THE BEST AT INVITING THE SUPERNATURAL Utah has something of a reputation for the unexplained and supernatural. Not only are our residents adept at magical thinking, but the Beehive State is reportedly home to some of the most haunted places in the country. Top supernatural attractions: Skinwalker Ranch is a paranormal hotspot in the Uintah Basin, itself rife with unexplained events—from UFO sightings to eerie animal encounters—and the subject of multiple investigations and books (we recommend The Utah UFO Display). While Skinwalker Ranch is not open to the public, you can catch all of the action on the HISTORY Channel show, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. Blind Frog Ranch (blindfrogranchoutpost. com), another ranch in the Uintah Basin with a haunted history (and a TV show), offers paid tours. Fielding Garr Ranch at Antelope Island State Park is a meticulously preserved homestead from the time of pioneers. Explore the historic buildings and structures—including the cemetery—while immersing yourself in the stunning natural beauty of Antelope Island, from which you can visit Fremont Island where famed graverobber Jean Baptiste was exiled. The West Desert ghost towns of Frisco and Ophir are echoes of Utah's mining past. Once bustling hubs of silver and gold extraction, these eerie remnants now stand as haunting reminders of a bygone era. Wander through abandoned structures to uncover the faded stories of these forgotten towns.
PHOTOS : (TOP)ROSS RICHEY; (BOTTOM) ADOBE STOCK
You can explore the remnants of towering kilns, silos and the crumbling structures (where multiple workers are said to have met tragic ends) of the Portland Cement Works in Salt Lake City, which has since been converted into a haunted attraction—Fear Factory. fearfactoryslc.com
Antelope Island
urban arts festival
The Urban Arts Festival started with a small art competition that quickly outgrew its premise. “At the Urban Arts Gallery, we’d do an annual skate deck competition, and it became so big that we thought, why not do an event around it?” Kat Aleman is Utah Arts Alliance’s Manager of Marketing and Communications. She says the event, Urban Arts Festival, outgrew its initial expectations, too. “We asked ourselves, how else can we focus on skate and street and urban art culture? Over the years, it became this huge festival,” says Aleman. The Urban Arts Festival now takes over the Gateway in Salt Lake City every September, and it’s Utah’s largest free community art event, drawing an estimated 20,000 attendees and featuring 200 artists, performers and musicians. Among the core elements are local car club exhibitions and the annual Lowrider Hop Off. Of course, “It’s still the Urban Arts Gallery and the skate competition is a focal point of the festival,” says Aleman. The Urban Arts Festival is Sept. 2–3, 2023 at The Gateway, and it’s free and open to the public. urbanartsfest.org
BEST SPORTS BAR BEST SEAFOOD Flanker Kitchen + Sporting Club Current Fish and Oyster
J ULY /AUGUS T 2023 | SALTLAKEMAGAZINE.COM
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