UTGA Events

Events of the Utah Tour Guide Association

UTGA hosts regular events to provide members with opportunities to hone their skills, gain new information, and socialize. If you want to join us for any of our events, send us a message, follow us on Facebook, and join UTGA today. See photos from our previous events in the galleries under the calendar.

December 2023 – UTGA End-of-Year Retreat

The Utah Tour Guide Association hosted a half-day end-of-year retreat for its members and others at This Is the Place Heritage Park. The day included the annual business meeting for UTGA and a end-of-year celebration dinner. In between these, participants were treated to a presentation about “The Lost History of Saltair” by Ian Christensen (currently researching and writing a comprehensive history of the Great Salt Lake’s best known resort. Attendees also got to attend a “Photography for Tour Guides” workshop presented by our own Christopher Vanderwilt. We also hosted concierges from local hotels and destination marketing companies to see what our members have to offer at our first ever UTGA Member Showcase. At the end of the day, after a yummy dinner from The Red Iguana, awards were given for the 2023 UTGA Member Photography Competition and we played another round of Utah trivia. Attendees could also spend some time in the Heritage Village for their annual Candlelight Christmas programming.

November 2023 – Tour of the Thomas Kearns Mansion (Utah Governors Mansion)

Members of UTGA joined a tour with Preservation Utah of the Thomas Kearns Mansion also known as the Utah Governors Mansion, a beautiful mansion on South Temple Street in Salt Lake City. Thomas Kearns was once owner of Silver King Coalition Mines in Park City and of the Salt Lake Tribune. Kearns also served as a U.S. Senator from Utah. This spectacular 1902 mansion is open for tours through Preservation Utah and serves as the official residence of Utah’s governors.

October 2023 – Leaf-Peeping on Mount Nebo National Scenic Byway

UTGA Members got together for a leaf-peeping excursion on the Nebo loop, a scenic byway that crosses the backside of Mount Nebo, the tallest mountain in the Wasatch Range. This national scenic byway starts in Payson and ends in Nephi. The leaves were in peak condition offering spectacular vistas in all directions.

September 2023 – Tour of Gilgal Sculpture Garden and 10th Ward Meetinghouse

Members of the Utah Tour Guide Association met at Gilgal Sculpture Garden, a visionary art environment in Salt Lake City. They were introduced to the garden, its creator, and the sculptures. We were then given a private tour of the 10th Ward Meetinghouse, the oldest church meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still in use in Salt Lake City. We were treated to the organ and a tour from a long-time member of the congregation who, as a teenager, worked for Thomas Child in Gilgal Sculpture Garden.

May 2023 – Tour of the Violin Making School of America

UTGA members were treated to a special tour of America’s oldest violin making school that happens to be right in the downtown Salt Lake City. Students at the school make several instruments throughout their course of study including several violins and a cello. The school is not open for public tours.

April 2023 – Tour of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple

Members of UTGA were invited for a tour of the newly constructed Saratoga Springs Utah Temple during its open house period.

April 2023 – UTGA Book Club Potluck with the Editor of This Is the Plate

Members of the Utah Tour Guide Association who had read This Is the Plate: Utah Food Traditions gathered for a potluck dinner and discussion. Those who attended brought a Utah food tradition to share with the group. We were delighted to host the editor of the book, Carol Edison, at our dinner.

March 2023 – Preservation Utah Introduction and Tours

Members of UTGA met at the Memorial House in Salt Lake City’s Memory Grove park to be introduced to Preservation Utah, a local non-profit that fights to preserve historic structures throughout the state. After a presentation from the interim president, we were treated to a tour of Memorial House and the Meditation Chapel in the park. After, we made our way to the Salt Lake City and County Building to participate in one of the tours that Preservation Utah offers in historic buildings around town. We were taken into the foundations to see the seismic engineering that helped save the building in recent earthquake events and up in the clock tower and into the council chamber.

February 2023 – Bryce Canyon FAM Tour

At the invitation of Ruby’s Inn, members of UTGA spent two days in Bryce Canyon Country. On the way south from SLC, we stopped at Burns Saddlery in Salina and were shown around their leather, silver, and hat workshops. In Bryce Canyon City, staff from Ruby’s Inn introduced us to what our guests can enjoy and experience in the winter and year round. We also had a member of the local county’s office of tourism tell us what we can expect this year as a centennial year for Bryce Canyon, and a local entrepreneur told us about her quest to make geology more accessible for every-day travelers with Backseat Geology audio tours. We experienced the national park by snowshoe and yak tracks and the new Ice Ribbon by Ebenezer’s.

February 2023 – Hardware Ranch Elk Wagon Ride

Members of UTGA visited the Utah Department of Natural Resources’ Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area in northern Utah where hundreds of elk are cared for in the harsh winter months. A local outfitter offers wagon rides into the elk pasture select days in the winter.

January 2022 – UTDNR Bookstore Tour

UTGA Members were introduced to the map and bookstore of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. We learned about the amazing collection of resources the store offers including free publications and a vast array of maps and guides.

December 2022 – Annual Business Meeting & End-of-Year Celebration

Our annual business meeting was held at the First United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City. After our meeting luncheon, Scott, the church’s organist, gave us a tour of the historic building and demonstrated the beautiful, historic, fully-restored pipe organ. A couple of weeks later, This Is the Place Heritage Park hosted us in the Pioneer Center for our annual end-of-year celebration dinner. We enjoyed food from Greek Souvlaki, a local chain of Greek restaurants, with desert from Mrs. Backer’s Pastry Shop. Then, we had lots of fun playing a Utah trivia game.

November 2022 – Topaz Museum & Site Tours, Rockhounding in Delta, stop in Eureka

Members of UTGA headed to the western desert for a visit to Delta, Utah. We were given a tour of the Topaz Museum, a fantastic collection of artifacts and stories of the horrific Japanese internment of WWII. Afterwards, we received a tour of the Topaz War Relocation Center site just outside of town. After a quick lunch, our member Oz, led us to the Boneyard where we did some basic rockhounding by sifting and digging through piles of dirt to find treasures. On our way back to Salt Lake City, we drove by where Amelia Earheart made a crash landing and then took a stroll through historic Eureka, the heart of the Tintic Mining District.

November 2022 – Topaz Stories and From the Ground Up

As a close to our reading of Citizen 13660 by Mine Okubo, we were met by a descendant of a Japanese internment camp resident at the Utah State Capitol Building for an introduction to the temporary Topaz Stories exhibit and to hear her family’s story. Afterwards, we visited a local rock shop, From the Ground Up, and were welcomed and shown the full collection including gemstones and fossils.

October 2022 – Smith Family Archaeological Preserve

Members of UTGA joined a tour of the Smith Family Archaeological Preserve on the westside of Utah Lake. This preserve protects a collection of ancient petroglyphs from the Fremont era.

September 2022 – Salt Lake City’s Black History Walking Tour

UTGA Members were led on a walking tour in downtown Salt Lake City by local historian Rachel Quist to discover some of the city’s Black history and history of red-light activities in downtown. This is one of two walking tours Rachel offers as part of the University of Utah’s continuing education program.

August 2022 – UTGA Book Club “Roughing It” by Mark Twain Presentation

Adam Petty from the Church History Library in Salt Lake City shared insights into Brigham Young and life in Salt Lake during the time of Mark Twain’s visit that he wrote about in Roughing It, our most recent UTGA book club material.