To help you enjoy the 362 remaining days of this brand-new year, we offer these eight suggestions for things to do in '08. All are in Utah, although most will require you to hop in your car and hit the road. We've skipped the obvious ones, like touring national parks or listening to the MoTabs; instead, we've included stuff you may not have thought of but that every Utahn should experience at least once.
Resolve to do some of these. You'll thank us before the year's over, we promise.
Visit the Spiral Jetty or the Sun Tunnels
Yes, they're hard to get to. But these large-scale sculptures, created by pioneering "earthworks" artists in the 1970s, are among the most memorable artworks you'll ever see. At the end of a gravel road on the north shore of the Great Salt Lake, Robert Smithson's coiled jetty extends 1,500 feet into the water; walking the length of the rocky structure is a richly meditative experience. Drive several hours west to the remote town of Lucin and you'll find the Sun Tunnels, built in 1976 by Nancy Holt, Smithson's wife. The four giant concrete pipes are aligned to frame the sun as it rises on the summer and winter solstices - the best time to visit this modern-day Stonehenge. For more info and directions to both sites, visit www.earthworks.org.
Soak in a hot spring or crater
Utah is full of natural hot springs where you can warm your winter-weary bones. Among the most scenic is Fifth Water Hot Springs in Diamond Fork Canyon east of Spanish Fork; at the end of a 2 1/2-mile trail, the springs offer a handful of geothermal pools with a range of hot-tub-like temperatures for every taste (www.utahoutdoor activities.com/fifthwater). For a more civilized soak, consider the Homestead resort in Midway, which has a natural rock crater filled with warm blue mineral water ($11-$16; www.homesteadresort.com/the_crater). Finally, if you like snorkeling, try the Bonneville Seabase near Grantsville, a private facility whose deep, salty springs are stocked with some 60 species of tropical fish (for hours and rates, visit www.seabase.net).
See a Sundance Film Festival premiere
If you love movies, there's nothing like seeing the first public screening of a new film, then having the director and actors come forward after the credits to take your questions. The festival runs Jan. 17-27 in Park City and elsewhere; many screenings are already sold out, but you can often get in via the wait list (www.sundance.org/festival).
Drive State Highway 12
This necklace-shaped road along the northern boundary of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a glittering jewel in the Utah highway system. Its 120 miles offer stunning views of Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Boulder Mountain and Capitol Reef National Park and also cross the Hogsback, a dramatic ridge with thousand-foot cliffs on both sides. No wonder Car and Driver magazine named it one of the top 10 scenic drives in the nation (www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm).
Hear live chamber music in a redrock concert hall
The highlight of the Moab Music Festival, held annually in late summer, is an outdoor classical concert in a natural rock grotto on the Colorado River, 30 miles downstream from town. Festival staffers use boats to ferry audience members, musicians and their instruments - even a grand piano - to the site and back. This year's festival runs Aug. 28 to Sept. 13 (www.moabmusicfest.org).
Ride an Olympic bobsled
Like Ricky Bobby, do you like to go fast? The Utah Olympic Park, home to the 2002 Winter Games' bobsled and luge events, offers the closest experience you'll ever have to competing in an Olympics: a ride on the "Comet" bobsled, which whips around the ice track at speeds of up to 80 mph and makes most roller coasters feel like a donkey ride. The fee is $200 during the winter and $60 in the summer, when the sleds race on wheels (www.utah olympicpark.com/uop/rides).
Check out a small-town festival
Whether it's peaches in Brigham City (early September), melons in Green River (mid-September) or B movies in Bicknell (July), many Utah towns hold summertime shindigs that are worth a weekend trip. One of the most colorful is Mount Pleasant's annual Rhubarb Festival, the third Saturday of May. Festivalgoers sample rhubarb salsa, rhubarb ice cream and rhubarb wine while watching a Soap Box Derby and an Ugly Truck Parade. Winner of a rhubarb pie-eating contest is crowned the festival's Rhubarbarian. Call 435-462-9261.
Visit Monument Valley
Even if you've seen the old John Ford movies, nothing can prepare you for the stunning spires of stone rising abruptly from the sweeping desert floor. One drive through the valley at sunset and you'll understand why the Navajos consider this a sacred place. For info on lodging or tours from nearby Goulding's Lodge, visit www.gouldings.com.
BRANDON GRIGGS is the author of Utah Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff (Globe Pequot Press; $14.95). He can be reached at griggs@sltrib.com.
