NORTHWESTERN UTAH -- Our month-long look at gorgeous sites and fun recreational opportunities in the Beehive state winds up in northwestern Utah.

Bonneville Salt Flats

If you love car racing, the Bonneville Salt Flats is the place to be in the summer or fall for big racing events.

Professional and amateur teams from around the world come here to compete for land-speed records in all kinds of vehicles. The fastest recorded speed here is 622 miles an hour, set by a rocket car back in 1970.

The salt flats, located along I-80 near the Utah-Nevada border, are exactly what the name suggests - 90 percent salt and extremely flat. So flat, in fact, that something interesting happens when you look onto the horizon.

Roxanne Tea, outdoor recreation planner for the Bureau of Land Management in Salt Lake said, "There's not many places, on a clear day, that you can see so far. It's so flat that you can actually see the curvature of the earth."

The salt flats are also a popular place to film. They've been the backdrop for many TV commercials, featuring everything from cars, to phones, to banks. In addition, several big movies have been filmed here, including "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Tree of Utah

On the way to the salt flats, you'll pass a unique Utah sculpture on I-80.

Twenty-five years ago, Swedish artist Karl Momen designed the Tree of Utah by taking rocks and minerals from Utah's desert and gluing them onto giant cement spheres. The sculpture is made of 225 tons of cement, almost 2,000 ceramic tiles and five tons of welding rod, and tons of minerals and rocks native to Utah.

The artwork stands 87 feet tall and signifies life in what seems like a dead desert.

Momen donated his work to the state before returning to Sweden.

Last week he said he's hoping to design a visitor's center near the tree.

Spiral Jetty

Another piece of outdoor art in northwestern Utah is the Spiral Jetty in Box Elder County. It's a sculpture in the landscape, a 1,500-foot swirl of boulders on the bed of the Great Salt Lake.

Sculptor Robert Smithson created it 40 years ago, but then the rising lake swallowed it.

Years later, though, the lake receded, wrapping the sculpture in a blanket of salt crystals.

Willard Bay

Memorial Day kicks off the summer boating season, and Willard Bay State Park is one of the most popular spots in northwestern Utah. The reservoir offers more than 7,000 acres for skiing, boating, wake boarding and jet skiing.

Park Manager Wayne Monroe says the reservoir owes its popularity to several things, including its proximity to the Wasatch Front and the water temperature.

"We warm up faster than most of the reservoirs in the state and we stay warmer longer," he explained. "It's just a nice place. The sunsets are fantastic; best sunsets I've ever seen."

Visitors love sandy beaches like Eagle Beach, where they picnic and fire up the grill. The park also has more than 100 campsites that take reservations.

Many people love to fish on Willard Bay, catching walleye, wiper and catfish.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Close to Willard Bay is another great spot, the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, which spans 76,000 acres.

It sits where the Bear River meets the Great Salt Lake and is home to more than 270 species of birds.

Manager Bob Barrett said, "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is an icon in the refuge system. It's kind of the Yellowstone of the national wildlife refuge system."

"(Visitors) can come to a place where they see so many different birds and so many different species in one spot, and that's what makes it so attractive," he said.

Some bird species nest only in this area. They love it because the freshwater and saltwater conditions create a lot of food.

The refuge makes it easy for anyone, not just avid bird watchers, to enjoy.

The visitor's center features educational displays that teach about the habitat, the different birds and what sounds they make. A brochure shows pictures of the different birds, and if you don't have your own binoculars, they are provided.

The refuge has easy trails and marshes near the visitor's center, or you can drive along a designated 13-mile route.

Crystal Hot Springs

If you're looking for a great place to relax and unwind, check out Crystal Hot Springs in Box Elder County.

The year-round water park is rich in minerals. In fact, the owners say this is the highest mineral-content spring in the United States, and people love to soak it in!

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Dallin Hawkins said, "I love the ambiance, the feeling to just soak. And I love the mineral feeling. I don't even take a shower after because I love the feeling of the dry minerals on my skin."

Crystal Hot Spring General Manager Jeremy Johnson said, "A lot of people believe that it takes toxins out of the body, to help cleanse their body. A lot of people come here for therapeutic reasons to help relax their muscles."

Crystal Hot Springs is also one of only two locations in the world that has a hot and cold spring less than 50 feet apart. Mixing the two, the water is kept between 92 and 105 degrees.

The hot springs has a main soaker pool, three hot tubs, an Olympic-sized pool and two water slides.

This is also a popular campground site with more than 80 RV campsite hook-ups.

E-mail: tpapanikolas@ksl.com

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