Utah Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff

U.S. State Curiosities

by Brandon Griggs

A Salt Lake City Tribune reporter takes you to Brigham Young's grave (right next to those of his seven wives), the original KFC, a brain-teasing corn maze, the Virgin Mary tree, the Wedding Cake Museum, a miniature bowling alley, and more!

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun & quirky little book. The author has a great sense of humor, clever & smart-someone you would like to take a road trip with. My book is a 2016 edition and the cover art is different from that shown.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Curious" is a good word to describe Utah. I'm a n00b here, trying to wrap my head around the place, and, like the author, my initial reaction was "Utah? What's in Utah?" But, I'm finding there's lots to love about this state. For one thing, it's a bit less Mormon-y than I thought, and way more beautiful.

Curiosities of Utah added a lot of new things to my radar. It's an entertaining read, with lots of roadside attractions, hiking, restaurants, wild west ghost towns, and Utah trivia. I'm particularly excited about steam engine rides on the Heber Valley Railroad, the generally dinosaur-themed Vernal, and the many, many places for hiking and camping.

The edition I read is from 2008, and pretty outdated. That's not the author's fault, but I'm not sure how many of these places are still around. Also, he's a little bit obsessed with the Osmonds, so there's that.

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping this book would have more landmarks in Utah than places. A handful of places he wrote about have changed and/or closed down. Maybe I was disappointed because I hoped to explore some new landmarks this fall.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart and fun guide to cool/unique spots (most are still around) throughout Utah.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great fun! My only complaint is that it's not long enough. I know of several oddities that could be added. That said, there's plenty of things to see that are close to home. The writer's style is upbeat and fun, though he edges toward the irreverent at times. Fortunately, he manages to keep from poking too much fun at the state's predominant religion. I learned some interesting historical/cultural tidbits. This book could become the basis of some great family explorations.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great idea for the book and loved how it was divided into geographical sections. However, I gave it three stars because it lacked quantity of curiosities and some of them didn't really seem to be that overly curious to me. I would like to see the addition of a small map to the side of every entry and suggest that some entries could be trimmed. It should be possible to have an entry on 1-2 pages and still add more. An extended version of this book would be great.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lived in Utah my entire life and had no idea there were so many interesting places and random facts about it. I enjoyed discovering the little gems of Utah as well as learning more about the places I grew up in. I found some more things to add to my bucket list and overall had a lot of fun reading this book.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at Costco, and it is great! It divides the state into geographical areas and tells about little- known--or well-known--places to visit. I really enjoyed reading it, and it may inspire my wanderings this summer!

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping for more stuff I hadn't heard of in this book. There were a few interesting places that I didn't know about, but I think this book would mostly be useful for someone who is not very familiar with Utah, not someone who has lived here for a while and enjoys exploring.

[Tanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of an interesting book. There are many things to see in all the small towns that I never knew of. it made we want to travel more of the state.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

No knowledge is ever worthless, but this comes close. ;)

[Katie Tatton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book that highlights Utah from natural landmarks to quirky people and places. We've marked several places to visit as we get to know our new home.

[Diane Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of fun ideas of things to do as you travel around Utah.

[Julie Snow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this a long time ago before the internet. Not relevant anymore.