Family fun in Ogden, Utah

From dinosaurs and snowmobiles to steam trains and airplanes, Ogden/Weber County, Utah, has plenty of activities for families to enjoy year-round.

Located at the base of the Wasatch Mountain Range, the area offers indoor and outdoor activities for the young and young at heart.

At Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park (www.dinosaurpark.org), step back in time to when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. The six-acre indoor/outdoor museum, located adjacent the Ogden River Parkway, features more than 100 realistic dinosaur reproductions on meandering outdoor pathways. Spine-tingling dinosaur sounds along the trails create an extra dose of reality.

Inside the museum, visitors can dig dinosaur bones, mine jewels and marvel at a life-size skeletal replica of a tyrannosaurus rex. A working laboratory offers an opportunity to observe technicians removing fossilized bones from their stone encasements and preparing them for display.

No grown-ups are allowed without an accompanying child at the newly redesigned Treehouse Museum (www.treehousemuseum.org) in downtown Ogden. This interactive children’s museum, dedicated to literature and the arts, provides a hands-on learning experience for children ages 2 to 12.

Exhibits include a replica of the White House oval office, miniature homes from around the world, story-inspired reading nooks, a Utah heritage area, computer zone, a doll room and interactive trivia games.

Nearby Hill Air Force Base has an impressive assortment of planes. Hill Aerospace Museum (www.hill.af.mil/museum/), a 30-acre museum on the northwest corner of the base, exhibits more than 80 military aircraft, aerospace vehicles and missiles from the World War II-era.

Other displays include military vehicles, ground equipment, uniforms and historical artifacts. The museum also offers “Plane Talk,” a free lecture series about airplanes and their aviators.

Golden Spike National Historic Site (www.nps.gov/gosp/), located at Promontory Point, commemorates a pivotal point in railroad history. The famous “golden spike” was driven into the final railroad tie on May 10, 1869, marking the completion of the world’s first transcontinental railroad.

The site includes a visitor center with educational films, two full-size working replica locomotives, and walking and auto tour routes.

The Ogden Union Station museums (www.theunionstation.org), located in Ogden’s historic rail depot, have broad appeal. At the Utah State Railroad Museum and Wattis-Dumke Model Railroad Display, visitors can learn more about the joining of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads and marvel at the giant steam engines that traversed the country.

For history buffs, the Union Station Natural History Museum displays fossils, cultural artifacts and an array of gemstones found throughout the state. The Browning Firearms Museum highlights the many inventions of John M. Browning, a famous firearms designer. The Browning-Kimball Car Museum represents the Golden Age of motor car history.

In addition, an art gallery hosts the facility’s permanent collection, while another gallery hosts rotating shows.

Year-round, families will be delighted by the activities available at Red Rock Ranch and Outfitters (www.redrockranchandoutfitters.com) in Huntsville. Visitors can enjoy hay rides and guided horseback rides through the Monte Cristo Range trails.

When the area is blanketed with snow, guided snowmobiling tours and sleigh rides are popular. All that fun can make for a pretty hearty appetite, so the Red Rock Café serves up beef, buffalo and Boca burgers daily.

Families also can explore the Huntsville area with an easy 3.1-mile hike, jog or bike ride down the Ogden River Parkway. This handicapped-accessible paved pathway meanders along the Ogden River and past numerous attractions, including the Dinosaur Park and a sports park with picnic facilities.

For more outdoor fun, a variety of family friendly activities are available at nearby Antelope Island State Park (www.utah.com/stateparks/antelope_island.htm). This 28,000-acre island in the Great Salt Lake offers wildlife galore, such as American bison, elk, deer, bobcats, coyotes and birds.

Visitors can take a self-guided driving tour, a guided horseback ride or kayaking tour of the park. Hike, bike or lounge on the beach, or float in the buoyant water of the Great Salt Lake.
 

More info links:

Ogden Utah Convention and Visitors Bureau
www.ogdencvb.org