Logan is the perfect central hub for exciting day trips in the surrounding Bear River Heritage Area. Stop by the Visitors Bureau, 199 N. Main in Logan, for a detailed guide and customized itineraries just for you.
Historic Brigham City and Box Elder County
Your adventure begins with bird-watching at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, a 74,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge with an impressive education and visitor’s center near Brigham City. Visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site where East met West in 1869 when the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads joined the nation with the driving of the Golden Spike. Blast into the future by taking a stroll through the ATK Thiokol Rocket Garden. NASA’s giant solid rocket space shuttle motors are built here. Take a leisurely drive down Utah’s colorful Fruit Way. This stretch of historic Highway 89 meanders past more than 10 family-owned farms where you can sink your teeth into a wide variety of the freshest fruits and vegetables of the season. Maddox Restaurant is a dining landmark and people come from hundreds of miles away for their famous fried chicken. BoxElder.org
Bear Lake Beauty
One glimpse of Bear Lake and you’ll know why it’s known as the Caribbean of the Rockies. Its intense turquoise water spans 20 miles long and 8 miles wide and you won’t find better boating, sailing, water-skiing, jet-skiing or wakeboarding anywhere. Don’t forget a famous raspberry shake and catch a knee-slapping performance at Pickleville Playhouse. Minnetonka Cave is a fascinating 9-room cave of stalactites, stalagmites and banded travertine. The Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located on the north shore of Bear Lake. Just north of Bear Lake, the town of Montpelier, Idaho, is the home of the National Oregon/California Trail Center, an excellent living history attraction where a wagonmaster will take you on a journey you’ll never forget. BearLake.org
Soda Springs and Chesterfield Ghost Town
Drive north through Cache Valley’s beautiful pastoral landscapes and into Idaho on the Pioneer Historic Byway. You’ll visit Franklin, the oldest town in Idaho; Preston, home of Napoleon Dynamite and location of the tragic Bear River Massacre, where U.S. soldiers killed more than 400 sleeping Shoshone villagers in 1863; and on to Soda Springs, a rough and rowdy mining town whose geothermal activity made it a well-known stop on the Oregon/California Trail. Swing in to the historic Enders Hotel and Restaurant with its eclectic museum, and bring a cup so you can taste the naturally carbonated soda water at Hooper or Octagon Spring. Twenty-five miles north of Soda Springs is the ghost town of Chesterfield. Its red brick buildings were built between 1884 and 1904. Museum and guided tours available in summer. SodaSpringsID.com
