Salt Lake City

Here stands the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon church. In the domed Tabernacle a pin dropped at the pulpit is heard from the back row. The choir usually rehearses on Thursday evenings, free to hear.

A causeway leads to this island, where several hundred bison wander loose. Water several times saltier than the sea buoys you up, but late spring and summer bring swarms of brine flies and gnats. In many low-water years the shoreline is a long walk off.

Two hours west, white salt crust runs to the horizon. The surface is hard and flat enough for land-speed trials held as summer closes. After rain a skin of standing water mirrors the sky, but tyres sink in, so do not drive onto it.

The capitol crowns a rise above downtown to the north, built of Utah granite and completed in 1916. A retrofit in the 2000s slid rubber isolators under it to ride out earthquakes. The front steps take in downtown and the whole Salt Lake Valley.

A building stepped into the foot of the Wasatch, best known for a wall lined with horned dinosaur skulls dug up in southern Utah. A tall hall rises through several floors from the entrance, and the galleries climb with it.

A ski area at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon, famed for deep, light snow. Among the last American resorts to bar snowboards, it stays skis only. After big storms avalanche danger can shut the canyon road and keep everyone indoors.

At Promontory Summit the transcontinental railroad, laid from east and west, met in 1869. Exact copies of the two steam engines that faced each other that day are run out in summer to stage the meeting again. It is about two hours north of the city.

In 1970 the artist Robert Smithson coiled black basalt into a spiral on the lake's north shore. High water drowns it and low water leaves it crusted white with salt, so it never looks the same twice. The last stretch is dirt road with patchy phone signal.

A small garden hidden behind houses, where a stonemason began setting up carvings of his faith in the 1940s. Most famous is a sphinx wearing the face of Joseph Smith, the church's founder. Entry is free, by a narrow passage between the houses.

A botanical garden in the foothills behind the University of Utah, planted with flowers and trees suited to the dry high-desert climate. On summer evenings an outdoor stage on the lawn hosts concerts, and audiences spread blankets on the grass.

Heart of a silver mining town some 50km east over the mountains; its late 19th-century timber and brick fronts hold galleries and restaurants. In winter skiers board a lift right off the street and ride up the slopes. It is steep; wear grippy shoes in snow.

The ski jumping and bobsled venue of the 2002 Winter Olympics, where national team athletes still train. In summer you can watch aerialists flip off the ramps into a splash pool. The Olympic museum is free to enter.

From houses behind the Capitol, a 30-minute trail reaches a summit overlooking the city and the Great Salt Lake. Pioneers are said to have climbed it in 1847, right after arriving, to survey the site. With no shade, summer climbs suit the hour before sunset.

A monument and pioneer village where Brigham Young is said to have looked over the valley in 1847 and declared this the place. In the village, costumed interpreters run the smithy and bakery. It neighbours the zoo, so families combine the two.

West of Temple Square stands the world's largest genealogy library, free to all, with volunteers on hand to help you trace ancestors. It holds civil and parish records from many countries. Bring a name and birth year and an hour usually turns something up.