convention is town: you’ll know that’s happening when hotel prices are three times what they should be. To get the best deal anytime, search multiple booking sites via Hotels Combined.

Story and photos by Tim Leffel, editor of Perceptive Travel and author of A Better Life for Half the Price: How to prosper on less money in the cheapest places to live.